...Racism – A Fatal Epidemic Racism has plagued the world for years upon end, dating back centuries. Originating from the Atlantic slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, whites have discriminated against blacks. The majority of whites mistreated their slaves unmercifully, and unfortunately, the Caucasians remained biased long after the end of slavery – some forms still present in today’s society. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee focuses a substantial portion of the book on the issue of racism. Through the perspective of Jean Louise, the young daughter of a conscientious lawyer, one witnesses the injustice of racial prejudice. Most evident through the way people refer to blacks, the mob that tried to kill Tom Robison, and the jury’s verdict after the trial, racism dictated the little town of Maycomb. For years people have called each other rude names. However, adults generally expect this behavior from juveniles, and yet these adults still referred to African Americans with disrespectful words. “Your father’s no better than the nig**** and trash he works for!” (135). Mrs. Dubose, one of many people who referred to Negroes in this way, clearly has no respect for any African American or any associated with them. The former...
Words: 630 - Pages: 3
...It’s A Sin To Kill A Mockingbird Life isn’t fair. Everyone has heard this phrase at least one time, and most absolutely agree. Our world is far from perfect, it always has and always will. Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird, is a great example of this. This is an amazing story of a small-town girl named Scout Finch back in the 1930’s. She lives with her older brother (Jem), her father (Atticus), and her black maid (Calpurnia). Atticus is a well known and respected lawyer, who is appointed to a case he takes personally. A black man named Tom Robinson is accused of rape. A white racist man named Bob Ewell claims he raped his daughter. The case has gotten the whole town’s attention, and the Finch’s who are one of the most respected families...
Words: 1206 - Pages: 5
...facing the harsh segregation that existed everywhere. Segregation occured in schools, public bathrooms, buses and other public places. In Harper Lee’s best seller To Kill a Mockingbird, segregation is coupled with injustice in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Courage is constantly shown to be the best way to combat injustice. Characters Atticus Finch, Boo Radley and Link Deas display courage during the difficult times in Maycomb Alabama. Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson even when failure is inevitable so he can live up to his personal morals. Atticus is the most courageous character in To Kill a Mockingbird because he is aware of the repercussions of this trial and the dangerous impact it could potentially have. Tom Robinson is a black male wrongfully...
Words: 472 - Pages: 2
...“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...
Words: 3144 - Pages: 13
...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...
Words: 528 - Pages: 3
...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...
Words: 1526 - Pages: 7
...In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, a character that shows true courage during the trial is Atticus Finch, lawyer and loving father to Jem and Scout. True courage is being able to defend and fight for something despite the circumstances.Numerous times Atticus shows courage in the story which all relates to the theme, having to be faced with the harsh reality of the world which ruins your innocence. Atticus Finch stays strong and practical during the trial, defending Tom Robinson with his life. Atticus’s effort during the trial shows his courage because, despite it being tricky to get the judge and people of the racist South to side with Tom Robinson, compared to Mayella, who claims to be the victim. Atticus does not give up and continues to fight for Tom Robinson’s justice. Atticus shows courage through logical...
Words: 1076 - Pages: 5
...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...
Words: 4484 - Pages: 18
...In chapter 10 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, an allegory for racism, prejudice, and injustice is created through the mad dog Tim Johnson as he wanders through the Finches’ hometown of Maycomb. Throughout the chapter, the message and symbols are gradually built to represent the nature of the inequality prevalent during Scout’s childhood and the Great Depression and how it will affect the interactions of Atticus’s black client, Tom Robinson, with the law and court system. Tim Johnson is a significant literary element in Lee’s narrative, conveying the story’s central themes of how inequality becomes embedded in a community despite its immorality. When every person in Maycomb gets sent indoors to avoid the mad dog, Scout observes Tim from...
Words: 599 - Pages: 3
...Many famous works of classic literature often convey themes that anybody can understand and relate to. Prejudice, for example, is a famous theme found in stories that often reflect real historical events, such as the Scopes Trial of 1925 in Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s Inherit the Wind. Others, like Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, are not solely based on a specific trial, but do reflect similar events and trials that happened during the time period. The trials force the characters to confront the overwhelming prejudice of their respective towns. However, while both works experience and overcome prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird condemns victims through racism, taking place in a time where it was not uncommon, whereas Inherit the Wind...
Words: 1791 - Pages: 8
...“ To kill a mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “Antigone” by Sophocles are both dramas having to do with justice, the main characters in both dramas are struggling to bring justice to a society or situation that was lacking. In Sophocles’ drama, Antigone was trying to bring justice by burying her brother Polyneices against the kings, Creon’s, orders. While in “To kill a mocking bird” Atticus is an attorney in a case where race is a major issue and he is trying to save Tom Robinson from being convicted of a crime where there’s overwhelming evidence of his innocence. Both “Antigone” and “To kill a mockingbird’s” themes seem to revolve around justice which is proven when Antigone buries her brother and Atticus agrees to take on Tom Robinsons case. Another large theme in both dramas is the idea that women are somehow ‘lesser’ because of their femininity, a cause of this might be because of the era that the dramas are set in. Throughout “To kill a mockingbird” Scout does her best to avoid ‘girly’ things so that she can keep playing with her brother Jem, its only later in the novel that Scout begins to realize that being a girl is more about having positive traits than lacking them. This theme continues in “Antigone”, most pointedly when Ismene states “Bethink thee, sister, we are left alone; Shall we not perish wretchedness of all, If in defiance of the law we cross A monarch's will?--weak women, think of that, Not framed by nature to contend with men. Remember this too that the stronger...
Words: 2326 - Pages: 10
...“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...
Words: 1714 - Pages: 7
...fault: “‘I’ll be dogged,’ I said. ‘I didn’t know no better than not to read to her, and she held me responsible…’” (30). Scout is unfamiliar with this kind of deductive reasoning, and it takes a while for her skills to develop. Much later, she uses her empathy to understand the plaintiff in the Tom Robinson case, Mayella Ewell: …Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. She was even lonelier than Boo Radley, who had not been out of the house in twenty-five years…Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her. But she said he took advantage of her, and when she stood up she looked at him as if he was dirt beneath her feet....
Words: 1521 - Pages: 7
...“Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (Lee #323) In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird racism is an important theme in the book. The majority of Maycomb are racist by calling dark colored people “niggers” and even though Scout’s father is white, Atticus defends a African American named Tom Robinson. Scout doesn’t understand why people use the word “nigger” at first she says it because children at school use it, and its common. Throughout the story Scout starts to realize how wrong racism in Maycomb is and that it is used commonly by others. In the beginning, Scout was unsure why she shouldn’t say “nigger¨ but she hears it at school as a common word that everyone says. She asks “Do you defend niggers,...
Words: 600 - Pages: 3
...In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, justice is demonstrated throughout Atticus’ actions. His strive for equality can be represented by the scales of justice. Atticus believes that everyone should be treated fairly regardless of race, socio-economic or familial background. Having such an honorable and just character, propels Atticus to defend the wronged individual, Tom Robinson. Atticus believes that Tom Robinson is innocent of the crime accused against him and he believes Robinson should not receive the death penalty. Atticus knows Tom might lose this case due to the racial attitudes and prejudices prevalent in the community. When an African-American is accused of a crime, the person is undoubtedly presumed guilty. Atticus still persists in...
Words: 1570 - Pages: 7
