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To kill a mockingbird connection to racism
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The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is one of the most frequently challenged books in the United States. It tells the story of the lives of Scout and her brother, Jem. The children are raised in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s, along with their friend, Dill. The children become entranced with the idea of getting a glimpse of their reclusive and unseen neighbor, Boo Radley. Meanwhile, Scout and Jem’s father, Atticus, is an attorney who decides to defend Tom Robinson, an African American who is falsely accused of raping a local white woman, Mayella Ewell. The children get caught up in the trial, in which Tom is convicted and eventually killed trying to escape from prison. Jem and Scout become targets of Bob Ewell, the father of …show more content…
The school board claimed that the book’s theme of rape was “immoral” and removed the book from county schools. Unlike future complaints, this challenge not because race, but because the plot centered on rape (Selk). Residents in the town complained and wrote letters to local papers, and Harper Lee even wrote a letter to the Richmond News Leader saying: “Recently I have received echoes down this way of the Hanover County School Board’s activities, and what I’ve heard makes me wonder if any of its members can read” (Little). She continues to write, “To Kill a Mockingbird spells out in words of seldom more than two syllables a code of honor and conduct, Christian in its ethic, that is the heritage of all Southerners” (Selk). “Lee also included a ten dollar donation with her letter (Selk). After all of the complaints the board changed their minds and allowed the book back in the schools. All throughout the 1970s and 1980s, “school boards and parents continued to challenge the book for its “filthy” or “trashy” content and racial slurs” (Little). Instead of trying to remove the book from school libraries, attempts were made to try and remove it from school curriculums …show more content…
The Sun Herald reported that Kenny Holloway, the vice principle of the Biloxi School Board, said that there had been several complaints about the book (Caron). Holloway also said the language in the book made people feel uncomfortable and that the same lesson could be taught with other books (Caron). “The superintendent, Arthur McMillan, did not elaborate on when the book was pulled, instead providing a statement to The Sun Herald that said the resources used to teach students “may change periodically” (Caron). The Sun Herald posted an editorial criticizing the board’s decision, “By removing ‘Mockingbird,’ Biloxi has missed a wonderful opportunity to have a frank discussion with their children why ‘reasonable people go stark raving mad. Perhaps if we talked about race more there would be fewer people cavalierly tossing out hurtful racist language”
Mark Twain once said, "Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it.” However, some of his books, such as Huckleberry Finn, were often banned for irrational reasons. Like Huckleberry Finn and many other books, To Kill a Mockingbird (TKaM) has also been unreasonably banned in many places. I firmly believe that TKaM, like any other book, should not be banned because it is a timeless classic that teaches positive morals and contains many important lessons. TKaM is a very skillful book that explores many significant themes.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior, to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, and the struggle between blacks and whites. Atticus Finch, a lawyer and single parent in a small southern town in the 1930's, is appointed by the local judge to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. Friends and neighbors object when Atticus puts up a strong and spirited defense on behalf of the accused black man. Atticus renounces violence but stands up for what he believes in. He decides to defend Tom Robinson because if he did not, he would not only lose the respect of his children and the townspeople, but himself
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a heartbreaking, timeless novel that examines stereotyping and its consequences. The novel shadows Atticus Finch, a small-town lawyer, as he defends a black man, Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white woman in racist Maycomb, Alabama. Frequently, To Kill a Mockingbird has been banned for use in many schools because of the racial content in it. In the novel, racial tension and slurs are used frequently. Although the novel does contain these things, To Kill a Mockingbird should definitely be taught in schools because it represents accurately what it was like before blacks received their civil right, it teaches valuable life lessons, and it shows how novels like To Kill a Mockingbird helped the civil rights movement.
Childhood is a continuous time of learning, and of seeing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone no matter what they might look like on the outside. To Kill A Mockingbird tells a story about two young kids named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch growing up in their small, racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the years go by they learn how their town and a lot of the people in it aren’t as perfect as they may have seemed before. When Jem and Scout’s father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town’s imperfections begin to show. A sour, little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout all because of the help Atticus gave to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their appearance on the outside, or belittle someone because they are different.
Sometimes, people discriminate one thing, but strongly oppose the discrimination of another thing. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, this issue is very much expressed throughout the story. This thought-provoking story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during a time when there’s a rape trial against a falsely accused African American named Tom Robinson. There is also a discrimination, of sorts, towards a man named Boo Radley, by three young children named Jeremy “Jem” Finch, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and Charles “Dill” Baker Harris. Both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are similar in their own ways through their inherent goodness.
