Are prejudices rooted in every person's nature? "To Kill a Mockingbird" looks into this question, revealing the layers of bias that seem rooted in Maycomb society beyond the lines of race. In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee, the author, explores the theme of prejudice beyond race, incorporating prejudices like class, gender, and social status. This is seen through characters like the Cunninghams, the Ewells, Dolphus Raymond, Scout, and Boo Radley. The emphasis on less-focused prejudices indicates the importance of the need for change and introspection in Maycomb society. Looking at the layers of prejudice, class prejudice is seen through the Cunninghams and Ewells. It is a look at how wealth, or the lack thereof, has changed the way people are seen …show more content…
While Scout is talking to Atticus, he exposes a deeper layer of gender prejudice when he says that “Miss Maudie can’t be on a jury because she’s a woman." Scout is in disbelief and asks, “You mean women in Alabama can't?” Atticus responds, “I do”. I guess it’s to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom’s. Besides,” Atticus grinned, “I doubt if we’d ever get a complete case tried, the ladies’d be interrupting to ask questions” (252). Women not being allowed on the jury reveals the systemic gender prejudices in the Maycomb legal system. Atticus’s ironic grin suggests a change in these outdated views, exemplifying the absurdity and injustice of gender-based exclusion. "To protect our frail ladies patronizes women, saying they are too delicate to handle serious scenarios in life, which simultaneously infantilizes them and belittles their worth. The court being exclusive to women is particularly relevant because it illustrates institutionalized gender discrimination, not just personal, adding complexity to
After the jury decided that Tom would be sentenced to death Jem and Scout are confused why “you never see anybody from Maycomb on a jury-they all come from the woods” (221 Lee)” Atticus honestly answers,”For one thing, Miss Maudie can't serve on a jury because she's a woman-’ Scout says ‘You mean women in Alabama can't-?’" (221 Lee) Scout believes that men and women are equal and aren’t smarter than one another. Normally women or girls don’t question if they can be on a jury or not, they just accept it. However, Scout breaks gender roles by questioning why someone can’t be on a jury just because of their gender. She’s in awe when she realizes someone as smart as Miss Maudie can’t be in the jury just because she’s a woman. Jem and Scout first meet the 7 year old Charles “Dill” Baker Harris reading a book at his Aunt Rachel’s house. Dill introduces himself and that he can read and if Jem needed anything to be read he can do it for him. That caused him to show off his little sister. “Scout yonder's been readin’ ever since she was born and she ain’t even started school yet (7 Lee)” In the south during the 1930s women weren’t expected to read. School wasn’t supposed to care or be the focus. They were supposed to have other things on their minds like how the look, making sure they act like a proper lady and being able to cook.
Why are different races and social classes treated so differently? Why was education so horrible at some points in time? Two of the characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird are Jem and Scout. When Jem and Scout are growing up, they find out that many things are not as they seem. Certain people are not treated as well as others just because of the color of their skin, how they live, educational status, or even on just urban legend. At courthouses back then, blacks had to sit in a balcony. Many people in this time were so uneducated that they couldn’t read out of hymn books at church, if they had any. Harper Lee wrote a story to express the different kinds of prejudice and educational problems in the 1930’s in Maycomb County, Alabama.
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.
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 defined as an "opinion formed without taking the time and care to judge fairly".In the novel 'To kill a mocking bird' there are several themes present like growing up, bravery and prejudice, but the main theme in this book is prejudice.
racism in the society is not as strong as it used to be but it is
“Agape means understanding, redeeming good will for all men… Therefore, agape makes no distinction between friends and enemy.” Martin Luther King Jr.’s “An Experiment in Love” emphasizes the importance of understanding and compassion, and the equality of all men on earth, for “all men are brothers.” To Kill a Mockingbird, set in the 1930’s, similarly examines these ideas during the time of the Great Depression, when many families were unable to find work and therefore became impoverished. It was also a time when racism was largely present. In many situations, racism was taught to one’s children, and then to the next generation. When ignorance is taught to children by their own parents, it is not uncommon that those children will continue
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 How to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee contains one overbearing theme: extreme prejudice. Throughout the novel “Scout” and her brother “Jem”; their real names being Jean Louise Finch and Jeremy Atticus Finch respectively, are victims and perpetrators of prejudice. In the novel, the children’s father Atticus Finch is the defense attorney for Mr. Tom Robinson, a black man convicted of raping white women with only circumstantial evidence. This evidence only pointing to Mayella Ewell being assaulted not by him; but by her father, Mr. Bob Ewell. Tom Robinson is only a victim of prejudice, alongside a multitude of people, all because of gender, socioeconomic, and/or racial aspects of their lives.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee describes the theme of prejudice throughout the novel by a series of events. The story follows the young protagonist and narrator Jean Louise "Scout" Finch and her elder brother Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch. Prejudice is evident in the book at many different times. From Jem and Scouts first encounter with Boo Radley to the court trial of Tom Robinson. During both of these cases the characters represented are prejudiced to a point, whether it be socially or racially. The two described here come face to face with prejudice when they try to break free from the rules of Maycomb counties society, resulting in negative consequences. Stereotypes and misjudgment also play a key role in the prejudice that the characters have to face. It shows how people are bent and shaped to fit and adhere to societies standards and expectations.
Why do people these days tend to make fun of other people based on that person’s clothing and their skin color? Why don’t people realize that these assumptions can lead to violence? It could also end up killing innocent citizens who don’t have anything to do with this. In another way you can put it is that, prejudice ruins and sometimes even destroys humans. It also causes people to lose the way they look at their fellow human. . In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how prejudice causes people to believe in rumors, judge others by their skin color, and the beliefs of others.
In Maycomb, men have the rigorous, and back-breaking jobs that women “can not” perform. When Atticus said "I doubt if we'd ever get a complete case tried—the ladies'd be interrupting to ask questions" (296) it shows ignorance. Atticus demonstrates basic sexism by assuming ladies cannot keep their comments to themselves in a courtroom. Atticus’s comments confirm Scout’s thoughts that girls are weak and not as good as boys. Overall, the reader can connect sexist issues in “To Kill a Mockingbird” to the present day world.
"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.