...“To Kill a Mocking Bird”: Teaching Tolerance Through Empathy Mary Ellyn Fogarty December 8, 2012 America in the mid 1950’s and 1960’s was undergoing a profound social metamorphosis. Events such as, in 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, with the Supreme Court ruling public school segregation illegal, which many believe sparked the civil rights era, in 1956 Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, “precipitating the Montgomery bus boycott, led by Martin Luther King Jr.” (To Kill a Mockingbird: Civil Rights Era, 2012), in 1957 federal troops were sent to Little rock Arkansas to protect nine African American students who were going white high school, per the court ordered desegregation of school, were challenging and for some forcing the way in which Americans lived, their beliefs and their treatment of African Americans that had been indoctrinated into their consciousness from the time they were born and many did not understand why this treatment was inappropriate, prejudice and unconstitutional. For some these changes were viewed as not an intrusion or criticism of their way of life but as...
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...“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.”-Maya Angelou In chapter 10 of the Southern Gothic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character, Scout, assimilates memorable concepts from Mrs. Maudie and Atticus Finch about social prejudices that take different forms. For instance, in the end of chapter 10, Atticus summons enough courage to shoot a mad dog that has been limping through the streets resulting in the people of Maycomb to panic. The symbolism of the mad dog, mockingbird, and even the bluejays, that are expressed throughout chapter 10, contribute to the the that rumors and social prejudices are spreading through the town of Maycomb similarly to that of a disease. In the beginning of chapter 10, when Scout and her brother, Jem, are given air rifles, Atticus informs them about the types of birds they can and cannot shoot. For example, he reminds them them to “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird, by Nelle Haper Lee was published in 1960, after the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education and during a time of increasing civil rights unrest (Johnson). It was also a time of great social change in the United States, and a novel about the racial injustices of 1930s Alabama carried a powerful message to its readers. After the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, literature and literacy were used to expose and educate on racial injustice (Prendergrast 2). The dominant theme of the novel is prejudice and ultimately the courage needed to overcome prejudice. There are three main types of prejudice that are explored in the novel; racial prejudice, social prejudice and fear of the unknown. Racial prejudice is present throughout the novel in the people of Maycomb’s everyday life, as it is a novel set in the ‘deep south’ of America in the 1930’s. This period is not so long after the American civil war, so slavery’s abolishment had occurred not all that long ago, and the horror of slavery was still on the mind of many black people at the time (Brundage 86). Because of this, most people’s attitudes towards black people had not changed very much. The situation that shows the best examples of racial prejudice is the trial of Tom Robinson. In his trial, Tom Robinson is misjudged and mistreated because he is black. One of the clearest examples of this is the way in which Mr. Gilmer, Tom’s prosecutor, calls Tom “boy.” He uses a tone of voice towards...
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...Injustice is defined as “the lack of fairness or justice”, while boundaries are physical or social limitations which can lead to unfairness. For example, Harper Lee’s not-so talked about character, Tom Robinson faces a huge injustice in chapter 21 of To Kill a Mockingbird: He’s found guilty of raping Mayella Ewell. In The Untold Story of Emmett Till, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam are found not guilty of the murder of Emmett Till even though there is some pretty damning evidence against them. In A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon, Carolyn Bryant’s home life is riddled with little gender boundaries. The difference between boundaries and injustice aren't that different from each other when living down South. Being Black in the South, especially in Alabama, in 1935 is bad enough, but when you throw being accused of raping a White woman on top of it you’re already dead. Tom Robinson’s verdict is one of the biggest disappointments in the book, even though it’s known from the get-go. The jury chooses Bob and Mayella Ewell’s word over Tom’s even though they are seen as the scourge of the town, as implied when Atticus Finch tries to sell his...
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...How does Harper Lee explore ideas of prejudice in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’? Harper Lee, author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, demonstrates the clear prejudice within Maycomb through the structure of its society. Cleverly painting a picture of injustice and horror, Lee uses the social class of Maycomb and the roles within society given to individuals, along with the discrimination within the trial of Tom Robinson to reveal prejudice in this ‘tired old town’. Lee primarily utilises the town of Maycomb to illustrate the prejudice within the social classes of society during the 1930’s. Through the restricting roles given to those with darker skin in society and through the first-person narration of Scout, Lee highlights the injustice that results from strict social classes and expectations. Calpurina’s role as a house help to the white Finch family, and the ensuing expectation that her children will also be destined to a similar fate is an example of this. As ‘old Tim Johnson’, a rabid dog, is shot by Atticus Finch, it is Calpurina’s son who is sent to dispose of ‘the pet of Maycomb’. Thus, Lee implies that those of darker skin are expected to perform menial or undesirable jobs, while those with fairer skin comfortably watch on. Furthermore, although Scout sees Calpurina as a mother figure, she unintentionally...
