Theme Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird there are many times throughout the novel where people of Maycomb are prejudice towards others because of many different things. Some of these are; Gender and what each gender can and cannot do, also Social Differences which is when someone in Maycomb is not like everyone else, and poverty which is when someone does not have as much money as everyone else. These three examples are three out of the many that can be found in the novel showing just how prejudice Maycomb is.

Throughout the novel many people in Maycomb are prejudice towards genders and what each gender can and cannot do. This is towards females in To Kill a

Mockingbird. The first example is when Mrs. Dubose makes a comment towards

You should be in a dress and camisole young lady!” (To Kill a

Mockingbird, chap 11, pg 135) When Mrs. Dubose says this towards Scout in her opinion she thinks only men are allowed to wear overalls and that it is not right for her to be wearing them. That shows how prejudice she is towards others of her gender on what they can and cannot wear. The second point is when Jem tells

Scout to not act so much like a girl. What he says is, “Scout I’m tellin’ you for the last time, shut your trap or go home- I declare to the lord you’re gettin’ more like a girl everyday.” (chap 6, pg 69) When Jem says this he is saying indirectly that he does not want Scout to act like a girl so much even though she is one. In Jem’s eyes she is more of a guy. Jem is prejudice towards Scout because he would rather her be more like a guy than the girl she is. The final example of prejudice towards genders is when Scout asks Atticus why there are no people like Miss

Maudie on the jury. Atticus has to tell her, “There are lots of reasons. For one thing, Miss Maudie can’t serve on jury because she’s a woman-“ (chap 25, pg 296)

With this information that Atticus tells Scout that the main reason woman are

This is one because Maycomb is not a very accepting community to people they consider different. The first example is when Dolphus Raymond a rich white man who has a black family. He tells Scout, Jem and Dill “Some folks don’t-like the way I live.” (chap 20 pg 268) When he tells Scout, Jem and Dill that he knows that he is treated and looked at differently also that he knows how prejudice Maycomb is. The second example is Miss Caroline. Miss Caroline is not from Maycomb and the children in her class is prejudice towards her because of it. When Scout mentions, “The class murmured apprehensively, should she prove to harbour her share of peculiarities indigenous in that region.” (chap 2, pg 21) After this the class thinks that just because she is not from a place they like or Maycomb that they are not going to like her and be prejudice towards her because of it. The last example of Social Differences is with Boo. According to all of the things Scout, Jem and Dill have heard about Boo they assume he is a scary person. Later Jem says, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging on his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cat he could catch.” (chap 1, pg 16) Without even seeing Boo before Jem’s explanation on Boo shows that many people in Maycomb are prejudice against him by assuming there is something not right with him and that he has a lot of Social Differences. With all these examples on