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To Kill A Mockingbird: Prejudice in Maycomb
Two major people in To Kill A Mockingbird are prejudged; Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. One man is the victim of prejudice; Atticus Finch. These men are mockingbirds. For a mockingbird has never hurt anyone, and neither has
Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, nor Tom Robinson. . Boo Radley is prejudged because he chooses to stay in his domicile. While Tom Robinson is prejudged because of his color. Atticus Finch becomes a victim of prejudice due to his valiancy to help a innocent black man; Tom Robinson. Boo Radley and Tom Robinson and prejudged; but because prejudice is so inclusive, even those who help the “ mockingbirds”, Atticus, become victims of prejudice.
Maycomb people gossip about Boo Radley because he chooses to stay in his house, while Tom Robinson is stereotyped by Maycomb because of his skin color. Rumors are spread about these men because most of Maycomb is guilty of prejudice. Boo Radley is generally gossiped about by Miss Stephanie Crawford.
Miss Stephanie recounts to Jem about rumors spread about Boo Radley. “So Jem received much of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford...”( Lee, TKAM 11
). Miss Stephanie explains a erroneous rumor about Boo. “As Mr. Radley passes by,
Boo drove the scissors into his parent's leg...” ( 11 ). Tom Robinson is prejudged by many people, some include: Scout, Mr. Gilmer, and Bob Ewell. For example, when Scout says, “Well, Dill, after all he's just a Negro” (199).
Maycomb people are the sin of all prejudice in Maycomb.
Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are mockingbirds. Both of these men are victims of prejudice. To take advantage of these men would be a sin, just as it would to kill a mockingbird. “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy...that's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird (90).”
Tom Robinson is taken advantage of by the Ewell family. Tom had nothing against anybody, especially the Ewells'. He would help Mayella with her chores, and the part of it that made him a mockingbird, is that he did not want anything in return. “ Were u paid for these services...No suh, not after she offered to give me a nickel the first time (191).” What makes Boo Radley a mockingbird is that he has never really never hurt anybody, he minds his own business while watching over his children. The Ewell family and many other people in Maycomb have sinned, distinctively Bob Ewell, because they took advantage and prejudged to innocent men; Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.
People who help the mockingbirds also become victims of prejudice.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960, is a novel which explores the theme of challenging racial prejudice. Within this novel, Lee has portrayed unintentional racial prejudice through the characters Atticus Finch, Link Deas and Scout Finch. With these characters, and their roles in exploring the theme of racial prejudice, Harper Lee has set unintentional boundaries for readers, as result, racial prejudicial thinking from contemporary perspective, in comparison to historical views, is challenged to a small extent.
Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That is why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. " We see how Boo is portrayed as a mockingbird figure when he is locked. away from any sort of normal life and society.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in Alabama in the 1930s, and concerns itself primarily with the interrelated themes of prejudice and empathy. These themes are explored as the story follows Scout Finch as she learns lessons in empathy, ultimately rejecting prejudice. While all characters in Lee’s novel learn from their experiences, not all are able to grow in the same manner as Scout. The idea of a positive role model, typified by the character of Atticus Finch, and the ramifications of its absence, is a concept that Lee places much emphasis on. The isolated setting is also pivotal in the development of characters. Lee uses the contrast between characters that learn lessons in empathy and compassion, and characters that cling to the ideals of a small town, to explore factors that nurture or diminish prejudice.
Secondly, this part of the plot refers to the time when it was Christmas time Jem and Scout were given rifles, and before Atticus would allow them to shoot birds he wanted to make them aware that shooting mockingbirds are sinful. To illustrate this idea, in the text, it states, “but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (93). The evidence highlights the symbolic meaning of the mockingbird. It is known that after this point in the novel, Tom Robinson was being connected to mockingbirds. Tom was being symbolized with a mockingbird because it is a sin to kill a mockingbird due to them not being harmful animals.
Throughout the novel Harper Lee explores the racism, prejudice, and the innocence that occurs throughout the book. She shows these topics through her strong use of symbolism throughout the story.
Discrimination and Prejudice in Killing A Mocking Bird Discrimination and prejudice were very common acts in the early and middle 1900's. Prejudice in this book is displayed by the acts of hate and misunderstanding because of someone's color. People of color were the majority that were treated unfairly. During this time in the southern states, black people had to use separate bathrooms, drinking fountains, sections in restaurants, churches, and even go to separate schools. Although much of the discrimination was directed towards blacks, there were plenty of accounts towards impoverished families by those that had money.
present times by the state of the actual town. It is very poor and in
'Democracy,' she said. 'Does anybody have a definition?' ... 'Equal rights for all, special privileges for none' (Lee 248).
