Racism And Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, written by renowned author Harper Lee, was published on July 11, 1960. Her novel received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize and has become a modern-day American classic novel. The book’s setting is in Alabama and occurs when widespread racism and discrimination are high in the South. The name of the book arises from the common belief and saying that, ’It is a sin to kill a mockingbird’. To Kill A Mockingbird is narrated by Scout Finch, about her father, Atticus Finch, a well-known lawyer who fights to prove the innocence of a black man (Tom Robinson), who is unjustly accused of rape, and about Boo Radley, her mysterious neighbor who saves both her and her brother Jem from being killed. Throughout the book, the …show more content…

To Kill A Mockingbird reinforced my opinion that one should always stand up for what one believes, despite what anyone else may think. Furthermore, it emphasized my belief of “not everyone seems as they appear”. This was cemented through the case of Boo Radley. Moreover, it reiterated my belief of not believing in gossip, or, in the words of Marcus Aurelius, “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is perspective, not the truth”. This was again highlighted through the case of Boo Radley and the gossip the children heard and originally believed about …show more content…

This is the most significant belief that remained with me throughout the book. Although I already had this impression, this phrase stuck with me as I felt it to be so pure and so precise. As mentioned in the book, the meaning of this phrase is that to kill or harm something as pure as a mockingbird, which only tries to bring happiness through the world through its music, is immoral and a sin. Here, the mockingbird refers to Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of rape when all he had tried to do was help, as he had felt sympathy for Maya Ewell, someone who found him inferior to her and continued to do so despite her falsely convicting him. This belief is so pure and good that this phrase will stick with me forever, never letting me forget the book To Kill A

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