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Racial and symbolism in to kill a mockingbird
Blacks in to kill a mockingbird
Racial and symbolism in to kill a mockingbird
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Justice For All Have you ever experienced racism or segregation throughout your daily life? In Harper Lee’s, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the town of Maycomb experiencing racism and segregation. African Americans are looked down upon and have a disadvantage in everyday life compared to the white man in the novel. After an African American man is accused of a crime he did not commit, he is convicted despite the evidence of his actions. Through the use of racism and segregation, Harper lee suggests that the racial bias that exists in our court system is inherently wrong. Harper Lee suggests the racism in the trial is trying to show the inequality in the court system. When the court case is about to be resolved, Atticus says, “The witnesses for
Tom Robinson, the defendant, was accused of raping and beating a local, white girl. Although Atticus is quite positive his client didn 't commit the disturbing crime, Tom 's race and history are not in his favor. Nevertheless, Atticus proceeds with the trial and skillfully uses persuasive techniques, such as diction, imagery, and tone, and rhetorical appeals to fight for what he presumes is morally right.
Harper Lee sheds light upon the controversy of racism and justice in his classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The notion of equality in accordance to the law and the pursuit of justice are hindered by racial discrimination. The essential essence of human nature is pondered. Are we inclined to be good or in the wrath of evil? The novel reflects on the contrasting nature of appearance versus reality.
“Beneath the armor of skin and bone and mind, most of our colors are amazingly the same.” This quote by Aberjhani is very relatable to “To Kill A Mockingbird”. The novel by Harper Lee was published in 1960. The book involves racism, rape, and inequality. A major theme in the book is unfairness. Maycomb County is a small, prejudice town in Alabama. The town is divided between racist Whites, and innocent Blacks. African Americans had no rights and no power in the 1930s. Whites had a lot more rights, and had power over the Black community. From innocent Blacks being killed, court siding with Whites, Maycomb is a very unfair town.
Growing up in a prejudiced environment can cause individuals to develop biased views in regard to both gender and class. This is true in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, where such prejudices are prevalent in the way of life of 1930s Maycomb, Alabama. The novel is centered around the trial of a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. The narrator, a young girl named Scout, is able to get a close up view of the trial because her father is defending Tom Robinson, the defendant. The aura of the town divided by the trial reveals certain people’s prejudices to Scout, giving her a better perspective of her world.
Throughout History, men have looked down on blacks and women. But this does not justify the view that blacks and women are below white men. When people look down on blacks and women, they preform injustice. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is full of injustice. During this time period, everyone looked down on blacks and women, which makes Maycomb one in the same with the discriminators. In particular, the people in Maycomb looked down on Tom Robinson, and many others looked down on Scout. Around the Finch household, Aunt Alexandria always tries to do away with Calpurnia, the black housekeeper and cook as Alexandria says, “We don’t need her (Calpurnia) now.” (182). Injustices in Maycomb include the case of Tom Robinson, the way Aunt Alexandra treats Calpurnia, and the way people treat Scout.
Although the dedication of Mr. Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird”, even though it turned out against his favor due to an absence of evidence and a debauched court hearing. This court hearing makes readers question whether or not the justice system of that era was fair and in retrospect, a good question is whether or not our justice system today is fair and lawful. If you think that a false conviction was unfair, Tom is eventually killed for his false conviction under a faulty justice system. To me the sense of justice and fairness seems to be completely violated and bigoted.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's only novel, is a fictional story of racial oppression, set in Maycomb, A.L. in 1925 to 1935, loosely based on the events of the Scottsboro trials. Unlike the story however, the racial discrimination and oppression in the novel very accurately portrays what it was like in the 1920's and 1930's in the south. Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a poor low class white girl of 19, never stood a chance of getting a fair trial. This can be supported by giving examples of racially discriminatory and oppressive events that actually took place in the south during the time period in which the novel is based. In addition to actual historical events, events and examples from the book that clearly illustrate the overpoweringly high levels of prejudice that were intertwined in the everyday thinking of the majority of the characters in the book supports the fact that Tom Robinson never stood a chance of getting a fair trial.