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (p.90) Miss. Maudie, one of the main protagonists in To Kill a Mockingbird, warns the young girl Scout that mockingbirds should not to be killed or hunted down because they represent those who are kind and innocent. So, on a broader spectrum, the term “to kill a mockingbird” symbolizes cruel and improper behavior towards people with good hearts and intentions. In the town of Maycomb, unethical behaviors, such as prejudice and gossip, are most commonly used against the “mockingbirds”. Three of those “mockingbirds” that are featured in this novel are Arthur “Boo” Radley, Tom Robinson, and Atticus Finch. Due to the depiction of the mockingbird symbol in the novel, the reader understands the consequences that immoral attitudes have towards those who are innocent and kindhearted.
He states, “Scout, you never really understand people until you consider things from their point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (39). This means how sometimes unless you are someone you can’t fully understand them and how they feeling and behaving. Atticus explains to Scout that caring about others will help Scout understand them more. It will help Scout further understand why something may be happening. Also, Miss Maudie also explains how the Mockingbirds in the trees help further understand life lessons. Miss Maudie states, “Mockingbirds don’t do nothing but make music for us to enjoy… they don’t do one thing but sing our hearts out for us” (119). This means how in life, people shouldn’t naturally hate someone or something. People need to be able to care and have empathy for others. People in the book become the characteristic of mockingbirds. For example, Boo Radley. Boo doesn’t do anything to annoy or harm people, but the children decide to
Both Tom Robinson and Boo Radley symbolized a mockingbird; it wasn’t however, until the ending of the story that Scout had realized it. When asked if she understood that Mr. Ewell fell on his own knife she responded with “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” (370). Although Scout knew that Boo had killed Bob Ewell she also knew that Boo had done it to save them. Like Atticus, Boo Radley stood up for what was right even though it had been 15 years since he had been seen outside his home. Innocence, represented by the mockingbird, Tom, and Boo, is not earned, though it can be forsaken; character, however, can only be earned through courage to stand for what is right when the only benefit is the exercise of one’s own integrity, which, in Atticus’s eyes is benefit enough.
It teaches them to not be prejudice and get to know a person before making a judgement. Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley, was frowned upon by many people in the Maycomb community. He was rumoured to have been locked in the basement by his father and older brother after an incident involving scissors. Though never seen stepping outside his house, he intrigues yet also frightens Scout, Jem and their friend Dill. After different events in the novel, the children come to find that Boo Radley is not intimidating, but a man who due to his father, is emotionally damaged. Miss Maudie, a neighbour of the Finch’s, explains to Scout that "Mockingbirds don 't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don 't eat up people 's gardens, don 't nest in corncribs, they don 't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That 's why it 's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” The mockingbird is a symbol for innocent people, who are judged for no reason. Like the mockingbird, Boo Radley has people prejudiced against him when he is an innocent man. By using this metaphor, the reader is able to understand the link between Boo Radley and the innocence and morality. As well as the mockingbird, he also symbolises goodness. By secretly watching over Scout and Jem, he protects them from later being attacked by Bob Ewell, a symbol of evil. When Jem and Scout begin to trust Boo, they are paying the highest tribute they could pay him.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It is set in the 1930s, a time when racism was very prominent. Harper Lee emphasizes the themes of prejudice and tolerance in her novel through the use of her characters and their interactions within the Maycomb community. The narrator of the story, Scout, comes across many people and situations with prejudice and tolerance, as her father defends a black man.
often managed to get black people to do jobs for no pay, and the black
“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible” (Angelou). Maya Angelou illustrates the destructive nature of prejudice, and the effects that it may have on society. Her childhood took place primarily in the 1930’s, a time also known as the Depression Era where racism dictated the lives of many African-Americans that Harper Lee details in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Martin Luther King Jr., an advocate of black rights during the depression era, details in his essay “An Experiment in Love” how Christian love, or “agape” had sparked the African-American nonviolence movement. The novel is told through the perspective of a 6-year old girl, Scout and centralizes on two innocent figures, Arthur Radley, a social outcast, and Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape, who are persecuted due to the prejudiced view of the town. As she matures and learns about the town, she begins to develop ideas and pass judgment on individuals that are in the town. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, takes up the court trial to defend Tom Robinson, who is wrongly accused and sentenced of the rape of a white woman and eventually runs, only to be shot by the prison guards. Despite the open communication present in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, there is deficiency of love, as the author illustrates that societal prejudice is inevitable and leads to discrimination.