Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

When prejudice is demonstrated in any situation, it is can easily cloud one’s judgement and influence their actions. In the beginning of the novel, Jem tells Scout about the rumors he had heard about Boo Radley. The rumors consisted of false descriptions that left Scout and Jem believing Boo Radley was ultimately a monster. As kids, they never stopped to think if what they were being told was true and that had caused them to act upon this bias description without waiting to find out. Boo, being an easy target since he never leaves his house and has no other reputation, is being discriminated and inaccurately accused of things that were never proven to be true, like his appearance. Jem hears a rumor about Boo Radley’s lifestyle and looks, in

which he recalls, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (13). After hearing this from other people in town, Jem and Scout immediately assume the worst. Even though nobody has seen him in ages, the rumors and preconceptions that are being spread about him are about his looks. Of course, Boo Radley never “dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch...”, but because of the prejudice, people like Jem and Scout believe it is true. In fact, because of the strong prejudice in Maycomb, the rumors that being spread about Boo are seen to be factual. Based on them, most individuals in Maycomb are influenced to act a certain way when the Radley name comes up. The people let these preconceptions to cloud their judgments, leaving them to behave either very rudely or empathetic to the victims of this prejudice, which in Boo’s case, is mockery and cruelty. This is also because it is hard for common folks to grasp on the truth, like Boo being different and not having a similar lifestyle to theirs. These rumors, like this quote, is shown influencing Scout and Jem’s actions, as long with their cousin’s, Dill. For example, during the summer, Jem, Scout, and Dill had made up a game about Boo Radley.

They reenacted events in Boo’s life that they believed were true due to the rumors that were spread throughout Maycomb. This consisted of the time where Boo had bit off his mother’s finger one night when he couldn’t find any cats or squirrels to eat and stabbing his father with scissors for no apparent reason. While doing this, Scout, Jem, and Dill did not stop to think what they were doing was wrong because of all the rumors they had heard. As they reenact “Boo's big scene [where] Dill would walk by, cough at Jem, and Jem would fake a plunge into Dill's thigh”, it shows that the kids really did believe that Boo actually hurt his father, without questioning where the information came from. The cruelty that is being displayed here is not because the kids are generally rude, but because of the prejudice they see throughout town that makes them act this certain way. This shows that because of the prejudice around town, Jem, Scout, and Dill are influenced to act off of it. Another example where people’s minds are being crowded by prejudice is when a mob of men gang up on Atticus and try to harm Tom Robinson because they assume that Tom is guilty of raping Mayella

Ewell. In the middle of the night, Jem, Scout, and Dill snuck off to follow Atticus to the town’s jail. When they arrived, they saw a group of men, including Walter Cunningham, talking to Atticus. They were bickering about Tom and how Atticus would not leave unless he was physically forced to.

Atticus understood that since African Americans were considered lower class and uncultured, people instantly believed in the unproven rumor without having evidence to back it up. Individuals like Walter Cunningham begin to group up into mobs to kill Tom when he was held in custody, which also meant having to go through Atticus. Since racism and bigotry were considered normal and were shown all throughout society back then, the people who became prejudice to Tom started to threaten him, his family, and even Atticus, thinking it was normal. They were very persistent and blunt on what they wanted to achieve, “In ones and twos, men got out of the cars…‘You know what we want,’ another man said. ‘Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch’” (151). Because of racism and prejudice in society, African Americans are being mistreated and wrongly accused, like shown in the Tom Robinson situation. The men are so fixated on the preconceptions and because of that, their judgements and actions are being clouded. The prejudice and hatred toward all African Americans is very strong, causing it to cloud each and every one of these men to lose their sense of humanity and

sensibility. Without even going to court or listening to Tom’s side and the evidence proving that he is innocent, the men and many other people in Maycomb instantly assume he is guilty and act upon their suspicions because of his race and color. The people of Maycomb are now believing in the preconceptions making them prejudice. As things unfold, people, like Walter Cunningham and his mob of unhappy men, are trying to seek “justice” for Mayella, the girl he is accused of raping. Based on Mayella and even her father’s accusations, rumors are started to turn into facts in the minds of individuals in Maycomb. These preconceptions and prejudice shown had caused regular people like Walter Cunningham to behave a certain way. Thus, clouding his judgments and influencing his actions. Other people were also being controlled by norms and prejudice like the jury in the Tom Robinson case. After Tom was convicted guilty, even though there were more evidence proving his innocence, Jem complains to Atticus about how unfair the jury was being. Atticus explains to Jem how although the twelve men did convict him to be guilty, their judgments were clouding by prejudice and did actually acknowledge that Tom had not done anything wrong. Atticus clearly proves that prejudice is making men, like the jury, to be unfair to one because of their skin color and the norms. He explains, “Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, Tom's jury, but you saw something come between them and reasoning….There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads- they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. they're ugly, but those are the facts of life” (220). Even if individuals are good and have good intentions, they will always, at least once in their life, make a decision based on preconceptions they hear. This is being demonstrated in this quote, talking about how the people in the jury are generally good, but the prejudice and system of norm got to their heads, influencing them to convict an innocent man, guilty. When Atticus mentions “you saw something come between them and reasoning”, he clearly means that discrimination and prejudice came between the jury’s decision on convicting Tom Robinson. They are so used to it and believe that it is socially unacceptable if they go against a white man and woman’s word, that they falsely accuse an innocent man. As a result, when prejudice comes up in Maycomb, people’s minds are being clouded by the preconceptions that are circulating around town, influencing them to go against their own morales and controlling their actions.