Prejudice, defined as judging someone based off of prior knowledge or their physical appearance. Throughout reading To Kill a Mockingbird many lessons are shown, one prominent thing to be learned from the story, is not to judge a person before you know them. Many of the children begin to learn that being judged primarily is common in Maycomb County. Prejudice is a large theme in the story, shown through gender, class, and racial discrimination.
First of all, Harper Lee shows discrimination by explaining the differences between genders. A woman, like Miss Stephanie, must always act like a lady. Miss Stephanie is a woman who very much fits the stereotype society wants her to be. Scout is another example, of this. She is encouraged to act very
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ladylike and to not wear slacks, although she prefers to. Miss Maudie, when Scout is told to sit with the ladies, notices, “‘You’re mighty dressed up Miss Jean Louise,’ she said. ‘Where are your britches today?’” Miss Maudie is aware Scout is told she should act a certain way, than how she does, and knows she feels uncomfortable. Women also have similar jobs to the household, like staying home, cooking, and caring for the children, instead of working somewhere else. The few women who have jobs, like Miss Caroline, work jobs that are less physically demanding, like teaching. Men on the other hand, take jobs that pay more, and work all day every day, while women care for children. Secondly, prejudice is shown through class discrimination.
People are judged based on their education, income, and how they act in public settings. Jem explains to Scout how he thinks there are classes in the book when he says, “there’s folks like us, then the Cunninghams, the Ewells, and colored folks” Therefore the more wealthy, and economically accepted people are at the top of the ladder, and are considered more trustworthy or classy. Scout disagrees with this, but it is clear as a reader who is older than Scout, I agree that it should not be this way, yet it is very prominent that it is. This is obvious during the trial when Scout explains that the Cunninghams won’t take what they can’t pay back. She has to explain that he’s not as fortunate as she is and when she does, it shows how his family is less respected than hers. Another example is the Ewells, beside their rotten attitudes which already caused most respect for them to be lost, they lived near the dump with many children, who all had no education, and a lack of interest in school, or anything productive. They are below the Cunninghams, due to their lack of respect, and their lack of education, and lack of pride in things they work for, if they even work at …show more content…
all. Lastly, racial discrimination is probably the most prominent form of prejudice through the entirety of the ook.
Though the best example of it would be the Tom Robinson case, when there is clearly no evidence to charge him of rape, but because of the fact that he is black, the jury rules him as guilty. Tom Robinson was known as a great man who never hurt anyone according to anyone he had spoken to, or had worked for, he claimed Mayella Ewell kissed him and he didn’t know what to do, this seems a far more likely story than a man crippled in his left arm, swinging at her and choking her. The Jury had no medical evidence convicting him of beating Mayella, raping her, or anything of the sort. Atticus states during the trial, “Tom Robinson, has no use of his left hand.” And Tom backs up the story, claiming he got it stuck in a cotton gin.Every person knows he is innocent, but convicting a white man, and favoring a black man’s case could ruin a reputation of many. Furthermore, Bob Ewell continues to hold a grudge against Atticus for defending a black man, although Tom had still lost the
trial. In conclusion, this had such a large effect on the book. Discrimination matters to this story, To Kill a Mockingbird because if it weren’t for the acts of discrimination, the book would not have fit the time period correctly. The prejudice in the book has a large effect on how the characters grow, and create their own beliefs on equality, rather than fitting in with the status quo. It also teaches the lesson, “do not judge someone by the color of their skin, but the content of their character,” as once said by Martin Luther King Jr. Racial, gender, and class discrimination all play a part in changing characters and the plot of the story.
Three students kicked out of a high school for threatening to bring a gun to school. Why would they? Because people were prejudice against them because other students thought they were “losers”. Moral: You shouldn’t not like a person because they aren’t like you. Prejudice was far much worse in the time period of To Kill A Mockingbird. But, Prejudice is the reason for much social injustice. Three characters named Nathan Radley, Atticus Finch, and Aunt Alexandria show us this in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird.
Atticus had enough evidence to prove to the Jury that Tom’s right arm did not work and that would mean that Tom could not have pulled Mayella to the ground and bruised her as the policeman described. The crowd was surprised but the Jury and the Judge did not believe Atticus’s evidence. They were prejudiced and if Atticus came up with the best possible explanation the Judge still believed the Ewell family and they did not come up with a reasonable explanation about Tom. “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash” (Atticus) chapter 23. Prejudice hurts people who are black and people who were different and young
Throughout the novel Harper Lee explores the racism, prejudice, and the innocence that occurs throughout the book. She shows these themes through her strong use of symbolism throughout the story. Even though To Kill a Mockingbird was written in the 1960’s, the powerful symbolism this book contributes to our society is tremendous. This attribute is racist (Smykowski). To Kill a Mockingbird reveals a story about Scout’s childhood growing up with her father and brother, in an accustomed southern town that believed heavily in ethnological morals (Shackelford).
Throughout her novel, Harper Lee shows prejudice from her characters, dialogue, and theme. She does this through the character Lulu and how the citizens of Maycomb believe Mayella’s story because she is white, instead of believing a black man with all evidence showing he is not guilty. She also helps display prejudice with dialogue and her theme. She shows how white people talked and referred to colored people and the lack of respect that went along with it. “Teaching prejudice to a child is itself a form of bullying. You've got to be taught to hate.” – Roger Ebert.
