Both Skeeter and Scout face discrimination in both of their towns. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and in the film The Help directed by Tate Taylor both share the same theme which was that segregation in the South was evil. In To Kill a Mockingbird the story is told by Scout Finch, the main character. The book takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, the “tired old town”, during 1933 through 1935. It is learned that her father Atticus Finch, an attorney, tries to prove the innocence of an African-American man named Tom Robinson from an accusation of rape. The story goes on to tell the reader that Scout’s mysterious neighbor Boo Radley saves Scout and her brother Jem from Bob Ewell. The film The Help was set in 1960’s Mississippi. The …show more content…
Her dad explains to her that it is okay to be called a African-American lover. Her dad tells her that it is not a bad thing to love everyone. Despite all the racial discrimination around her she still loves everyone equally. Scout’s father explains to her that he tries his best to love everyone equally. He was trying to imply that she should love everyone equally as well. He states, “I do my best to love everyone...I’m hard put, sometimes-baby, it’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you” (Lee, 109). Scout understands that loving everyone no matter their skin color is right. This shows the reader that her moral beliefs are humane and intact and that they mostly come from her father's advice. Another example of discrimination is when Scout and Jem were at an all black church with Calpurnia and Calpurnia's friend Lula expresses herself to Calpurnia saying, You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here—they got their church, we got our'n. It is our church, ain't it, Miss Cal?" (Lee, 48) Lula explains that she feels that Scout and Jem have no right to be at the church. This is where Scout finally experiences racism first-hand. She does not know what racism is yet because is so young, but she does realize that she should not be there. She feels as if she needs to leave and that shows what her morals really are. She truly cares about people and what they have to
Scout’s family is completely against racism and prejudice. In the town of Maycomb, prejudice is a disease, but Jem, Scout, and Dill are immune to this illness because of the people who raise them. For example, when Cecil and Francis tell Scout that it is a disgrace for Atticus to defend Tom, even though Francis is Scouts cousin, also when Scout and Jem hear the verdict of Tom’s case they both cry and are angry about the sentence while the rest of the town is happy. Scout doesn’t want Walter Cunningham to come over for dinner because she thinks that he is a disgrace. For all of these reasons it shows that the Scout, Jem and Atticus must not be racist or prejudiced.
Accused of raping a poor white girl, innocent Tom Robinson is now faced with a desperate trial. “The evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber.” (Lee 273). Atticus delivers a powerful speech to the courthouse audience highlighting the disturbing truth of the unfair society. Although there was substantial evidence proving Tom’s innocence against Mayella Ewell, Tom was convicted for the rape the Ewell’s made up to disguise their guilty faults. The stereotypical accusation of the unjustifiable verdict costed Tom his life, when he grew “tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own.” (Lee 315). There are always two sides to a story and specifically someone from the black community had their strong opinion on those of the white community. When Calpurnia brought Jem and Scout to her church, they were interrogated by an angered Lula. “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here-they got their church, we got our’n.” (Lee 158). Lula makes a stereotypical judgement, after seeing Jem and Scout she immediately labels them white, and we can infer her thoughts are pulled from her prior knowledge of the stereotypical racist white community. She has never met Jem and Scout yet is quick to group
Many students and adults have read Harper Lee’s to To Kill a Mockingbird, but not all know the connections it has to a modern book written by american author, Bryan Stevenson. Some of these similarities include but are not limited to, racial profiling, theme of morals, corruption of the judicial system, as well as racial injustice and poverty.
Jean Louise Finch, known to Maycomb as Scout, is affected by racial discrimination in many ways throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Although most discrimination appears as white people against African American people, there is one case where the discrimination appears as African American people against white people. On a Sunday when Jem and Scout’s father, Atticus, is not home, Calpurnia, their cook, takes the two children to her church. Once there they were confronted by a woman named Lula. She is racist against white people, and shows it by saying, “‘I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillun to n***er church’” (Lee 158). By writing this event into the story, Harper Lee shows how racial discrimination can affect anyone of any race. “The society that imprisons Tom Robinson is the same one that imprisons Scout…” (Durst Johnson 301). Although their reasons for being confined are different, the same society caused it.
A very important and evident reason for her difference on perspective on life is her age. At the beginning of the book, Scout is aged 6, and even by the end, she is still only 9 years old. This gives her a different viewpoint on life because she sees things only as being fair, and not as laws. What is important to her is having the right thing done, instead of what is expected in society. The way that Scout is looked at within the novel simply because she is young is quite undermining to her, especially when her teacher, Miss Caroline, tells her “[you] tell him I 'll take over from her and try to undo the damage--Your father does not know how to teach." (Lee, ?) What Miss Caroline is referring to here is the fact that Scout is too young by some peoples’ definition to be so advanced at her age, and that she must become more like someone in every-day society. To go along with Scout’s viewpoint and the viewpoint others have on her because of her age, her harshness of judgement is much less harsh than most people’s would be. She judges people much less, like Tom Robinson, and in her mind everybody is equal. After Tom Robinson has been convicted of rape in his trial, Atticus says “it’s not fair for you and Jem, I know that, but sometimes we have to make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are
Harper Lee introduces Scout as an insensible tomboy caught in the midst of contrite prejudicial conception. She has not yet discovered what is right and wrong due to various misconceptions that the people of Maycomb influence her with. ?Don?t say nigger, Scout. That?s common? (75). This particular quote is said by Atticus, Scout?s father, while referring to Scout?s racial ignorance towards African Americans. This quote portrays her social standing at the beginning of the novel as she tends to act ignorant by speaking with rude racial terms. ?Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don't pretend to understand? I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town. I hope they trust me enough?? (92). This quote expressed by Atticus describes Scout?s mental and emotional state near the dawning of the novel. Scout is given influential lessons through the form of words on what to think therefore she is misguided by false pretenses. These ?pretenses? may be misleading, consequently Scout is basing her beliefs about prejudice on the conceptions of others instead of what Scout truly believes. Although Scout?s ...
