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. Lee’s novel and the film watched in class, have an abundance of similarities in …show more content…
how they portray communities and the individuals within them. A noticeable one being that blacks are automatically inferior to all others. Colored folk are discriminated against, not trusted, and looked down upon. They are not allowed to speak up when being treated poorly, which happens often. These African Americans, in both pieces of work, work for whites, for little pay, making enough to barely get by. All of this is due to nothing other than the color of their skin. Not only are they similar in the way blacks are treated, but also how women are expected to act. Just as Aunt Alexandra attempted to have Scout dress and act “ladylike,” Skeeter’s mother does the same. All females are taught to be ladies, or in other words, taught to be below the man, but above all others, to wear feminine clothing, and to abide by the ways of society at the time. As for the lessons given, courage and equality is a strong theme for both. The moral of the movie and the book, explains that you should stand up for what you believe in, with courage and integrity. Both provide encouragement to be like Atticus, Scout, Skeeter, Aibileen, and all the others who tried to make a difference, no matter how difficult it might be or how much is at risk. Although the plot and lesson of the two are closely related, many differences are also prevalent. An obvious difference includes setting, the time and place. TKAM takes place in 1930’s Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, whereas the movie is during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement in Jackson, Mississippi. This provided, The Help, during attempts to raise awareness, has much more hope than the novel. The majority of maids choose to stand up for what they believe is right, more whites are attempting to help, and there is an actual rights movement occurring during this time, all of which instills hope in not only the characters, but also those watching. To Kill a Mockingbird does not provide this same sense of hope, even though people like Atticus and Scout are indeed hopeful. The Depression kills a plentiful amount of others’ sense of hope, making it seem as if a positive outcome will not be in the near future. As an overall community, those of Maycomb, are just not as aware of the problem of segregation. The two works of art also differentiate in the complexity of the “villains.” Bob Ewell, the antagonist of the novel, is white trash, an abusive father, and rapist, who allows another man to be charged with rape he did not commit. Harper Lee does not state that directly, but it is intended to come across the reader’s mind. The entire case is based off the complex relationship between Mr. Ewell and others, including his daughter, and a poor black man. The movie’s Hilly Holbrook, is much simpler of a scoundrel. Rather than having an elaborate back story, she is just a privileged white woman who blindly conformed to the ways of society. Along with these similarities and differences between the novel and the film, there are also several connections between characters based on their morals and culture.
The young but wise and courageous Miss Skeeter in The Help, is similar to both Scout and Atticus Finch in Lee’s book. Skeeter and Scout are both tomboys who are taught to be “ladies”, and when they don’t abide by the standards set for them, they are looked down upon. The two girls have their own thoughts, not being influenced by the opinions of others. Skin color does not matter to them, and they believe the way people are treated should change. Skeeter is also of similar character to Atticus, in which both are trying to change the ways of society, when everyone else is too scared. In the movie, this is done by the writing of a book, showing the true stories and opinions of the colored maids, and in the novel, the defending of a black man in court. Both characters are trying to show others that the ways of society are wrong, and are trying to take a step in the right direction. Not only is Skeeter similar to those of Maycomb, but so are Aibileen and the maid community. The folks apart of that community directly compares to Jem and Scout’s nanny and cook, Calpurnia, and the black community she is part of. Aibileen and Cal have no voice, since they are not able to speak up, in fear of being hurt or fired. They also share a similar lifestyle, living in a separate community from the whites, working for whites, …show more content…
raising children other than their own. It is true that most of society is no longer behaving in this way, but yet segregation is not completely dissolved.
