‘’All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’’
The story takes place in the 1930s in alabama in the imaginary district called maycomb county. Blacks during this time period in the south were very oppressed.lynching was a common occurrence. The south was most conservative part of the union that is due in part to the history of slaves,secession from the north.
Humans are in a constants battle with itself whether to kill the mockingbird without knowing the other people’s perspective which later manifest itselfs as racisim, sexisim and classisim due to the lack of empathy
Harper Lee conveys a racial element in
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I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pan’’ said by scout in chapter nine.This reveals the mindset of southern women that they expect girls to carry themselves as ladies since that is what the gender is, even though she's just a kid. she also didn't ask her once about this she just pushed it on to her. Some girls aren't as lucky as scout to have an understanding father, those girls who aren't are trapped in this false identity ‘’lady’’ and ‘’proper lady’’ Dill even got into the action of sexisim though subtle and he had not a clue. ‘’Cry about what, Mr. Raymond?” Dill’s maleness was beginning to assert itself’’ remarked by Dill in chapter twenty. Dill previously said that crying is best reserved for the girls that goes to show you that kids are taught that only girls cry which makes them weak and emotional beings further pushing female …show more content…
‘’... There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors,’’ there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes’’ said jem. Jem is saying there is a class distinction based on a economic standpoint such as wealth/poorness.If you base of by that then is goes from ordinary people and neighbors to negroes as he said in the same order. The blackes would be on the bottom, because everyone else got a headstart and blacks also have little to no opportunities. Their communities were repeatedly harassed. the racist were counterproductive saying there uncivilized so they don't let them get an education to become more civil. they are also projecting what they are uncivilized people lynching blackes who are innocent “”it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”” -Att icus Aunt Alexandra is also a good example of class prejudice because she forbids Jem and Scout to have dinner with walter cunningham because he is beneath their social status “” ...Because—he—is—trash, that’s why you can’t play with him. I’ll not have you around him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows-what. and she also mentioned they don't have a rich family history as the finches. That segregation of the poor, breeds hate withing the poor whites because they're frustrated they were doing alright till there depression happened and put people over the edge. thst
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
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.
“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.
In the United States' Declaration of Independence the founding fathers stated: "…held certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."
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 theme of prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird broadens to a further extent than just the situation of racial discrepancy between the blacks and the whites. Although, the racial discrimination mainly towards the blacks is the most prominent occurrence of injustice at Harper Lee’s time- the early Twentieth century, the whole novel includes several, other forms of prejudice that portray the unfavourable effects that was endured by innocent people. These blameless individuals were referred to mockingbirds, since it was a sin to kill one as said by Atticus, “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” So, therefore mockingbirds are a representation of the main events that occurred during Harper Lee’s life such as having African Americans taking away their life due to the colour of their skin.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
The women in Maycomb county are expected to act, talk, and dress a certain way. Scout is not the average southern girl. At one point Jem is starting to grow up and grow apart from Scout, and he gets tired of her not behaving according to society. Jem commanded Scout, “It's time you started bein and girl and acting right!” (Lee 131). Scout does not fit into the mold of women in Maycomb county. She wears overalls and is adventurous. She does not want to just sit at home all day and do nothing. Scout is curious and wants to be with her brother, but Jem is getting older and does not want to be seen with his sister. One lady in the neighborhood, Mrs. Debose, often criticises Scout for not wearing dresses and always being dirty. One time she even said to Jem, “So you brought that dirty little sister of yours, did you?”(Lee 122). Scout plays outside with Jem and is not always inside helping with housework. She is a kid. She should be able to play outside and get dirty without being ridiculed for not being a proper lady. Children need to have time to go and play. They need time to be kids. If Scout wants to wear overalls and play outside, no one should judge her for doing so, or her father for letting
