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Discrimination themes in to kill a mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
Discrimination throughout to kill a mockingbird
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The Racist community of Maycomb County is undoubtedly evident. Throughout the book we see that Tom Robinson is the victim of Maycomb County. He is not treated fairly in the court because of the color of his skin. With the extreme prejudice of the south, Tom Robinson is sentenced to death row for a crime he didn’t commit. The clearly racist views of the south is evidence from the attempted lynching of Robinson, and the unfair trial of Robinson. The night before Tom Robinson’s trial, he is moved to the Maycomb County Jail. The reason for the transfer is the rising fear of a lynch mob. Atticus decides to go to the jail that night to prevent the lynching from taking place. As Atticus is reading his newspaper the children see that a group of men
pull up in cars. With Scout’s help the mob is convinced not to lynch Tom Robinson. “...so it took an eight year old child to bring them to their senses ... that proves something—that a gang of wild animals can be stopped simply because they are humans." (pg. 154), this is saying that Scout was able to bring them to their senses so they didn’t lynch Robinson. This is a clear example of prejudice and racism against blacks. They were going to kill Robinson even though he hasn’t been proven guilty yet. The citizens of Maycomb county have written him off as guilty because he is black. He was automatically assumed guilty once they heard that an alleged rape of white girl by a black man has occured. So they were going to lynch Robinson due to the fact of unsupported allegations circulating around Maycomb. Tom Robinson’s trial was unfair is unfair from the start. Mr. Heck Tate testifies first by saying that Mr. Ewell got the sheriff and told him that his daughter was raped by negro. Tom Robinson was shown to Mayella Ewell and she confirmed that he did it. Though no one would listen to the fact that no doctor was consulted on the rape to confirm it happened. It was based only on that Tom Robinson was negro and allegedly raped a Mayella according to only Mr. Ewell and Mayella. The only other witnesses was Mayella and Mr. Ewell. These testimonies could easily be altered because the only true witnesses are Mr. Ewell and Mayella. Heck tate’s testimony was based off what Mr. Ewell told him. "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box.”( pg. 243), this quote is saying that Tom Robinson deserved a fair trial but did not receive one from the slanted view of maycomb. The Jury debates for hours only to confirm that Tom Robinson is guilty. This was an unjust jury because their was no proper evidence proving Robinson raped Mayella. Though everyone believed Robinson did it because he is black. So Tom Robinson got an unjust trial just because of the color of his skin. As we see throughout the novel, Tom Robinson was a victim of extremely racist and prejudice treatment in Maycomb County. This novel would have been different if a white man was convicted because he would have at least got a fair trial and a chance to prove his innocence. Despiste Atticus Finch's best effort Tom Robinson was later sentenced to death. This just goes to show that the south was an unfair environment for blacks. From Robinsons attempted lynching to the unfair trial, it just goes to show that Maycomb county was extremely prejudice and racist.
Just like in the case of Tom Robinson, this town is just as racist as Maycomb. Over a hundred men stood outside the jail hoping for a good time beating and killing the men, which can be compared to the few who were outside Maycomb’s jail.
... that complete the story of the children and the Tom Robinson trial. Although he was a flat character, he helped some of the other characters come alive. A large fragment of the meaning of this novel was growing up and maturing. Atticus nurtured the children and overall created a perfect example for them to grow up watching. In the time of this book, segregation was a big part of life in Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus, being a lawyer was in the middle of the fight between blacks and whites. Although the controversy was intense, Atticus understood the perspective of the Negroes and understood the struggle of living in Alabama at that time. When Atticus is appointed to defend Tom, he was blind as to what events would occur. Overall he was calm when people condemned him. The character of Atticus was an essential part of the novel and the lives of the people in the novel.
Atticus protects Tom Robinson when they move him to the county jail the day before the trial. “Nobody around here’s up to anything, it’s that Old Sarum bunch I’m worried about…. you’re not scared of that crowd, are you?” (194). Atticus asks Sheriff Heck Tate if he’s scared of a group of guys who just want to lynch Tom Robinson but Atticus shows courage by going down to the jail to protect Tom from the Old Sarum group.
When Jem and Scout found out that their father would be defending a black person, they knew immediately that there would be much controversy, humiliation from the people of Maycomb and great difficulty keeping Tom alive for the trial. It was not long when Atticus had to leave the house very late to go to jail, where Tom was kept because many white people wanted to kill him. Worrying about their father, Jem and Scout sneak out of the house to find him. A self-appointed lynch mob has gathered on the jail to take justice into their own hands. Scout decides to talk to Walter Cunningham, one of the members of the mob.
Imagine there are two eggs; one is white, and one is brown. They have the same inside, but their shells are different colors. Discrimination is the equivalent of choosing the white egg over the brown egg, just because it’s appearance. During the time of the Great Depression, African-Americans were treated inadequately based on their skin color, even though the treatment was unethical. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, marginalized characters demonstrate heroic traits effectively despite discrimination of race and social class. Even without major voices, marginalized characters are unlikely heroes that change society’s views by being caring and helpful towards others.