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...Racial injustice is the plague that has infected the nation we live in today, spreading from the day that farms discovered cash crops and fighting against all odds to ruin the views that we have against people of color. It takes the form of denial of rights in front of a judge, or casually residing in those on the streets, tempting them to change their opinions based on someone’s differences. The courts, juries and everyday people across the nation demonstrate this ideal of racial injustice everyday, shown from the writings of anti-racist Tim Wise and the life of Scout Finch in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, in which they highlight the difference in treatment between those of color and those who are white. Throughout the entirety...
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...“To Kill a Mockingbird” Analysis Harper Lee published “To Kill a Mockingbird “ in 1960, a time buzzing with racial segregation and irrational injustice. She based the book on various events that were all to real, only fifty years ago. Throughout the book, the author captures these horrendous inequalities and is able to explore these subjects through various situations and characters. However, it is not always just the color of one’s skin as to the reason of why they are treated differently. Lee is able to display examples of prejudice based on class and status of a person, rather than race alone, through the use of abstract symbols through the use of characters. Harper Lee use birds to symbolize traits in various characters throughout the book. Although it is not just mockingbirds used as the only bird example. When Jem and Scout receive guns to shoot for fun, Atticus warns them against shooting mockingbirds. However, he states that they may shoot all the blue jays they desire. Blue jays are the nuance bird; this connects to Bob Ewell due to the fact that he is the perfect display of a blue jay. The blue jays represent the prejudiced citizens of Maycomb; they are ever present and continue to taunt others. Atticus goes on to tell the kids that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. The mockingbird is the innocent bird and therefore sums up Tom Robinson the most clearly. As being an innocent man that is only being tried due to his race, he embodies the mockingbird perfectly. Throughout...
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...is Brilliant By: Sharon Shut To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee. Harper Lee’s intention in writing this book was to shed light on the fact that there is an evil that exists in all of the characters. This evil is what prevents the possibility of humans creating a perfect world or 'utopia'. This is emphasized by racism, the gossip and legends that spread around town, especially about Boo Radley, that even those who seem like they are good, still have evil in themselves, this is emphasized through Atticus, when he shoots the dog, and mainly how people loose innocence over time, like Jem and Scout. One of the key themes is definitely innocence and how even the most unexpected things can be innocent. In the beginning of the book examples of innocence are stated when Scout tries to explain to her teacher that she is embarrassing Walter Cunningham by offering him something that he won't be able to pay back. Scout realizes that because her teacher isn't a local, she won't know that about the Cunninghams, but Scout's explanation gets her into trouble. She wasn't trying to be insulting, but Miss Caroline mistook her frank and innocent explanation as condescension or rudeness and punished her for it. Another example is when Scout is too young to understand the social graces of Southern hospitality that say that you always make people feel at home and welcome no matter how unusual their habits may be. An additional example is when Atticus suggested they return...
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...To Kill A Mockingbird: Overview Vanessa Vigneau English 400 March 20, 2015 Cultural and Literary Significance To Kill A Mockingbird was written during the most critical time periods of racial discrimination, the 1930s. During this time racial prejudice was already an issue, especially in the southern states, but during the Great Depression it escalated even more and the imagery in To Kill A Mockingbird allows the reader to fully understand the impact prejudice had on children and adults. To further explore the cultural significance it is important to also realize that the story time period closely related to the time period in which it was published, 1960. During this time, many were trying to fight Jim Crow laws of segregation and were in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. (2007) This story would seem obvious to some as a coming of age story involving the main character and narrator, Scout, but it was much more involved than a little girl growing up and learning to see things from another’s point of view. This story involves the cultural significance of how people lived in the south in the 1930s and how children and adults were affected by the on-going, ugly, violent prejudice. In the story Scout and Jem are taught by their father lessons about courage and tolerance as it is becoming clear to Atticus, he can no longer shield his children from what is happening in their town. He teaches them to stand in someone else’s shoes and consider the world from that perspective...
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...Racism, Social Class, and Gender Issues: A Look Into 1930s Maycomb, Alabama. The film, To Kill A Mockingbird directed by Robert Mulligan, portrays a message of racism, social class, and gender issues faced by southern towns post Civil War era. The 1962 film adaptation of the classic book, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee was masterfully captured being placed on the American Film Institute’s list of greatest American movies of all time and taking home many countless awards. The black and white portrayal from text to film is exquisitely captured turning pages to picture while reveling a heartbreaking reality. Through camera, lighting, and sound Robert Mulligan creates a mood to communicate the vision of Harper Lee. The film takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. Robert Mulligan illustrates the story of the lives of Scout and Jem, children growing up in this small town with their friend Dill who stays for the summer. The youngsters become infatuated with getting a glimpse of Boo Radley the unseen hermit of a neighbor. This summer also entails issues facing, their attorney father, Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson, an African American man falsely accused of raping a white woman from town, Mayella Ewell. The children catch wind of the trial and for the first time witness evil realities of the world. Jem and Scout, Atticus’s children become the targets of Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella Ewell. Bob Ewell tries to kill them one Halloween...
