Society Destroys Itself

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Recommended: Race and the effect on society

There are many different destructive forces in the world that can ruin society and destroy one’s morals. Selfishness, arrogance, resentment, but out of all that, racism and prejudice against others is the worst. Discrimination is best apparent in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird when Lee shows the horrible prejudice that Tom Robinson, a falsely convicted black man, and Boo Radley, a neighbor who never leaves the house. Both characters received different type of discrimination, but in the end, both of their lives are damaged due to the prejudice. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, discrimination against Tom and Boo demonstrates the theme that due to its close-mindedness, society can destroy individuals and ultimately itself.
Tom Robinson is an apparent victim of discrimination against those who are black. For example, Tom is falsely accuse of rape because he is put in front of a prejudice jury, “The one place where a men ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury boy. ” (295) Atticus explains the unfairness that juries have in a courtroom especially since it is a white man’s word against a black man’s. During trials, juries must always be fair and make their decisions based on the facts given. The facts in Tom’s trial all show that Tom is innocent, but because of the great amount of discrimination, it is embedded in people’s mind that all blacks are dangerous people and they should be put away. However, the truth is that any person can be dangerous or deceiving not just those who are black, “You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around ...

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...and Boo Radley as an example of how discrimination against others can ruin not only people’s lives but even society’s. Tom being discriminated because of his skin color and is falsely convicted. Boo is relentlessly being judged by others and having his name used in a bad way. Both characters are outcasts; Boo is a micro-version of Tom. Boo is an outcast to the neighborhood whereas Tom is an outcast to society. Using this book, Lee illustrates different variations of racism and how malicious it is to a person. In today’s day and age, racism is slowly declining, but there is still a long way to go. Wars are being fought due to discrimination and it is an in just thing to do. No person should have to experience the hardships and cruelty that racism gives. Society has to decide when discrimination will cease to exist, and once that happens, the world will be at peace.

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