Prejudice is the intellectual or moral bias of a race and/or group of people based upon strict opinions. It is treating someone harshly based upon a person’s overall opinion on that race. Prejudice is usually based upon stereotypes of the victimized group that others may attach to them, being true or untrue. Prejudice has been seen throughout the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee whether it was against the African-American population or perpetrated against white folks in Maycomb by blacks. Prejudice is seen throughout the novel to be wrong as certain characters in the novel are shown to be against their group's stereotypes, whether it is blacks such as Tom Robinson or white folks such as Atticus Finch or Dolphus Raymond. Prejudice …show more content…
For example,Mr. Raymond tells Dill after seeing him cry about the events in the courtroom,”Cry about the simple hell people give other people—without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks without even stopping to think that they’re people, too (Lee 229).” Mr.Raymond believes in how everyone are equal and that the way white people in Maycomb treats the black population doesn’t make sense as he believes that they also deserves to be treated fairly. Moreover, when Scout and Dill walked out of the courthouse after Dill cried after seeing how Tom was being treated like, Mr. Raymond asks him,”You aren’t thin-hided, it just makes you sick, doesn’t it?(Lee 226).” Mr. Raymond understands Dill as he is also tired of how white people treat African-Americans poorly only because they are of a different race than them. He knows that there is no difference among white and black people except for skin …show more content…
When Calpurnia brought Jem and Scout to the First Purchase church, Lula tells her ,”You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here—they got their church, we got our ‘n. It is our church, ain't it, Miss Cal? (Lee 229).” Lula assumes that Scout and Jem would be like most white folks in Maycomb. She expects them to treat her and the other blacks there poorly just because they are white showing that prejudice isn’t only caused by white people but sometimes by blacks in the novel. On the other hand, there is prejudice against the African- American community also. For example, According to Scout, the majority of Maycomb County’s attitude towards Tom’s death was along the lines of,”To Maycomb, Tom's death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger's mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run the blind first chance he saw...Nigger always comes out in 'em (Lee 275).” Most white folks in Maycomb prejudice against blacks thinking that the stereotypes they have about them such as running without a plan apply to all black people no matter who they are. African-Americans are thus despised and prejudiced against in this town only for the stereotypes white people in maycomb County have about them. The African-American population in Maycomb perpetrates and are victims of
Scout and Jem are the farthest thing from being racist or prejudiced, they are both two kids raised in a home where racism and prejudice are frowned upon. Scout’s family is completely against racism and prejudice. In the town of Maycomb, prejudice is a disease, but Jem, Scout, and Dill are immune to this illness because of the people who raise them. For example, when Cecil and Francis tell Scout that it is a disgrace for Atticus to defend Tom, even though Francis is Scouts cousin, also when Scout and Jem hear the verdict of Tom’s case they both cry and are angry about the sentence while the rest of the town is happy. Scout doesn’t want Walter Cunningham to come over for dinner because she thinks he is a disgrace.
Accused of raping a poor white girl, innocent Tom Robinson is now faced with a desperate trial. “The evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber.” (Lee 273). Atticus delivers a powerful speech to the courthouse audience highlighting the disturbing truth of the unfair society. Although there was substantial evidence proving Tom’s innocence against Mayella Ewell, Tom was convicted for the rape the Ewell’s made up to disguise their guilty faults. The stereotypical accusation of the unjustifiable verdict costed Tom his life, when he grew “tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own.” (Lee 315). There are always two sides to a story and specifically someone from the black community had their strong opinion on those of the white community. When Calpurnia brought Jem and Scout to her church, they were interrogated by an angered Lula. “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here-they got their church, we got our’n.” (Lee 158). Lula makes a stereotypical judgement, after seeing Jem and Scout she immediately labels them white, and we can infer her thoughts are pulled from her prior knowledge of the stereotypical racist white community. She has never met Jem and Scout yet is quick to group
Jean Louise Finch, known to Maycomb as Scout, is affected by racial discrimination in many ways throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Although most discrimination appears as white people against African American people, there is one case where the discrimination appears as African American people against white people. On a Sunday when Jem and Scout’s father, Atticus, is not home, Calpurnia, their cook, takes the two children to her church. Once there they were confronted by a woman named Lula. She is racist against white people, and shows it by saying, “‘I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillun to n***er church’” (Lee 158). By writing this event into the story, Harper Lee shows how racial discrimination can affect anyone of any race. “The society that imprisons Tom Robinson is the same one that imprisons Scout…” (Durst Johnson 301). Although their reasons for being confined are different, the same society caused it.
