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To kill a mockingbird themes of social differences
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To kill a mockingbird themes of social differences
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Micah Bodin
Professor Name
ENGL-1003-W01
27 March 2017
To Kill a Mockingbird: Racism and Morality
Racism as an issue has been a matter of fact among the human societies since the end of the 19th century. Black people were predetermined throughout the history by the racist societies due to their skin color.(Rezazade). To Kill a Mockingbird, is set in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, 1930’s. The story involves the court case of Tom Robinson, an innocent black man that has been accused of beating and raping Mayella Ewell. Racial injustice, innocence, and biases are all apparent in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Racism in the 1930s was very much alive and in the book we see racial injustice during the court case when Atticus Finch, a respected white
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man decides to defend Tom Robinson. Robinson is a black man who is falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell and a victim of racial injustice. Racial injustice is when people are denied rights based on their race or racial background. Atticus wants to defend him and expose the unjust court system to the attention of the people. To do this, Atticus says to the jury, “The state has not produced any evidence that Mayella was ever raped. Their two witnesses, Mayella and Bob Ewell, didn’t have their stories straight.”(Lee 70). Here Atticus is trying to tell the jury that it is clear that Tom Robinson has done nothing to Mayella and that they are clearly lying to the judge and jury. He then goes on to say “But she has accused an innocent man to get rid of her own guilt. She feels guilt because she liked a black man and tried to kiss him. Our society does not allow this. Now she seeks to destroy him so that she doesn’t have to face her own guilt. She must destroy the evidence of her offense.”(Lee 70). During this time, it was unacceptable for a white woman and black man to kiss, hug, or even have sex. It would usually end up with the man being killed and in this particular situation it ended with Ewell being beat. “Tom did not rape Mayella. All he did was try to get away when she kissed him. Don’t let your prejudices get the better of you and make you think he’s guilty just because he’s black.”(Lee 70). Again Atticus tries to tell the jury that he is an innocent man and should not be found guilty because of the color of his skin, but even after all of the evidence pointed to the innocence of Tom Robinson, he was found guilty by the jury. The racial profiling, done by the jury had cost him his freedom. After the trial Tom tried to escape the jail, feeling hopeless because of the decision of in the trial. Tom understood that no matter the evidence, he would be found guilty because he is black. So he decided to take his chances with escaping and was shot and killed. Atticus tells Calpurnia, “I guess Tom was tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own.”(Lee 79). This statement further explains how Tom had lost hope because of the racial injustice he has experienced. During chapter 9 of the book, Scout almost has a fight with her classmate named Cecil Jacobs after he says “Scout Finch’s daddy defends niggers.” Another instance is when Francis says “Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you run wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger-lover…”(Lee) This shows that even some of the children have been tainted by their parents terrible beliefs. The fact that Ewell refers to Tom Robinson as a nigger also proves this further. Racism was still very apparent in the 1930s, especially in southern states such as Alabama, and the court case in the novel helps show this. Racial biases in the court during the 1930s was apparent and even in today's court system we can see racial bias.
For Snyder v. Louisiana was a case where Allen Snyder, who was “an African-American man, was tried for the murder of his estranged wife’s companion” (Robbennolt and Taksin).During the jury selection, the prosecution used peremptory strikes (when you excuse a juror without offering a reason) to remove five African-American prospective jurors. This lead to the jury being all white, which is similar to the court case in the book where the entire jury was only white males. This could have lead to racial bias in both courts. Another similarity is that Robinson and Snyder were both found guilty by the all white jury. Both of these Racial biases are a form of implicit bias, which refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect an individual’s understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner. The racial biases towards black men during the time of To Kill a Mockingbird was that they were not to be trusted because they were immoral beings, liars, and could not be trusted around women. This of course is not true and lead to a lot of wrongdoings in the justice system Some of the racial biases towards black males in the 1930s were that they all lie, can not be trusted around white mens women and that they are immoral beings. Atticus tried his best to have justice prevail in the court saying “Don’t let your prejudices get the better of you and make you think he’s guilty just because he’s black.”(Lee 70). Despite this, the jurors biases got in the way and lead to Robinson being guilty. Mattie Johnstone and Joshua M. Zachariah said that “Selection procedures that purposefully exclude black persons from juries undermine public confidence in the fairness of our system of justice.” This is seen when Robinson decides that he has lost faith in the jury and tries to escape. This leads to Robinson being shot and killed by the police. The racial biases of the
jury lead to the death of an innocent man. Atticus holds firmly to his morals, and even goes as far as to defend an African American man, something that no other lawyer in Maycomb would do honestly. Atticus has already experienced the evils of racism and has yet to lose faith for the goodness of humans. We can see this when he tries to convince the all white jury to look past the biases that they hold against black men and women, and to see the lies that the Ewell’s are making. Atticus believes that the jury will do the right thing, but instead they destroy the innocent Tom Robinson
To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a rural southern town in the 1930s, when racism was commonly accepted. Blacks were
“Beneath the armor of skin and bone and mind, most of our colors are amazingly the same.” This quote by Aberjhani is very relatable to “To Kill A Mockingbird”. The novel by Harper Lee was published in 1960. The book involves racism, rape, and inequality. A major theme in the book is unfairness. Maycomb County is a small, prejudice town in Alabama. The town is divided between racist Whites, and innocent Blacks. African Americans had no rights and no power in the 1930s. Whites had a lot more rights, and had power over the Black community. From innocent Blacks being killed, court siding with Whites, Maycomb is a very unfair town.