Today, those of color can still be divided from those that are not, just not to the same extent as 55 to 85 years ago, when the movie and the book take place.This is not a rule, or an expectation, like it used to be years ago, but just happens to occur. It is not legally mandated, but it still is in society as we know it. Even though Americans live around diversity on the sidewalks and subways, in our churches, schools, and restaurants, life is more monochromatic. For example, in the United States, numerous schools, communities, workplaces, and living areas are mainly white, or mainly black, not mixed. The American community has evolved from the narrow minded ways from years ago, to the slightly less narrow minded ways of today. Segregation today is no longer about the legal and physical separation, but about the cultural divide, putting a halt to any large step in the direction of
equality. Just as the communities in, The Help and To Kill a Mockingbird, still can not see the problems that racism causes, some today still can not fathom the importance of equality and movements similar to Black Lives Matter. Both the movie and the novel are used to show us how times have changed in the last half century. Connections between aspects and morals of characters can be easily made. Differences and similarities are seen and used to help better understand the life lived during this time. The attention brought to racial segregation, that is discussed in depth in the book and the movie, will hopefully help more realize that black lives, along with all others, really do matter.
Up to about 40 years after the civil war blacks and whites lived among one another without segregation, just like they did during slavery I might add, but this time they were free, had access to property, shopped where whites shopped, lived side by side. I say again in this review, location, location, location. The north had slaves, the south had slaves, and the north had segregation. This book reminds us as we romanticize the north, it also has a past. I recommend this book to any teacher or person wanting to know the real history of segregation between blacks and whites in America and to remember that history repeats itself.
The novel covered so much that high school history textbooks never went into why America has never fully recovered from slavery and why systems of oppression still exists. After reading this novel, I understand why African Americans are still racially profiled and face prejudice that does not compare to any race living in America. The novel left a mixture of frustration and anger because it is difficult to comprehend how heartless people can be. This book has increased my interests in politics as well and increased my interest to care about what will affect my generation around the world. Even today, inmates in Texas prisons are still forced to work without compensation because peonage is only illegal for convicts. Blackmon successfully emerged the audience in the book by sharing what the book will be like in the introduction. It was a strange method since most would have expected for this novel to be a narrative, but nevertheless, the topic of post Civil War slavery has never been discussed before. The false façade of America being the land of the free and not confronting their errors is what leads to the American people to question their integrity of their own
To depict the unfair daily lives of African Americans, Martin Luther King begins with an allegory, a boy and a girl representing faultless African Americans in the nation. The readers are able to visualize and smell the vermin-infested apartment houses and the “stench” of garbage in a place where African American kids live. The stench and vermin infested houses metaphorically portray our nation being infested with social injustice. Even the roofs of the houses are “patched-up” of bandages that were placed repeatedly in order to cover a damage. However, these roofs are not fixed completely since America has been pushing racial equality aside as seen in the Plessy v. Ferguson court case in which it ruled that African Americans were “separate but equal”. Ever since the introduction of African Americans into the nation for slavery purposes, the society
Du Bois’s short story “The Souls of Black Folk” that addresses discrimination, veils, and double-concisions and its effect on the African-American identity. To combat the modern day issue of discrimination black communities have created a movement. The movement is called “Black Live Matter. This movement campaigns against violence and systemic racism toward black people. BLM commonly protests, police violence against black people and broader issues of racial profiling, and racial inequality in the United States criminal justice system”
Racism is an attribute that has often plagued all of American society’s existence. Whether it be the earliest examples of slavery that occurred in America, or the cases of racism that happens today, it has always been a problem. However, this does not mean that people’s overall opinions on racial topics have always stayed the same as prior years. This is especially notable in the 1994 memoir Warriors Don’t Cry. The memoir occurred in 1957 Little Rock, Arkansas and discusses the Melba Pattillo Beals attempt to integrate after the Brown vs. Board of Education court case. Finally, in Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba Pattillo Beals discusses the idea that freedom is achievable through conflicts involving her family, school life, and friends.
Recently you have received a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In Dr. King’s letter he illustrates the motives and reasoning for the extremist action of the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1960’s. In the course of Dr. King’s letter to you, he uses rhetorical questioning and logistical reasoning, imagery and metaphors, and many other rhetorical devices to broaden your perspectives. I am writing this analysis in hopes you might reconsider the current stance you have taken up regarding the issues at hand.