Mockingbirds symbolically represent innocent, defenceless individuals, who bring nothing but joy to the world. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Arthur Radley, Tom Robinson and Dolphus Raymond are all symbols of the mockingbird. Many people in Maycomb see these people as mean and cruel but in reality they “don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.”
During the book Scout and Jem are at an age were people around them greatly affect their thoughts, views and ideas about the world. Although Atticus tried to raise them to treat Negroes as equals, people around them affected their views on them. A good example is when Dill questioned the seemingly rude way which Mr. Gilmer treated Tom Robinson. Scout replied by saying, "…after all he's just a Negro." (Lee 201). She believes it to be acceptable. This is not something her father put in her head but people in her town. The same also happens in the black community. When Atticus asks Calpurnia to watch his children for him while he is out, Calpurnia accepts and takes the children with her to church, a church for black people. When she arrives with the children, they are greeted kindly except by a few people. These people use the same reason as in the last example as to why they should not be there, because they are white.
Prejudice is where you judge someone without knowing who the person is, or what they are like. In Maycomb some people were prejudiced especially towards black people who were called niggas, negroes. Maycomb was prejudiced against Boo Radley because he was different. He never went outside during the day, but people knew he went out at night. Bob Ewell was prejudiced against Atticus because he was defending a negro, also because Atticus had power and Bob Ewell didn’t.
Hypocrisy is as much a part of Maycomb’s society as church and community spirit. For example, Mrs. Merriweather talks about saving the poor Mruans from Africa, but she thinks black people in her community are a disgrace (p.234). The hypocrisy of this teaching is shown as soon as she mentions the word ‘persecution’. This is due to the fact that she herself is persecuting the black people of Maycomb by not raising an eyebrow at the killing of innocent black men. Furthermore, it is obvious Bob Ewell is abusive to his daughter, Mayella, and that he is the one who violated her, not Tom Robinson (p.178). Since there is such hypocrisy in Maycomb, there are excuses made for whites. The jury probably thinks that if they pronounce Tom innocent the citizens will mock them as they do to Atticus. Harper Lee uses hypocrisy to show how the people of Maycomb are so engulfed in a variety of elements that they unknowingly complete acts of unjustified discrimination.
Similar to Atticus, Calpurnia takes a stand against racism and believes everyone is equal. Due to Atticus’ and Calpurnia’s morals toward racism, Jem and Scout are heavily influenced by their views, and will most likely take after them. Calpurnia seeks every opportunity possible to educate Jem and Scout that racism is unacceptable. For example, Calpurnia takes the children with her to her black church called First Purchase, and because of this, the children are able to better understand the vast separation of race. Scout learns that not only are white people prejudice, but black people are also prejudice. Most of the negroes at First Purchase were very welcoming as the three entered except for Lula who made them feel unwelcome. "You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here—they got their church, we got our'n” (136). Clearly, Lula is prejudice towards white people, similar to how white people are prejudice towards black people. In addition to these prejudice ways, Scout realizes how differently Calpurnia acts around her folks. Calpurnia stated that talking white folks in her church would be “out of place”, and how “folks don’t like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do” (143). As a result, Calpurnia talks colored-folks’ at her church so she fits in with everyone else, rather than speaking more advanced, which ultimately shows
In the book West Side Story by Arthur Laurents there were many prejudices. Prejudice is a favoring or dislike of something without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge. There were prejudices in West Side Story that had to do with the types of people, their races and sex. Sometimes prejudice can be in small doses and can be meaningless, other times prejudice can be very serious and cause death.