Tom Robinson is at the stand being questioned by Mr. Gilmer. Dill starts to feel sick because of how Mr. Gilmer is treating Tom. The narrator explains, “Well, Dill,after all he is just a negro” (Lee 266).This piece of evidence shows that prejudice is used as an antagonist in the novel by giving an unfair trial to Tom Robinson. The quote states “he is just a negro,” which shows that the trial is unfair just because of the towns racial views on people of color. The jury is all white and the case is black versus white. The jury is very biased towards the case. The prosecuting lawyers and defending lawyer are giving their closing statements. Atticus ends with a powerful speech that prove Tom is innocent and his views on race. The jury thinks over all the evidence for a long time and come to a verdict. The author of To Kill A Mockingbird quotes, “Guilty...Guilty...Guilty...Guilty…” (Lee 282). This quote shows the jury is very prejudice. There is more than enough evidence to prove Tom did not rape Mayella and that Bob Ewell beat her. Even though there is enough evidence to proves Tom’s innocence the jury’s verdict is guilty just because of their hate and their prejudice towards African Americans. Ultimately, prejudice is being used as an antagonist is very thoroughly shown throughout the entirety of the
In the 1930’s, many African American men were wrongly accused of rape and murder. The issue of racism is brought up in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” when Scout overhears her teacher saying that it’s a great thing that this is happening to Tom Robinson because the black men are getting too comfortable thinking that they’re mighty. Racism didn’t only affect Tom Robinson, but it also affected those who supported him. The lives of Scout and her family are changed when Scout's father, who is a lawyer, steps in and defends Tom Robinson. Atticus’ lawsuit affects Scout and his children in several ways.
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.
The story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee portrays many different scenarios of racial discrimination. Discrimination occurs in the book and many people are affected by the racial slurs and other occurrences. In the story, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson are all people that are discriminated against or are affected by discrimination. Racial discrimination is a major part of To Kill a Mockingbird.
To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb, Alabama when segregation was popular in the southern states. This is a time period where women were supposed to be proper and the men were supposed to be complete gentlemen; while the black folk were supposed to stay separated from the rest of society. When the Blacks were accused of anything by Whites they would immediately would be pressed with charges. With To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme of the importance of moral education, the motif of small town life (everybody knowing each others business), and how a different time period or geographical location would affect the events within the novel; these few things have an important significance throughout Harper Lee's book.
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.
To Kill a Mockingbird: Race Relations Racism is a problem that has been around for multiple centuries. In To Kill a Mockingbird, it demonstrates how racism can affect one person even in the court of law. In this story, the case of Tom Robinson is told. It is obvious that Robinson is a victim of racist people that see him guilty only because of his race, African American. From the beginning, it seems obvious that Robinson does not have a chance of winning his case, whether he is guilty or not.
In a desperate attempt to save his client, Tom Robinson, from death, Atticus Finch boldly declares, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). The gross amounts of lurid racial inequality in the early 20th century South is unfathomable to the everyday modern person. African-Americans received absolutely no equality anywhere, especially not in American court rooms. After reading accounts of the trials of nine young men accused of raping two white women, novelist Harper Lee took up her pen and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a blistering exposition of tragic inequalities suffered by African Americans told from the point of view of a young girl. Though there are a few trivial differences between the events of the Scottsboro trials and the trial of Tom Robinson portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the accusers’ attitudes towards attention, the two cases share a superabundance of similarities. Among these are the preservation of idealist views regarding southern womanhood and excessive brutality utilized by police.
Racism is a huge problem around the world. It ruins lives and makes people not want to live because of all the disgusting effects that come with it. The worst thing about racism is that people can’t control what color skin they have and how they look but people still judge them and don’t respect them. Racism discriminates characters because discriminates characters because it prevents, equal respect, equal laws / rights, and equal fairness.
Segregation has played a substantial role throughout American history. Many court cases and different trials in different time periods have proven that a person’s skin color can dictate many things, such as where they go to school and where they sit on public transportation. The struggle to achieve equality was made even more difficult by the legislation of the Plessy vs. Ferguson case.
The theme of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird is the existence of racism and prejudice in the 1930 – 40's. Harper Lee succeeds in presenting the topic in a manner that is not overly simplistic and thus achieves the task of allowing the reader to fully appreciate the complex nature of unjust discrimination. Harper Lee's inclusion of characters such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Dolphus Raymond and many others, aid the reader to grasp the concept of racism and its central role in the town of Maycomb.
Did you know that Maycomb, Alabama doesn’t exist in the real world? That’s right, the town in Alabama was a place made up by harper lee.To Kill A Mockingbird was published in 1960 and was greatly famous soon after. In this story it clearly demonstrates what problems were happening during the early 1900’s like the Great Depression, and the racial injustice.That’s interesting because Harper Lee explains the life in the south from a made up town that clearly shows the life struggles of a southerner that actually dealt with these problems in the 1900’s.The setting in Maycomb in many ways plays a significant part in the story because of the racial segregation that is clear in unfair trial cases, treating blacks with segregation and the difference in the black churches.
Many communities in the states of South America were built by the use of slaves. This created racial tension as the white class perceived themselves to be far superior to their coloured slaves. The racial tension and prejudices had a substantial impact on the behaviour of members in the community and had a strong influence on the way laws were founded and administered. This racial prejudice can clearly be seen in the movie ‘A Time to Kill’ by Joel Schumacher and the book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Lee Harper. These two mediums have a number of similarities which can be compared.