Sexism, Prejudice, and Racism in Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

Throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird Lee discusses the effects of ignorance and the toll it takes on people such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Scout herself, and many more. Through her examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the populist of poverty stricken Southerners, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of ignorance are the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story. A good example of this injustice is the trial of Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white girl and is found guilty. The book is from the point of view Scout, a child, who has an advantage over most kids due to her having a lawyer as a dad, to see the other side of the story. Her father tells her in the story, “you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.” (Lee 200).

The most apparent theme of discrimination in To Kill A Mockingbird is racism, however there is more than just that. Other types of discrimination exist in To Kill A Mockingbird such as prejudice towards women, sexism. For example, Scout says, “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 anything that required pants” (Lee 59).

This part of the book shows the views of how a woman should be and the importance of the female voice. The Pulitzer prize winning novel, published in 1960, To Kill A Mockingbird is written through the eyes of a young girl and follows her through the experience of childhood growing up in the racist, prejudice, and sexist south during the great depression. This serves as a platform for the guidance of her father, who she looks up too, to combat the judgment of oth...

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...14 Jan. 2014.

Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA149353018&v=2.1&u=avlr&it=r&p=LitRG&sw=w&asid=419f38ec5c9b18412ef244089f43a576 Flynt, Wayne. "The enduring legacy of To Kill a Mockingbird: universal values: a half century after its first publication, Harper Lee's only novel continues to shape character and touch lives the world over." Alabama Heritage 97 (2010): 6+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA233291611&v=2.1&u=avlr&it=r&p=LitRG&sw=w&asid=3ffaf2f71f7f67751e3729418514353a Metress, Christopher. "'To Kill a Mockingbird': Threatening Boundaries." The Mississippi Quarterly 48.2 (1995): 397+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

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