In the opening chapters of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Harper Lee introduces several subtle instances of racism. However, when Jem and Scout are welcomed into Cal’s Church in chapter 12, the reader really gets to travel behind the false disguise of Maycomb County’s white society to see the harsh realities of the injustices suffered by the blacks. The black community is completely separate from the whites -- in fact, Cal lives in a totally different part of town!
Another example of total racial segregation is the fact that Jem and Scout have never been to “that part of town,” so they are unfamiliar with the Church’s way of singing hymns (“lining”), and they don’t understand “nigger talk.” Even Lula, one of the black church members, says, “they got their church, we got our’n.”
Poverty is another injustice suffered by the blacks. Their First Purchase Church is very old and worn out. The paint is cracked and peeling, it has no ceiling, there’s a rough oak pulpit, and cheap cardboard fans must be used to keep the congregation cool. There is no piano, organ or church program in sight, and the whole church has to share one hymnbook! The graveyard contains only a few expensive headstones, with most graves merely outlined by broken glass. A further degradation occurs during the rest of the week, when the church building is used by whites for gambling.
A majority of the black community is illiterate because there are no schools for blacks in Maycomb County. Their only way of learning is from their parents or another elder. For example, Mrs. Buford taught Cal, and Cal taught her son, Zeebo. Consequently, only four blacks in the whole church can read.
In Tom Robinson case, he has virtually no chance of winning strictly due to his race. During his trial, Bob Ewell accuses Tom of raping his girl. Even though the Ewells are considered to be the “white trash” of Maycomb County, nearly all of white community supports them because they are white and Tom is black.
Despite all of these injustices, Chapter 12 also creates a feeling of support and sympathy for the black community. For example, even though they’re oppressed, the black community still has a sense of pride. Their church is called First Purchase because it was paid for with the first earnings of freed slaves. This shows the black’s great devotion to their religion.
This book causes the reader to learn more about an otherwise relatively unknown woman in history, and the tenacity she showed in order to obtain rights that many Americans so often take for granted. Not only did Rebecca gain her freedom from slavery, rise in the religious ranks of the Moravian church, and achieve monumental religious status, as she was among the first women to be ordained as a deaconess, be administered Communion, and become ordained in western Christianity, she was also willing to face the consequences of sharing her beliefs knowing full well the extent of her decision. Sensbach also shares information about how the Protestant church developed as a result of Christianity being blended with African American religions and cultures. Although Sensbach does not make a direct connection between Rebecca and the development of the first black church, through Rebecca’s trials one is able to get a glimpse at what African Americans may have faced as a result of their faith. Additionally, her efforts and willingness to risk her freedom helps to show just how far people were willing to go for their religious liberty. Lastly, Rebecca set a precedent not only for African American women, but for African Americans and women in general as her efforts helped to inspire others and change the way that African Americans and women were viewed in the religious
Scout learned a number of things in the book, but most of them all refer back to a statement that Atticus and Calpurnia said, which goes, “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they do is sing their hearts our for us.” (Lee, pg. 90). Scout learned that about people, too. She learned that some people don’t do anything to you, so it would be a sin to do something mean in return. Over the course of the story Scout becomes more mature and learns the most important facts of life. She was living through a very difficult time and most of that helped her get through.
Montgomery, William. Under Their Own Vine and Fig Tree: The African-American Church in the South. Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 1993. Print.
Atticus Finch is a man who fought for what he believed in. He stood up for what he
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee seems like a complete replica of the lives of people living in a small Southern U.S. town. The themes expressed in this novel are as relevant today as when this novel was written, and also the most significant literary devices used by Lee. The novel brings forward many important themes, such as the importance of education, recognition of inner courage, and the misfortunes of prejudice. This novel was written in the 1930s. This was the period of the “Great Depression” when it was very common to see people without jobs, homes and food. In those days, the rivalry between the whites and the blacks deepened even more due to the competition for the few available jobs. A very famous court case at that time was the Scottsboro trials. These trials were based on the accusation against nine black men for raping two white women. These trials began on March 25, 1931. The Scottsboro trials were very similar to Tom Robinson’s trial. The similarities include the time factor and also the fact that in both cases, white women accused black men.
Jean Louise Finch, known to Maycomb as Scout, is affected by racial discrimination in many ways throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Although most discrimination appears as white people against African American people, there is one case where the discrimination appears as African American people against white people. On a Sunday when Jem and Scout’s father, Atticus, is not home, Calpurnia, their cook, takes the two children to her church. Once there they were confronted by a woman named Lula. She is racist against white people, and shows it by saying, “‘I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillun to n***er church’” (Lee 158). By writing this event into the story, Harper Lee shows how racial discrimination can affect anyone of any race. “The society that imprisons Tom Robinson is the same one that imprisons Scout…” (Durst Johnson 301). Although their reasons for being confined are different, the same society caused it.