Prejudice meaning pre-judging someone and having an unwarranted bias occurs often in today’s society and has been around since the beginning of time. Prejudice can effect people’s decisions and have an unfair impact on society. The text ‘To kill a mocking-bird’ written by Harper Lee and the movie ‘Philadelphia’ directed by Jonathon Demme explore this idea thoroughly.
Prejudice is a dreadful mindset that people can perceive from another person by their first look. As long as human race roams the Earth, prejudge mental will never cease. However long that we as people stay here on Earth is how long prejudice will last. We frustratingly try to obliterate prejudice, but it always upheaval back with maximum force. People take into consideration peoples race and ethnicity, and if it is diverse from theirs, then that person is probably prejudice towards them in any other ways, shape, or form. Prejudice has been with Mankind since the beginning of the human revolution. The simplest example of prejudice is when it comes to black and white revolution. Since colored human race were slaves in the beginning of American
A small city nestled in the state of Alabama, Maycomb has got its faults, just like any other place in the world, but one of its main faults or (pg.88) “Maycomb's usual disease,” as Atticus calls it in the book is prejudice. Jem and Scout learn a lot about prejudice when a black man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell and their father, Atticus, is called on to be his lawyer. They realize the hate that people have buried deep within their heart when they see a black man accused of doing something only because of his color. On pg.241, Scout starts understanding this and thinks, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” As the case continues, up until the death of Tom Robinson, Jem and Scout learn more and more about prejudice and how the hate that people have towards others causes them to take wrong actions. They also see how unfair it is that a white man can get treated better and think of himself better than a black man only because he was born white. This prejudice and the trial cause Jem and Scout to get in argum...
The hatred that the citizens of Maycomb felt towards the black community extended to anyone who became involved with them, especially the Finch family because Atticus was appointed to defend Tom Robinson. Scout and Jem suffered the most from this hatred because their peers were children, who are nearly always less candid than adults. Most of the people who were unhappy with Atticus would just try to keep away from him, which was bad enough. The children however, verbally abused Scout and Jem. Scout responded to this with physical violence, even though it was discouraged by her father. The sad thing is that they were mistreated even by members of their family, like Scout’s cousin Francis.
Racial prejudice is widespread in the county of Maycomb, and a prime example is the Tom Robinson case. Tom, a black man, was accused of raping Mayella, a white woman. Atticus puts forward all evidence from his witnesses that clearly proves Tom was innocent, Jem even says, ?and we?re gonna win Scout. I don?t see how we can?t? (pg 206), but Tom still received a ?Guilty? verdict. Atticus tried removing the prejudiced thoughts of the jurors by saying, ??the assumption - the evil assumption - that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings??. (pg 208). Atticus? saying insinuated the point that all of God?s children were created equal. To the jury, the only important thing was that Tom was black and the accuser was white, he never stood a chance under those conditions. These racial tensions between blacks and whites had made their way into the courtroom, a place where everyone should receive a fair trial no matter what race or colour, but an unjust verdict was reached. The prejudice that was felt towards Tom made him lose all hope of freedom, and as a result, he died upon an escape attempt. Tom was victim of racial prejudice and loss of hope.
"Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones"- Charlotte Brontë. Nearly every problem and unfortunate mishap in Harper Lee's, To Kill A Mockingbird, has been somehow revolved around prejudice or discrimination. Many different forms of prejudice are found throughout the novel, with racism, sexism, and classicism the most common. The residents of Maycomb have discrimination running through their veins and were raised to be racist and sexist, without realizing. They see nothing wrong with judging other people and treating people that they find inferior harshly. Prejudice is a destructive force because it separates the people of Maycomb, both physically and mentally.