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.
In the 223 years our country has been instituted, the way black people are perceived in society has always been less than acceptable. Great leaders and motivators like Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have come and gone, their voices and action have attempted to change the role of black people in society. However, even in today times, equality is still far off, and there is no voice comparable to what blacks relied on in those days. Instead of marches in Alabama, or speeches in Washington, the plight of the blacks are heard through literature. Small voices in literature that makes a big impact on society. Toni Morrison and bell hooks use words to motivate people of all color. Morrison and hooks open eyes to this so-called free country we live in with the purpose of showing society's condemnation of black life, interracial relationships and black woman in a traditionally men's roles. In the two stories by Toni Morrison titled, "On the Backs of Blacks" and "Friday on the Potomac," she strives to prove the effects of racism in America, the oppression of African Americans in society, and the racial and sexist aspects of the Anita Hall and Clarence Thomas Hearings. In "Sorrowful Black Death Is Not a Hot Ticket" and "Seduction And Betrayal" bell hooks criticizes the way black life is depicted the movies: Crooklyn, The Bodyguard, and The Crying Game.
The book talks about how there was segregation just about everywhere you looked. In the 1930's the white people had their own restrooms along with their own water fountains and the lacks had their own school and blacks usually did not go to school. They were too busy working on the farm to go to school. The schools only had one room for all of the grades. The children usually walked to school in those days,because they didn't have school buses. They also had to bring their own lunch to school in lunch pails. Today children ride school buses to school. It would kill us if we had to walk to school.We are not use to that much exercise. Also today they serve us lunch in the cafeterias. Although it it is not that good at least they try. They have to work with the limited stuff the school board allows them to buy. Speaking of buses, the blacks would have to sit in the back of the bus and the whites sat in the front. Although,thanks to Rosa Parks, who on day refused to sit in the back of the bus, now blacks can sit wherever they want to sit. Today whites use the same restrooms and water fountains as blacks do. Blacks and whites also attend the same schools. Today schools have different classrooms for every grade.
In today’s world, social justice, otherwise known as equality and egalitarianism between the races, genders, and religions, is highly sought after. In addition to modern struggles, many movements throughout the course of history that date from even before the 1930s until just recently have been started to demand equal rights for certain ethnic groups. Coretta Scott King’s memoir, Montgomery Boycott gives the reader an inside view of Martin Luther King’s personal life during the Montgomery City Bus Line boycott for impartiality in public transportation after Rosa Parks’ famous arrest. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, she discusses how the Southern population in the 1930s allowed racism and the Jim Crow Laws to become socially
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.
As most everyone knows, there are differences between a book and it’s movie adaptation. This is applicable to the book and it’s movie counterpart To Kill a Mockingbird, as well. But aside from the differences, there are also similarities between these two.
Scout learns that by resisting prejudice, we often help others. For example, Scout sees Atticus defend Tom Robinson, despite the white people of the town’s disapproval. By defending Tom, Atticus paves a small pathway in Maycomb for black people to follow to attempt to raise their social status.
Herbert Boyd’s book “Race and Resistance: African Americans in the 21st Century” discourses the current state of the Black America subject to the clamor for ultimate equality and acquisition of full civil rights by the Black community. Herbert also highlights the in-depth meaning of racism and possible remedies, especially in the 21st century (Herbert 34). The book covers spirituality and activism and wisdom and cultural expression. In addition, it also highlights the subject of the impact of Aids in African-American community, and features ace and globalization in America. The author also outlines the strategies of anti-enforcement
Today, blacks are respected very differently in society than they used to be. In “The Help”, we see a shift in focus between what life is like now for the average African American compared to what it was like for them to live in the 1960’s.“The Help” teaches readers the importance of understanding and learning from our history. The novel is a snapshot of the cultural, racial and economic distinctions between blacks and whites in a particularly tumultuous time in American history. “The Help” encourages readers to examine personal prejudices and to strive to foster global equality.