Dr. Wimberly also spoke about how slavery caused tremendous pain in the black church. The word “wholeness,” he wrote, mea...
He thinks he will win. The court case is based purely on the fact that he is white and Tom Robinson is a black man. The court case is the biggest white and black split in the novel. The case is based on witness statements. There are two statements.
A small city nestled in the state of Alabama, Maycomb has got its faults, just like any other place in the world, but one of its main faults or (pg.88) “Maycomb's usual disease,” as Atticus calls it in the book is prejudice. Jem and Scout learn a lot about prejudice when a black man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell and their father, Atticus, is called on to be his lawyer. They realize the hate that people have buried deep within their heart when they see a black man accused of doing something only because of his color. On pg.241, Scout starts understanding this and thinks, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” As the case continues, up until the death of Tom Robinson, Jem and Scout learn more and more about prejudice and how the hate that people have towards others causes them to take wrong actions. They also see how unfair it is that a white man can get treated better and think of himself better than a black man only because he was born white. This prejudice and the trial cause Jem and Scout to get in argum...
Tom Robinson’s trial, and in fact his entire life, was badly affected by racism. It is truly a testament to the corruption of society when a person who has earned a bad reputation is held in higher esteem than a person who was born with it, as is the case with Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson. Even though Tom was obviously honest in his testament, the jury sided with Bob Ewell because he was white. They made this decision despite the fact that the Ewell family was widely known to be a worthless part of society. Jem, not being racially prejudiced, could not understand this mentality. As Atticus pointed out, “If you (Jem) had been on the jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man.”
Scout Finch is not the stereotypical girl from the 1930’s. Agents the wishes of everyone around her, she grows up in overalls instead of dresses. Scout plays in the dirt and sand, instead of in the kitchen. In the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, by Harper Lee, Scout is the wild spirited narrator, growing up in the small town of Maycomb. As she gets older, she learns mostly from her father Atticus how to interact with people. Scout learns to show dignity and respect to everyone, under any circumstances.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church also known as the AME Church, represents a long history of people going from struggles to success, from embarrassment to pride, from slaves to free. It is my intention to prove that the name African Methodist Episcopal represents equality and freedom to worship God, no matter what color skin a person was blessed to be born with. The thesis is this: While both Whites and Africans believed in the worship of God, whites believed in the oppression of the Africans’ freedom to serve God in their own way, blacks defended their own right to worship by the development of their own church. According to Andrew White, a well- known author for the AME denomination, “The word African means that our church was organized by people of African descent Heritage, The word “Methodist” means that our church is a member of the family of Methodist Churches, The word “Episcopal refers to the form of government under which our church operates.”
“Indeed, bribery, favoritism, and corruption in a great variety of forms were rampant not only in politics, but in all levels of society” (David McCullough). In her novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee enthralls us by demonstrating the racism, violence, and abuse evident in the American South during the era before World War II. She relates this through a semi-autobiographical narrative, recalling her coming of age amid the tension of social inequality. The protagonist, Scout, and her brother, Jem, realize the faults in their society for the first time, contrasting the ills of reality to what they wish to perceive. Through their innocence, they are able to perceive the existence of racism and gender inequality evident in their town, without being directly influenced by them yet.
Nelle Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird has been considered one of the classic works of American literature. To Kill A Mockingbird is the work ever published by Nelle Harper Lee, and it brought her great fame. However, Nelle Harper Lee has published several other articles in popular magazines. Nelle Harper Lee is not an individual who desires to be in the light and little is known about her personal life. At the time it is believed she is possible working on her memoirs. The fictional work of To Kill A Mockingbird plots many elements close to real events in America’s struggle over civil rights.
Harper Lee’s timeless classic To Kill A Mockingbird follows protagonist Scout Finch as she recollects several years of her childhood in the south during the 1930s. Set in the racially charged depression era town of Maycomb, Alabama, Scout tells of the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman, in which Scout’s father Atticus is the defence attorney. As the story opens, Scout mirrors the racist views of her community. However as time progresses, Scout is exposed to a plethora of characters from whom she gains wisdom. By the end of the story, Scouts views have evolved, and she has gained a widen view of the world and the injustices within it. One of the most prominent teachers in Scout’s life is Calpurnia, a black woman