Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

’To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee covers the period in the lives of a sister, Jean-Louise(Scout) and her older brother,Jem, as they mature while they learn about the prejudice in their community and developing empathy with people who appear different. Scout learns to respect Walter Cunningham how to act like a lady while Jem realizes the injustice in the justice system.

Scout learns what prejudice is and realizes that she must respect everyone because they are all equal. In the beginning of the story Scout calls black people “niggers” because that is “what everybody at [her] school says.” However by the end of the story she realizes that everybody should be treated the same and “it’s not right to persecute anybody” because “there’s just

one kind of folks. Folks”. Miss Gates, her teacher, upsets Scout when she is prejudice against people of colour after she explained to the class that when Hitler persecuted the Jews it was wrong. Miss Gates reasons for it being wrong was that “[Americans] don’t believe in persecuting anybody”and “there’s are no better people in the world than the Jews” which is hypocritical of her as she discrimates against people of colour. Scout does not believe it is right to “hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home” this shows that Scout learns what prejudice is and that it is wrong.

Another way Scout learns to treat everyone with the same respect is how she stopped thinking of Walter Cunningham as lower class but as an equal.

In the beginning of the story Scout beats Walter up and does not respect him because he is “ just a Cunningham” but Scout learns to treated Walter as she would anyone else. Scout realizes that all human beings deserve equal treatment this can be seen when she cross with her aunt for calling Walter Cunningham “white

trash”.

Scout matures and learns what her Aunt means by being ladylike. This is one her hardest lessons to learn. Scout learns to control her temper  and not instigate fights. Earlier in the novel when her cousin, Francis, called her father a “Nigger-lover” she “split [her] knuckle to the bone on his front teeth”. Further on in the novel Scout holds her head high and walks away when people pass disparaging comments about her father. Secondly Scout learns from her Aunt how to be polite, well mannered and courteous. She understands how to disciplined herself and how to treat others with dignity. Scout learns this when her Aunt has to put her emotions aside and be a good host to her missionary circle. Scout says she “watched [herself] walk to Mrs Merriweather” which shows her self discipline, Scout also spoke to Mrs Merriweather “with [her] very best company manners” which indicates she has learnt how to be polite and well mannered. It is evident she learnt this from her aunt because Scout says “if my Aunty can be a lady at a time like this, so could I”.

Scout and Jem develop empathy for Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.

By sitting through the court trail and watching how prejudice the jury was against Tom, Jem developed empathy for Tom. This made him utterly upset and angry when Tom was wrongfully convicted which can be seen when he starts to cry and “his face was streaked with angry tears”. Scout said she “felt a twinge of remorse…having taken part in what must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley”. It is evident from this that Scout regretted trying to all the childish games involving Boo because she was developing empathy for him. It is thought that Scout understood prejudice and had empathy for Boo Radley when she told Atticus indirectly not to put Boo on trial for Mr Ewell’s death. She understood that the jury would be prejudice against Boo and would therefore convict him of something he did not do which she believed to “be sort of like shootin’ a mocking-bird”. She also learnt to see from Boo’s perspective when she walked him home and stood on his porch after he had saved her life which is evident when she said “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was

enough.”

Jem comes of age when he realizes what to kill a mocking-bird really means. He understands that the jury wrongfully convicted Tom when he says “it ain’t right” after the trial. Later on when Scout is about to kill a bug he tells her to stop “because they don’t bother you”. This shows he understands that killing an innocent thing, whether it be a black man accused of rape or a bug that has crawled inside, it is wrong because it has caused no harm. This lesson for Jem made him lose faith in his community to do right and he understands that prejudice makes the justice system not always able to bring justice.

To Kill A Mockingbird is a coming of age book because Scout and Jem mature,  learn about prejudice and  develop empathy.