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 …show more content…
As expected, Tom lost the trial even though it was clear he was innocent. He just happened to be a black man. Later on, when Tom is in jail, it is revealed that he had been shot 17 times. This brings Maycomb's prejudice to light; for there was no good reason to shoot Tom 17 times. If it had been a white man, there would’ve been 1 gunshot and it would have been over. This incident shows the unnecessary violence and hatred that has plagued colored people for decades. Black folks had so much prejudice thrown against them in Maycomb, and they were also treated badly because of their class and wealth. Class prejudice is another big issue in Maycomb, with people looking down on any of the families that were poor. The Cunninghams are a good example of this. In the beginning of the story Scout and Jem invite Walter Cunningham to supper, for he was extremely poor and could not afford a meal. Atticus treated him like a normal person, despite his low class. Scout was confused by this due to the stigma around poor people being “trashy” and less than classy. Calpurnia explained to her that he was still a person, no matter what everyone
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.
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout learns valuable lessons on the evil of prejudice present in her Southern town of Maycomb, on the true nature of courage, and on the dangers of judging others before "...climbing into their skin and walking around in it." Set in the mid 1930s, Scout Finch is a young girl living with her older brother, Jem, and her lawyer father. Being a kid, Scout has the simple duties of a minor, to have fun and to stay out of trouble. But along the way, she also learns many important things. Although the majority of her hometown is prejudiced, Scout's innocent mind remains non prejudice and caring of others. To her, all is equal, so therefore, should be treated equal. There is no doubt that Scout's character is one whom is an individual, someone whom will stick to her own perspective no matter how cruel and racist other people can be. In her adult world, Scout learns to treat all people fairly with dignity and respect.
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.
“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.
Although the theme of racism is more pronounced in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme of sexism is definitely there as well. Even Atticus, along with some other characters, said some sexist statements. In the end, Scout seems to accept the fact that she is a girl and she will always be one. She starts to accept Aunt Alexandra’s ways and embraces being a lady. By the end of the novel, Scout figures out what being a lady means to certain people and starts learning to live with
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 To Kill a Mockingbird, the main protagonist, Scout, is living in a time where people thought of women as a minority, believed women had to act and look a certain way, and also presumed that women have lower intelligence then men. Their assumptions and beliefs about Scout reveals that
Even though many social forces impact Scout in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, gender impacts Scout the greatest. It affects her in how other people treat her. Unexpectedly, Aunt Alexandra shows up at the Finch household, and Scout asks why she had just shown up. Aunt Alexandra replies, “We decided that it would be good for you to have some feminine influence. It won’t be many years, Jean Louise, before you become interested in clothes and boys” (127). After Alexandra says this, Scout becomes puzzled because she does not think she needs a “feminine influence”. But, as she becomes older she is expected to act more lady like. Since she is a girl, she is expected to act prim and proper. Her being raised around men is acting against these stereotypes. Certainly, it is obvious that boys are more daring than girls. So while Jem and Dill want to get a sneak peak inside of Boo Radley’s house, Scout gets a little apprehensive. Jem shouts out, “Scout I’m telling you for the last time shut your trap or go home. I declare to the lord you’re getting more like a girl every day,” (51-52). After Jem said this, she decides she has no option but to join them. She does...
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’.