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...THE GLENCOE LITERATURE LIBRARY Study Guide for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee i Meet Harper Lee at the same university. In 1949, however, she withdrew and moved to New York City with the goal of becoming a writer. While working at other jobs, Lee submitted stories and essays to publishers. All were rejected. An agent, however, took an interest in one of her short stories and suggested she expand it into a novel. By 1957 she had finished a draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. A publisher to whom she sent the novel saw its potential but thought it needed reworking. With her editor, Lee spent two and a half more years revising the manuscript. By 1960 the novel was published. In a 1961 interview with Newsweek magazine, Lee commented: Writing is the hardest thing in the world, . . . but writing is the only thing that has made me completely happy. To Kill a Mockingbird was an immediate and widespread success. Within a year, the novel sold half a million copies and received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Within two years, it was turned into a highly acclaimed film. Readers admire the novel’s sensitive and probing treatment of race relations. But, equally, they enjoy its vivid account of childhood in a small rural town. Summing up the novel’s enduring impact in a 1974 review, R. A. Dave called To Kill a Mockingbird . . . a movingly human drama of the jostling worlds—of children and adults, of innocence and experience, of kindness and cruelty, of love and hatred, of humor...
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...Why was prejudice invented? Arguably the most ghastly side of human nature, the act of ostracizing and relentlessly condemning social or physical deviation is the cause of so much strife. And yet, it has endured since the beginning of written history. Wherever or whenever someone differs from the norm too much, people have a tendency to move in like a pack of hyenas. What is it that causes people to act this way? Is it insecurity? Is it fear? Whatever prejudice is at its core, it makes people lose control. They give up individual thought to be part of the group. Maybe they feel safer. But there is one thing that causes this mob mentality to fall apart: empathy. If someone puts themselves in another person’s shoes, looks through their eyes,...
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...Discrimination, injustice and racial prejudice are simply part of the norms in the fictional town of Maycomb in Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Different kinds of prejudice are interlinked in the novel, indicating that the unstable economic situation and isolated nature of the community means that prejudice is directed towards all sorts of characters who do not fit into the expected behavioural patterns of society. The dominant forms of prejudice in the novel are racial and social prejudice, actively displayed by Bob Ewell and Aunt Alexandra. There is also inequality for women in Maycomb. Atticus’s maxim leads to the understanding and tolerance rather than prejudice. It is suggested that although it is unlikely that prejudice can be eliminated altogether, ‘baby steps’ can be taken to change the attitude of the Maycomb community. Maycomb is divided into clearly defined social classes. Jem recognises the class structure when he talks of ‘four kinds of folks in the world’ – the normal people such as the Finches, Cunninghams out in the wood, and Ewells down the dump and the ‘negroes’. The black community in Maycomb is automatically seen as the bottom of the social strata, even below the lowest class than the Ewells, who are categorised by the community as ‘white trash’. When Tom Robinson shows that he felt sorry for Mayella, this is immediately seized upon by Mr Gilmer as it would be interpreted as the lowest class of citizen showing superiority towards a class above it. Social prejudice...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is a critically acclaimed novel narrated by Scout FInch, following an important three years in her life. This novel became an instant best seller, an Academy Award-winning film, and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. This book in some states are part of the English curriculum to be taught in high schools, while in other states it is banned from school libraries. This book arises much controversy because it is based around white supremacy in the South, and how African Americans were harshly treated. It reveals the ugly truth on how society handled cases in the court and the biased verdicts as the result. It also reveals the existence of good and evil in a small town, and how some adults...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird; Racism Then and Now Here in the 21st Century, some may think that maltreatment towards certain minorities are uncommon or not nonexistant compared to the 20th Century. However, this is not the case for either the present or the past. Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mocking Bird argues against in-court racism set back in the 1930s, which is still found today. Lee’s usage of Scout as narrator helps readers see the social injustice of racism happening inside Maycomb. In the book, Scout was a very naive child and often asked a lot of questions about what took place around her. When Cecil Jacobs told Scout her father defended Negroes (in a negative connotation), Scout was confused why that was bad. She asks Atticus, “Do all...
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