The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, outlines the faults of racism and classism during the early 1930s. The novel depicts a hierarchical system in a fictional town located in Southern Alabama, Maycomb County. This hierarchy helps support Lee’s major theme of discrimination throughout the novel. Lee’s usage of language in this book is effective, particularly when describing the characters’ arrogant perceptions of the system. The repeated use of the word “trash” in the novel helps bring to light the arrogance amongst the people of all classes and races in Maycomb County. Throughout the novel, racism displays itself as a primary theme. Racial arrogance as a theme must be focused on as regularly the arrogance of characters shifts the …show more content…
For instance, in early chapter 11 when Mrs. Dubose, an old white lady who associates herself more with ‘Old Maycomb’, says, “Your father’s no better than the n-words and trash he works for!” (117). This statement further demonstrates the blatant bigotry of Mrs. Dubose, and uses the word trash to do so. Although one can see the racism from Mrs. Dubose, even if the word trash was not used, the utilization of trash adds an extra layer of depth. This is the association of African Americans and trash. The usage of the n-word right before “trash” shows how she believes there is a correlation. This quote illustrates further arrogance in the people of Maycomb as it is clear to see that Mrs. Dubose thinks she is above the entire race. Mrs. Dubose is confident that she is superior to every African American and she utilizes the word “trash” to announce that. Another occasion in which racial arrogance is shown is from an unexpected character, Dill. When Dill, Jem and Scout talk about Mr. Dolphus Raymond and his association with the black community, Dill says, “He doesn’t look like trash,”
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960, is a novel which explores the theme of challenging racial prejudice. Within this novel, Lee has portrayed unintentional racial prejudice through the characters Atticus Finch, Link Deas and Scout Finch. With these characters, and their roles in exploring the theme of racial prejudice, Harper Lee has set unintentional boundaries for readers, as result, racial prejudicial thinking from contemporary perspective, in comparison to historical views, is challenged to a small extent.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in Alabama in the 1930s, and concerns itself primarily with the interrelated themes of prejudice and empathy. These themes are explored as the story follows Scout Finch as she learns lessons in empathy, ultimately rejecting prejudice. While all characters in Lee’s novel learn from their experiences, not all are able to grow in the same manner as Scout. The idea of a positive role model, typified by the character of Atticus Finch, and the ramifications of its absence, is a concept that Lee places much emphasis on. The isolated setting is also pivotal in the development of characters. Lee uses the contrast between characters that learn lessons in empathy and compassion, and characters that cling to the ideals of a small town, to explore factors that nurture or diminish prejudice.
Scout's perception of prejudice is evolved through countless experiences in Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird. Written in the nineteen thirties, To Kill a Mockingbird promotes the understanding of self-discovery through Scout, an intelligent and outspoken child living with respectable family in Maycomb County, Alabama. Throughout various encounters in the novel, Harper Lee causes Scout's perspective to change and develop from innocence to awareness and eventually towards understanding.
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.
There is no doubt that Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a famous novel known for its themes, most of them containing wise life lessons, racial inequality being an obvious and important one. Firstly, racism illustrates the lack of justice and people’s views on prejudice in Tom Robinson’s case. Secondly, the novel touches base on diction notably the racial slurs used. Finally, with racism being a theme of the novel, it affects the characters’ personalities. Harper Lee uses life lessons, diction and characters throughout the novel because it develops the main theme of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird.
“Prejudice is a learned trait. You’re not born prejudice; you’re taught it” –Charles R Swindoll. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about a young girl named Scout who lives in a world filled with prejudice. There are many instances and types of prejudice in the novel. A man named Tom Robinson was convicted for doing a crime he never did because of the color of his skin. To this day, Tom would have never been tried because the evidence assuredly shows he is not guilty. One only becomes prejudice if you are taught it from other prejudice people. Harper Lee shows this idea throughout her novel through her characters, dialogue and theme.
A highly respected man named, Atticus, once said, " 'You never really understand a person until
Growing up in a prejudiced environment can cause individuals to develop biased views in regard to both gender and class. This is true in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, where such prejudices are prevalent in the way of life of 1930s Maycomb, Alabama. The novel is centered around the trial of a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. The narrator, a young girl named Scout, is able to get a close up view of the trial because her father is defending Tom Robinson, the defendant. The aura of the town divided by the trial reveals certain people's’ prejudices to Scout, giving her a better perspective of her world. Throughout the story, Aunt Alexandra’s behaviors indirectly teach Scout that prejudice is a disease with deep and far reaching roots.
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 novel To Kill A MockingBird is primarily based on the problems associated with prejudice and cultural bias during the 30’s. These themes that are explored by Harper Lee allow’s a greater approach to referencing belonging and most of
In to Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee uses characters to explore the different stereotypes in the Southern United States of the 1930s. Told through the eyes of Scout Finch you learn how these stereotypes are so absurd and fabricated they really were. The novel also portrays numerous examples of racism, sexism, in creative ways. The stereotypes and themes portrayed in this novel are exactly what makes it so relevant to today’s society.
It is acknowledged by many readers that there are many different social classes in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. One of the most obvious social class distinctions is between skin colors, which can be seen through this novel. Since most readers’ focal point of this novel is on the distinctions between skin colors, they are unlikely to pay attention to the difference in social class within the white community. Lee wants to illustrate a contrast in white society and how characters behave differently through the uses of character foil, characterization, and the theme of society inequality in order to emphasize the differences in social classes.
Harper Lee uses many kinds of prejudice throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, to demonstrate how prejudice could impact people’s lives, sometimes with fatal consequences In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, gender prejudice and stereotypes are very common throughout Maycomb, which made Scout believe that she was not as important as the men and boys that surrounded her. Scout defies the typical stereotypes that people have about girls and women. She does not care to dress up, and she enjoys playing the same games as her brother Jem & she gets into fights. Due to the stereotypes that surrounded women, Scout ultimately felt like since she did not fit in within these boundaries, she could not be seen as a real girl. Due to Scout being seen
How many lives could have been saved had we not allowed stories to tell us? Societal narratives regarding race are detrimental to both individuals and the collective conscience, reaping catastrophic consequences. In Shakespeare’s play, the character Othello is a tragic representation of a lifetime of conformity in a community that could never fully respect a black man, viewing their whiteness as inherently superior. Othello’s continuous and somewhat effective attempts to be honoured within Venetian society led to a loss of sanity and a devastating death. A similar representation is Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.
The author of A Secret Gift, Ted Gup, was given a suitcase filled with papers by his mother. He put it aside without thinking too much of it. Later, he reopened it to discover that it was filled with letters address to a B. Virdot and over one hundred $5 checks. He decided to look into these papers more to find out what exactly they had to do with his family. The book shares the lives of the people in Canton during the depression that wrote to B. Virdot, their descendants, and B. Virdot himself.