Thus making it seem as though women can’t handle tough situations. This does not reside well with Scout because she is a woman and knows she could handle it. This shows how females are classified into a group that is delicate and incapable of doing things. Secondly, Scout is told many times that she is not enough like a girl but she does not really care. Scout proclaims, “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants” (Lee108). This puts an idea in Scout’s head that she must wear a dress to be accepted as a woman and that it is wrong for her to do adventurous things outside like she does with Jem. If Scout wasn’t such a happy and confident person, this could make her feel like there is something wrong with her and that she is different in a bad way. Nonetheless, she doesn’t listen to Aunt Alexandra because she really does not care what people think of her. Scout does not allow the stereotypes of being a lady classify her into that specific status. Thirdly, Scout doesn’t like being called a girl because the characteristics
In the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout was child who was just starting school. Without a mother, she grew up with her father and brother. This affects her because… The reader is able to see her before the majority begins to try and change her, from her escapades in the summertime with Jem and Dill, to her hard temper whenever someone insults her family. But as she grows older and her actions become more unruly, Maycomb’s majority begins to usher her away from these actions. "Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants (108),” said Scout about her Aunt, who supposedly moved in with Scout’s family to help her niece act with more maturity like a woman. As the book progresses and years pass, Jem, her relatives, and the neighborhood ladies all continue their pressure on Scout to comply with their wishes. At first, Scout dismisses their hopes of her acting more like a girl. When her Uncle Jack asks her if she wanted to be a lady when she grew up, Scout simply responded that she didn’t particularly want to. But in order to make peace with her Aunt as they began to irritate each other, Scout became more open to the idea of trying to act like a girl. After hearing the news of Tom’s death, Scout even says, “if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I (318).” This shows that while having the pressure of her family and the women of the town to conform into acting like a girl, Scout resisted them as much as she could. In the end, Scout is still somewhat of an ‘Other,’ as she is still stuck with her tomboyish personality, but she showed significant changes toward the wishes of Maycomb’s majority
To Kill a Mockingbird “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 30). Atticus Finch teaches his children to look at life and people in a different way, and he also practices what he preaches to his children. By focusing on the coexistence of good and evil, the importance of moral education, and the existence of social inequality, one could argue to prove these points and how they form the themes of Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the novel, readers see the good and the evil come out of most people.
A mockingbird is a harmless bird that creates music for the enjoyment of people, thereby symbolizing innocence. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch, an attorney for the state of Alabama, teaches his children, Jem and Scout many valuable lessons, such as how it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, which symbolizes destroying innocence. He also teaches his children to step into the shoes of another person before passing judgement, which helps his children to get a grasp of the destructive nature of prejudice. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the symbol of a mockingbird to demonstrate how even the most harmless and selfless people, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are faced
When looking at race relations and social injustice during the 1930s, one can see how it harmed the lifestyle of blacks. In chapter 12, when Calpurnia brought Atticus and the children to church someone told 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?” Calpurina said “its the same God ain’t it ?” (Owell 119). For Scout and Jem to be young, they experience racism at a young age and for Calpurnia being black and bring white people to an all black church because In other eyes it wasn’t right to do. An article on race relations , says that “Problems of the Great Depression affected virtually every group of African Americans” (“Race Relations in the 1930s and 1940s”). The Great Depression leads to massive unemployment, that led to poverty and homelessness. Blacks faced unemployment of 50 percent or more and whites faced less than 20 percent. While women searched for jobs, children dropped out of school and some runaway, minorites were to be hired and racism was becoming higher. Social injustice occurred during the 1930s and African Americans were affected more than anybody during this time. In Chapter 20, when Atticus is speaking to the jury on
To kill a mockingbird holds many messages in regards to the equality among all people, These messages are communicated through the experiences that the children go through whilst growing up. Throughout the novel, as the children grow up the country; America is also growing, maturing and learning what exactly it means to be equal. The events that the children experience in Maycomb county Alabama lead them to see the world in a different light, these experiences make the children see that the world is not black and white and that society's perception of the world and what is right may be flawed but ultimately, what this novel is trying to communicate to the readers is sympathy and the understanding or empathy of and toward others.