Examples Of Racial Intolerance In To Kill A Mockingbird

Atticus says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 33). Due to our sinful nature, people are so quick to judge, deciding that they will not be around people who are different. The real truth is that America has become narrow minded, only believing what the world is saying before getting to know the person and placing judgement. The U.S. has a need to learn selflessness, ignoring what society thinks about other people by making what you believe is right the new view on situations. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the narrator, Scout, is surrounded by racial intolerance as she grew up because of her father’s job as an attorney in

the city of Maycomb, Alabama, as well as gender and social class intolerance shown with the main character’s struggles.

The first clear form of intolerance that the readers encounter in To Kill a Mockingbird is racial intolerance. Racial intolerance has been constantly passed down by generation, which dictates how a child is taught to treat people of different races. This approach does not allow new generations to form their own opinions of their peers that are of different races by getting to know them. As Nesbit said, “If racial prejudices are something that we learn, it means that we can unlearn them as well” (para. 15). This shows that even though the world’s opinions on other races might be only slightly better than they were during the times of To Kill a Mockingbird, and that there is always hope for new generations that can teach the world to look for their own opinions of others. In To Kill a Mockingbird, we can also see how this relates to when Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, is involved in a trial as an attorney. He is nominated by the judge to defend a black man who is being accused of raping a white man’s daughter in hopes of giving the black man the best chance he has to winning the case and gaining freedom. Atticus says, “There’s a lot of ugly things in

this world, son. I wish I could keep ‘em all away from you. That’s never possible” (Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird). The children were faced with many new, difficult situations through the aftermath of the trial at a young age, which also caused some fights between children at school and family members. Atticus was doing what he believed was right through the trial by defending this innocent man, even if he was putting his own children and his family’s reputation at risk. This is shown in one of Atticus’s most popular quotes: “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (Lee 87). This step of courage by Atticus, despite the violence that could occur later upon himself or his family, is helping to teach his children a lesson about equality of races that many children, especially in Maycomb, may never learn.
Racism is not just a mindset. Racism affected the court system for innocent blacks, along with the mistreatment they received in slave trading and being “owned” as slaves. Way before this generation slave trading from Africa to America was used to make money by buying African-Americans to help with the upkeep of your acres of land that you owned. What we have learned now is how horrible these people of different races were treated, especially the way they traveled to America from Africa. Slavery was ended, but racism continued the view of African-Americans being people that should just work for the whites. Due to this race growing up being controlled by other people and having no freedom to gain an education, African Americans did not have anyway to make money once slavery was abolished. Just like in the book where Tom Robinson worked for a man named Link Deas who was neighbors with the Ewells. Tom decided to be polite by helping out the oldest girl, Mayella Ewell, whose father was always drunk leaving her with the chores that later accused him of raping her. At the trial a white man said, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (Lee 275). If a black man were to go to court against a white person, then he was automatically going to lose because of their belief of society’s view. This quote describes the view of blacks in city of not only Maycomb, but also around the world. The bible says, “Love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (ESV). We clearly see that God has commanded us to treat other people equally and love them despite their different races. No one chose what race they would be born into, just like the parents didn’t choose the child that they would have. God created us uniquely in His own perfect image before anyone was even dreamed of by their parents. As a nation we act as though the child is at fault because they are a certain skin color, when God made that child with His own hands.
During this time, many innocent people are punished for things they did not commit due to racism, and some other innocent people are pulled into situations without purposefully meaning to be put into them. Atticus says in To Kill a Mockingbird, “Shoot all the bluejays you want if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” ( Lee 103). This quote is what sets the stage for basically the whole book, and the symbolism of it shows especially through racism. A mockingbird is harmless by only sitting around singing for the pleasure of others (www.enotes.com). In the book, mockingbirds are the innocent people being punished with death by either people or natural causes. The readers can see this connection throughout the entire book, with Tom Robinson being one of the main ones, after being accused of raping Mayella. Tom’s act of genuine kindness to Mayella caused her to feel attention that she was never given, which later ended in Tom’s death. These traits are also shown through Atticus in many stand points. Atticus is nominated to be the attorney for Tom Robinson in the trial against a white man, which caused criticism among his family and himself. Atticus was also forced to raise two children by himself without a wife, and them about racism and that they should stand up for what they believed in no matter what society might say. The mother figure in the household was a black woman named Calpurnia, and this made the children realize the real importance about equality as well as the trial that their father was in. Atticus, despite his sister’s requests and criticism, raised the children to love everyone and refused to fire Cal for her race.
Another example of a mockingbird shown in the book is Mrs. Dubose who is Jem and Scout’s neighbor that is now a dying old woman. Jem is forced to read to Mrs. Dubose even though he strongly disapproves of how she has been treating him and Scout for many years (chapter 11). Mrs. Dubose is considered to be a mockingbird due to her addiction to morphine. Addictions take over the lives of many innocent people, but others fight to become free of their addictions just like Mrs. Dubose before her death. Boo is also another clear mockingbird throughout the story. After getting caught up in the wrong crowd of kids, Boo is judged by society for his past then is locked up in his own home by his parents. When actually Boo is a sweet, caring person that wants to look out for other people around him including the children. In the story, the reader sees when Boo continuously attempts to communicate with the children by giving them gifts and later by giving Scout a blanket when Miss Maudie’s house is burned down in a fire. Despite these attempts, Boo is then again trapped in once again by his family. Also Boo proves this through a very heroic moment, saving Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell when he attacked them coming home (chapter 29).
Discrimination of gender is also a big part of To Kill a Mockingbird. More women than men have experienced this, and it is still a constant battle even today for equality in rights. For many years women weren’t allowed the right to vote, constant protests occurred to finally allow women that given right. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus says, “Miss Maudie can’t serve in the juy because she’s a woman… the jury only consists of men” (252). This book was written in the times of 1930’s when women were not allowed the right to do the same things as men, just like the jury. People at this time proved that women couldn’t have the same rights as men due to the hormones that women had causing mood changes (Wolfe para. 3). Men can have mood swings that would affect their judgement also, which is the same as women. Hormones are natural processes that women are given, but should not be used as a reason for why women were prohibited in having the same rights that men were given in the beginning. The bible says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (ESV). The God that created everything in the universe created women and men, and afterwards said that it was good. Therefore, why chose to take away the rights that someone deserves just because of how God made you, which is perfect because it is in his image.