”You couldn’t, but they could and did... [Atticus]” – Atticus and Jem, in reference to the jury convicting an innocent man because he is black.
How would you like it if someone walked up to you and berated you based on the color of your skin? A characteristic like that isn’t even something you can control, so an insult of that nature can leave one furious and oppressed. Discrimination is inevitable in any culture, throughout history, in modern times, and even in ancient times. For example, the oppression and murder of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust, the African Slave Trade which occurred for multiple centuries, and more recently, the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar, brought on by the government of the Asian nation, all of which are tragedies doomed to happen when history repeats itself and people do not learn
Prejudice is arguably the most prominent theme of the novel. It is directed towards groups and individuals in the Maycomb community. Prejudice is linked with ideas of fear superstition and injustice.
The reader can then infer that in To Kill a Mockingbird, society believes that white people are a symbol of the superior race, and colored people are a symbol of the inferior race. Neither of which is true because no one person is one-hundred percent honorable or evil. Unfortunately, stereotypes and beliefs of the time lead the people of Maycomb County to be unable to view everyone as equal and instead only focus on race. Tom’s situation is an overall representation showing that when people treat others differently based on color that someone will have to face the consequences of this thought process. In the book, Tom fails to receive a fair trial just because he is black, yet many years earlier in the 19th century, Sir William Garrow coined the term “innocent until proven guilty.” The phrase itself never specifies only being true for white people or any certain group of people, for that matter. Due to personal bias, the people of the time are able to twist that phrase and unfortunately warp it into something closer to “guilty until proven innocent.” The reader can infer based on his actions of distancing himself that Atticus feels misunderstood and even alone. He is fighting a battle
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, many different themes come into view. One major theme that played a big role in the character’s lives is racial prejudice. Racism is an unending problem throughout the book. The song “Message from a Black Man” by The Temptations has many similarities to the theme of racial discrimination. Therefore, both the novel and the song prove that racism was a great obstacle for some people at a point.
Prejudice, the act of judging someone based on outward appearance or social standing. In the 1960’s Harper Lee wrote a book called To Kill a Mockingbird, about prejudice and how hard the times were. In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many examples of prejudice showing how morally wrong it was. There are several examples of prejudice in the book: Tom Robinson because he is African American, Boo Radley because of his standing in their society, and the Cunningham Family because of how poor they were. The following paragraphs will discuss these examples.
As the story progresses, Scout slowly becomes introduced into the world of hatred, unfairness, and racism that the 1930’s exposed. Nevertheless, since Scout still had both her innocence and naivete, due to her premature age, she completely expressed total disapproval towards the treatment of blacks during the time of her childhood. The author portrays this disapproval through Dill and Jem, Scout’s friend, and Scout’s brother, respectively, as shown here by Dill, “‘I don’t care one speck. It ain’t right to do ‘em that way. Hasn’t anybody got any business talkin’ like that—it just makes me sick.’';
Sexism is not as common a topic in comparison to racism, but does play a role in the development of the novel. This type of discrimination is expressed towards women from men and women alike. Men feel compelled to protect women from unsightly things, (Lee 221), and the women in Maycomb have the mind set that, to be a lady, they must conform to society's expectations of them. They believe they must dress, act, and speak a certain way to appease the community. Aunt Alexandra is a big believer in acting the way society expects her to and attempts to impose these values on her niece, Scout, who becomes mortified, as she has always been a tomboy and prefers spending time in the dirt. “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my [Scout's] attire. She said I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed ...
Prejudice is a strong word. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, a black man, Tom Robinson, was accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell, and was brought to trial. There were distinct views concerning Tom Robinson's innocence – views influenced by prejudice. The townspeople of Maycomb believed in Tom's guilt while Atticus and the children believed in Tom's innocence.
Tom Robinson is a black man accused of raping a young white girl named Mayella Ewell, yet he is innocent. Atticus Finch is his lawyer. Dare writes: “At trial he [Atticus] proves that Robinson could not have raped Mayella, showing that her attacker was left-handed with two good arms, whereas Robinson had lost the use of his left arm in a cotton-gin accident. Bob is actually guilty, but no one ever tries to point that out. It never even says it straight forward in the book, but there is clearly enough evidence to show Mr. Ewell was the guilty one.
The theme of the novel is that the world contains evil and good. Scout and Jem represent innocence, and how they have never really witnessed evil until the trial starts.Since the novel was placed in the 30s the reader can clearly see the gender inequality that is interpreted throughout the novel. Gender inequality is where a gender gets treated differently based on what gender they are, and how they are “suppose” to act. During the depression era women were not as high profile as men, and they were meant to stay at home and handle the household duties. If they were to get a job they were not paid as much, and not treated as high priority or a-list positions. In the novel Jem often offends Scout because she complains or whines. “I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that's why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with”(Lee 41). Scout did not want to play the game where they reenact Arthur Radley’s life, and Jem says she is acting like a girl. It's almost as if she is only like a girl when she acts a certain way, but not the fact that she was born a girl. Scout does whatever she can to keep from being called a girl. Mrs. Dubose also comments about Scout being a girl, and how