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells the story of a little girl growing up in a small Southern town during the 1930s, and facing everyday issues such as racism and growing up, and The Help by Kathryn Stockett shows the lives of black maids in the 1960s working for white women and feeling the effects of both racism and friendship from them. Despite the fact that the two books are from different time periods, The Help and To Kill A Mockingbird by are very similar novels because Celia Foote and Mayella Ewell both come from poor, white families, because both books examine society’s oppressive expectations of women from that era, and because both books show white people’s good relationships with the black people that work for them.
During the book Scout and Jem are at an age were people around them greatly affect their thoughts, views and ideas about the world. Although Atticus tried to raise them to treat Negroes as equals, people around them affected their views on them. A good example is when Dill questioned the seemingly rude way which Mr. Gilmer treated Tom Robinson. Scout replied by saying, "…after all he's just a Negro." (Lee 201). She believes it to be acceptable. This is not something her father put in her head but people in her town. The same also happens in the black community. When Atticus asks Calpurnia to watch his children for him while he is out, Calpurnia accepts and takes the children with her to church, a church for black people. When she arrives with the children, they are greeted kindly except by a few people. These people use the same reason as in the last example as to why they should not be there, because they are white.
Scout is the narrator of the whole book. She is the young daughter of a lawyer, Atticus. They live in Maycomb County with Scout's brother and Aunt in the 1930's. At the beginning of the book, she doesn’t know much about the prejudice of Southern America. She basically knows nothing about prejudice. She thinks every person is the same as her. But she finds that out at last. She also finally finds out that most people are nice. She just has to put herself in those people's situations. "As I made my way home, I thought Jem and I would get grown but there wasn't much else left for us to learn, except possibly algebra" (Lee pg. #). This statement shows that she understands the prejudice and people's thinking, at last. That makes her life a lot different.
Scout first learns to show compassion and tolerance by refusing to go to school because she hates Miss Caroline. Atticus tells her that, 'First of all, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it'; (30). When Atticus told her this, she began to accept Miss Caroline as well as other people's differences and opinions.
Both stories are set in the South, with To Kill a Mockingbird in Maycomb County, Alabama and The Help in Jackson, Mississippi. While Mockingbird takes place in the Depression-era 1930s, The Help takes place in the socially and politically changed the 60s.Although these time periods are three decades apart, they both occurred in times of social stress. White privilege and prejudice was a given in most areas of the country in the 30s. In The Help, the several of the characters are African American maids. As the story develops it shows how they are mistreated, especially in comparison to white employees. Like Atticus, the main character faced white opposition in her desire to work with African Americans to improve their situation. This shows us how prejudicial has persisted over the
Similar to Atticus, Calpurnia takes a stand against racism and believes everyone is equal. Due to Atticus’ and Calpurnia’s morals toward racism, Jem and Scout are heavily influenced by their views, and will most likely take after them. Calpurnia seeks every opportunity possible to educate Jem and Scout that racism is unacceptable. For example, Calpurnia takes the children with her to her black church called First Purchase, and because of this, the children are able to better understand the vast separation of race. Scout learns that not only are white people prejudice, but black people are also prejudice. Most of the negroes at First Purchase were very welcoming as the three entered except for Lula who made them feel unwelcome. "You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here—they got their church, we got our'n” (136). Clearly, Lula is prejudice towards white people, similar to how white people are prejudice towards black people. In addition to these prejudice ways, Scout realizes how differently Calpurnia acts around her folks. Calpurnia stated that talking white folks in her church would be “out of place”, and how “folks don’t like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do” (143). As a result, Calpurnia talks colored-folks’ at her church so she fits in with everyone else, rather than speaking more advanced, which ultimately shows
The novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is a simplistic view of life in the Deep South of America in the 1930s. An innocent but humorous stance in the story is through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch. Scout is a young adolescent who is growing up with the controversy that surrounds her fathers lawsuit. Her father, Atticus Finch is a lawyer who is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, with the charge of raping a white girl. The lives of the characters are changed by racism and this is the force that develops during the course of the narrative.
Black Lives Matter is an international movement, campaigning against violence and racism towards black people. Although a countless amount of today’s society believe in this movement and what it stands for, it has not always been this way. Years ago, this wouldn’t have been even a mere thought in someone’s head. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and the movie, The Help, show the negativity that brought this segregation and discrimination to attention. The novel and the film have countless similarities and differences, which provides opportunities to make character connections, and to see how the segregation shown in the two, has changed into what it is today.
The film particularly focuses on a white family living in the South of the United States in the 1930s. The two siblings, Jem and Scout Finch, undergo major changes while experiencing evil and injustice in their small town of Maycomb. Jem and Scout’s father is named Atticus and he is a well-respected man in the town as well as being a lawyer. The main plot of the story is when Atticus decides to work on the case of a black man, Tom Robinson. Mayella, the woman defending against Robinson, comes from a low income and low educated family, making them a poor family.