The first “mockingbird” that is featured in the novel is a man named Atticus Finch. Not only is Atticus Finch the sole representative of Maycomb in the legislature, but also he is a brilliant lawyer. In addition, he has a good reputation in both Maycomb’s black and white communities because of his exceptional character. However, his reputation is soon shattered when he is faced with a case in court that affects him personally: he must defend an African American man in court in Maycomb’s segregated society. If Atticus chooses to try defending the man, he will lose his good status in town, since his racist American neighbors will soon disrespect him for treating the African Americans as equal to the Americans, which is highly unacceptable in the United States during the 1930s. However, Atticus still accepted the case believing that if he does not, he w...
In a desperate attempt to save his client, Tom Robinson, from death, Atticus Finch boldly declares, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). The gross amounts of lurid racial inequality in the early 20th century South is unfathomable to the everyday modern person. African-Americans received absolutely no equality anywhere, especially not in American court rooms. After reading accounts of the trials of nine young men accused of raping two white women, novelist Harper Lee took up her pen and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a blistering exposition of tragic inequalities suffered by African Americans told from the point of view of a young girl. Though there are a few trivial differences between the events of the Scottsboro trials and the trial of Tom Robinson portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the accusers’ attitudes towards attention, the two cases share a superabundance of similarities. Among these are the preservation of idealist views regarding southern womanhood and excessive brutality utilized by police.
As Scout grew up in Maycomb, she learned about the people who live in Maycomb. By being exposed to events with explicit discrimination, judgment, and racism, Scout has become aware of the negative aspects of Maycomb residents. Scout’s visit to First Purchase African M.E. church, showed her how discrimination impacts the lives of African-Americans. As justified by Dolphus Raymond, the people who live in Maycomb are awfully judgmental, and the lack of fairness and justice caused by racism affects serious situations, as demonstrated during the Tom Robinson trial. All of these experiences have opened up Scout’s eyes, giving her a better understanding of the residents of Maycomb County, and how negative many people can be.
Revisiting the issues brought up by Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird, it seems clear that majority of Americans do not live in a racist society as the one portrayed in Maycomb. After centuries of facing prolonged struggles of activism and change, open hatred and prejudice against Blacks has become unacceptable and often taboo in today’s society. Even though there may still be underlying tendencies of prejudice that could affect jurors decisions in present-day trials, the heavy cascade of anti-Black sentiment and overtly racial norms that had previously prevailed in America has greatly diminished. Black defendants by far have an improved opportunity of receiving a more fair and impartial verdict in the modern legal system than they did in the 1930’s.
People are responsible for acting according to their conscience. The justice system was created in order to be our aid in making moral and ethical decisions, but when the Justice system fails, we should still be able to follow our conscience to make the right the decision. In Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” one of the characters, Atticus Finch, helps not only characters in the book, but the readers, understand that the legal system does not always serve justice, in fact, the legal system only is as moral and just as the community it serves. In the town of Maycomb, just like many towns in the American south during the 1930s, racism as a personal feeling and racism as a cultural, legal, and economic institution are practically one
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest” Ellie Wiesel. Readers may find the amount of injustice in Harper lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird a little shocking. This could be why it’s such a popular book. People like the suspense of knowing someone’s right, but still being found guilty for something they did not do. There are many times throughout the book when people are powerless to prevent injustice but they still protest it. This shows that even when people unjustly punish there should always be someone to protest it. The theme of injustice is a common one in harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, whether it be through racism, misinformation, or Arrogance.
‘“Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don't pretend to understand”’(90). In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, even the most respectful white man will go crazy when any black man does anything wrong or different. In the town of Maycomb, there are many characters that show racism and segregation in the South. The story is told through Scout Finch whose dad, Atticus Finch, is defending Tom Robinson who is under charges for rape. He is being charged by a man named Bob Ewell, whose is ignorant and representing his daughter, Mayella Ewell, the accuser. Harper Lee uses characterization and conflict to demonstrate that racism is a result of ignorance.
In the story To Kill a Mockingbird there is a point of no return. The trial. The true nature of the townspeople becomes apparent, in that you see the monster is not going to be hiding in a house, the true monsters are out in the open. The mob’s original intention of going to Maycomb’s jail was to lynch Tom for his alleged crimes. Fortunately, Scout, Jem, and Dill were there to remind them of their human side.