Tom Robinson is a kind black man whom Atticus is defending against the charge that he raped Mayella Ewell. Atticus knows that he will lose because Tom is black, but he also knows that Tom is innocent and that he has to defend him. Tom Robinson is portrayed as a hard-working father and husband in the novel and he was only attempting to help Mayella since no one else would, but she made advances that he refused and her father saw them. On the witness stand, he testifies that he helped her because, "'Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun.'" (256). Even though Tom helps Mayella out of kindness and pity, Mayella is trapped and must accuse him of raping her to save her own life. Shortly after being wrongfully convicted
Nearly the whole last half of the book is about racism. The attitude of the whole town is that Tom Robinson, because he is black and,"…all Negroes lie,…all Negroes are basically immoral beings,…all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…"(Lee 207), will be found guilty regardless of how good a case Atticus makes for him. There was substantial amount of evidence that suggests his innocence. Even the prosecution's two witnesses' stories contradicted each other. The jury did not give a guilty verdict it gave a racist verdict. Not a verdict based on fact, but a verdict based on the color of a man's skin. This is important because the author was not making this racism up; it was what it was like in those times. She is trying to show how ignorant and blind people can be just because of differences between them, as well as how society treats racial minorities.
In the courtroom that night it is revealed that the alleged crimes of Tom Robinson, a decent Negro man, most likely did not happen. As Atticus says in his closing argument, "The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is” (Lee 271). Showing the clear innocence of Tom Robinson due to lack of evidence, Scout thinks that the white jury will do the right thing only to find out that they still, unfairly, accuse him of being guilty. Scout and her brother, Jem, get very upset when they hear the verdict, however, it allows them both to learn the lesson that the county is unfair towards anyone who is not white. The county demonstrates this evil racism due to the social divisions in Maycomb between the whites and the blacks and because the whites see the blacks as unworthy of rights and freedoms. It was not just the trial itself that displayed evil in the world, but the comments and arguments surrounding the case did
The racism within Maycomb is so strong that Tom Robinson is marginalized from the treasonous people within the jail and viewed as beneath them, even subhuman. Various characters in the novel believe other races are animalistic, in that way a caste system revealed. In an interracial environment, one will belittle a human that stands out to be different. African Americans are placed beneath everyone as if being put in a cage. This results into many inequality debates,
Racism presents itself in many ways in the town of Maycomb. Some are blatant and open, but others are more insidious. One obvious way that racism presents itself is in the result of Tom Robinson’s trial. Another apparent example is the bullying Jem and Scout had to endure as a result of Atticus’s appointment as Tom Robinson’s defense attorney. A less easily discernible case is the persecution of Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who chose to live his life in close relation with the colored community.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's only novel, is a fictional story of racial oppression, set in Maycomb, A.L. in 1925 to 1935, loosely based on the events of the Scottsboro trials. Unlike the story however, the racial discrimination and oppression in the novel very accurately portrays what it was like in the 1920's and 1930's in the south. Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a poor low class white girl of 19, never stood a chance of getting a fair trial. This can be supported by giving examples of racially discriminatory and oppressive events that actually took place in the south during the time period in which the novel is based. In addition to actual historical events, events and examples from the book that clearly illustrate the overpoweringly high levels of prejudice that were intertwined in the everyday thinking of the majority of the characters in the book supports the fact that Tom Robinson never stood a chance of getting a fair trial.
this story that causes controversy because of his skin color. Is the story’s relevance based on Mr. Robinson and his skin color? In my opinion yes, the book revolves all around his skin color and racism of the time. Tom Robinson is treated unfairly because he was black not because of what he supposedly did. The controversial subject matter in this book is immense in numbers, but out of all them, racism stands out the most. A question that has come to mind after reading this book is, today is racism still a hostile problem and as big as it was in the 1930s? Throughout this research paper I will gather information about racism from the 30s, and also today. Then I’ll compare and contrast the differences between the past and present and come to a conclusion.
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.
the racial hatred of the people. Black people were thought to be inferior to white people and in the 1960s when the novel was written, black communities were rioting and causing disturbances to get across the point that they were not inferior to white people. After Abolition Black people were terrorised by the Ku Klux Klan, who would burn them, rape the women, and torture the children and the reader is shown an example of. this in Chapter 15 where a group of white people, go to the county. jail to terrorise Tom Robinson.
We stood and watched as the dark figures got out of the dusty cars and moved towards Atticus and Tom Robinson’s cell. I had a theory of what they were trying to do: kill the accused. It’s not common for a group of men to be going to the jail in the middle of the night dressed in such a way. I was sure that they wanted to commit an act of lynching when they put the sheriff into this. The men wanted Atticus to draw back, but I knew he isn’t that kind of person.