Some people think that harper lee’s to kill a mockingbird should not be taught in schools for example malcolm gladwell a journalist says he wishes that the author had made finch(referring to atticus) a man sufficiently outraged by racial injustice to seek systemic change, rather
Lee uses Scout and Jem’s tumultuous childhood experiences to... has had many trials through her life, and on was in fact a trail of Tom Robinson, a black man accused in raping Mayella Ewell, one of the daughters of Bob Ewell, the town’s idler. Atticus, the children’s father, was defending Tom Robinson, and the case seemed to be in favor of him, all the way to the point of Jem stating, “He’s not leaning, Reverend, but don’t fret, we’ve won it..Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard-”(Lee 176). Jem is very confident in his father’s argument, and believes that the case will lean to Tom,
When a group of children known as the Little Rock Nine stepped onto the campus of Central High School of Arkansas on September 4th, 1957, they changed history forever. By being the first black students to attend a traditionally white high school, the nine students helped move America toward a more fair and constitutional attitude toward colored people. To Kill a Mockingbird was written during this time period and deals with many of the same cultural issues even though it’s story takes place a few decades earlier. If this were not the case and the novel’s characters had grown up during the same time as the Little Rock Nine, there is no doubt that Scout, Atticus, Bob Ewell, and many other characters would have had strong opinions about and may have even taken action for or against the Little Rock Nine or the Civil Rights movement as a whole.
Teaching To Kill a Mockingbird to a group of high school students can be tricky, but insightful if done correctly. Instead of teaching it in an English classroom like it has been traditionally taught, it can be taught in a political science setting, teaching the students about the political limits in the deep south, utilizing Gladwell’s article. Gladwell uses Folsom, a former Alabama g...
Paul Simon, the musician, once said, “If you can get humor and seriousness at the same time, you've created a special little thing, and that's what I'm looking for, because if you get pompous, you lose everything” (Simon 1). Racism in the 1930s and until the 1960s was a very serious issue. As stated, authors have taken this serious issue and turned it into great pieces of literature. Many of them have truly shown the seriousness of racism in society. Even though, criticism continues. Some critics have argued that Scout, in To Kill A Mockingbird, is an unreliable narrator. This is simply because Scout is a child. They suspect she is too innocent, naïve, and has an unbiased view. However, Scout as the narrator is a reliable choice because she allows the reader to concentrate more on the exterior of situations, she allows the reader to make his/her opinion, and she gives the reader direction of how to cover events and certain actions in the novel. Scout, as a child narrator, helps the reader ‘read between the lines’.
Why should this novel be banned from use in schools? Students should be able to hear these words and talk about them and not use them offensively. Racial content, tension, and slurs are used in people’s everyday lives. If people can use these words outside of school why would they not be allowed to be talked about in school? It is important for everyone to be informed about these racial tensions. This book also shows the reader what is was like to be growing up in this time period. Although this book uses the n-word, it uses it in a historical way. Using these racist words explains the way of thinking of the south in the 1930s. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is appropriate to use and read in school.
Think of it like this, a book is like a piece of art, without certain details how will the art be portrayed? If the author did not include things such as racial slurs how will you be able to understand important parts of the book such as when the character Dill was crying during the court case on page 226. A specific piece of evidence showing this detail would be when Dill said: “I know all that Scout. It was the way he said it made me sick, plain sick.” From using details explained above you are able to fully understand why this character would have felt that certain way. Also included in the article To Kill A Mockingbird removed from Virginia schools for racist language It states in the text that, “ The NCAC slammed the action in a post on its Kids Right To Read website, writing: “By avoiding discussion of controversial issues such as racism, schools do a great disservice to their students.” This is able to prove my point that it would be depriving the students of learning about our history of racism not to allow them to read this
I understand that it is disturbing, but it is unfortunately a historical part of this nation, that everybody, no matter his or her race, should know about. Today, racism still happens, yet it differentiates from the past because it occurs in many directions. I believe if more students were able to see the innocent point of view established in To Kill a Mockingbird, they would be able to view the distinction between good and evil in human nature, and gain a new perspective of how everybody should be treated fairly. The use of foul language and the concept of sex can be overtaken based on the maturity of the reader. In my eyes, the use of vulgar language has indeed become more present, and education on sexual topics is expanding in this generation, so the fact that this book is banned based on those standards confuses me even more.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been challenged/banned countless times since it’s original publication in 1960. The reasoning people could have behind banning it is that they feel that the racism, language and subject matter in the book is offensive, inappropriate, immoral and that it encourages and condones such things. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb, a small town in Alabama, during the depression from 1935-1937, and is told from the perspective of a little girl named Scout. In the book Scout’s father Atticus teaches her and her brother Jem many valuable lessons. The things Atticus teaches Scout and Jem are things we all need to know. To Kill a Mockingbird is an inspirational book that teaches valuable moral values, and should not be banned.
In Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the protagonist Scout faces offenses by others because of her father's justice for defending an African American in court. Scout Finch lives with her brother Jem, and their father Atticus, in the sleepy town of Maycomb during the Great Depression. As Atticus, the father of the protagonist faces the moral dilemma in chapter 29-30 of the incident with Bob Ewell. Atticus moral dilemma reveals his character and beliefs. Bob Ewell attempted to hurt Atticus children in order to get revenge on Atticus for defending the African American who was accused of raping his daughter in court.