The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, tells the story of Atticus Finch, a white man defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape. Atticus, his children Jem and Scout, live in the small town Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. With this location and time setting, Lee reveals the racial injustice of the south through the characters Tom Robinson, Bob Ewell, and Calpurnia. The first event that reveals racial injustice was when Calpurnia, the housekeeper, explained to Jem and Scout why she talks with slang at the church and around black people and why she talks more proper in public and around white people. When Calpurnia, Jem, and Scout return home from church, they ask her why she talks differently …show more content…
Mayella Ewell claimed Tom Robinson beat and raped her. Both of Bob’s and Mayella’s testimonies have many loose holes and have multiple things that don't add up. For example,Tom not being able to use his right arm, but Mayella claimed he got on to her, beat and choked her. “And so, a quiet, humble, respectable negro, who has had the unmitigated TEMERITY to feel sorry for a white woman, has had to put his word against two white peoples. The defendant is not guilty. But somebody in this courtroom is...now, gentlemen, in this country our courts are the great levelers. In our courts, all men are created equal. I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system. That's no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality!...” (Lee 273). This paragraph reveals the theme of racism in the city of Maycomb because Atticus has to re-explain why Tom is innocent. He has to keep telling them that the evidence from the Ewells don't add up, there was no positive medical kit, and Tom's story doesn't add up with the Ewells. It shows racism because it shows how far the people of Maycomb will go to make a black person suffer. It shows how much hate is filled with the whites of Maycomb. Tom Robinson is eventually shot 17 times by a police officer, and leaves behind his wife and three children. The outcome of Tom Robinson is horrible. But it shows how little the …show more content…
Lee was trying to convey this theme because it shows the reality of American history; people being discriminated against because of their race. The message of racial injustice still applies for current times. For example, a black man wearing a hoodie can be seen as a threat. Lee’s theme helps readers realize that racism was a thing in the past and still a thing in the present. It made readers realize we, as a society, have come far from where we were. But, we are not where we need to
To Kill a Mockingbird took place during the 1930s, a period shortly after the American civil war in Maycomb County, Alabama, the deep south where black people suffered from racism and discrimination. In this book, Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white woman, which was something that he’s never done, even though all the evidence proved that he did not violate that white woman, Tom was judged guilty because he was a black man. Racism is presented throughout the entire book especially when Scout got teased by her family about Atticus taking Tom’s case, and the townspeople's perception about Atticus, as well as during the trial of Tom Robinson.
Discrimination: a noun that is defined as, “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex”. There are many types of discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story that is taken place during the Great Depression . Scout is the main character and her father Atticus is defending a man named Tom Robinson, who is a Negro. There are three main topics that are discriminated in To Kill a Mockingbird. The three main topics that are discriminated are socioeconomics, gender, and most importantly, racism.
Racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply based on their race and that some racial groups are superior to others. This has been a problem in our world forever. In to Kill a Mockingbird there are so many racist events and it reflects on the society as a whole till this day. The book setting was the 1930’s in a small county of Maycomb, where most people were racist and discriminatory. People think racism has died off, but it is still a huge problem. People choose to raise their children and teach them that racism is okay and that is how there is still racism today. There are so many statistics out there based on skin color that right there is even racist if everyone is equal why are there polls being taken separating people by the color of their skin?
Not much has changed in almost a century. Minorities are still being treated poorly. Harper Lee shows this many times throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. In her novel Lee portrays racial prejudice by showing the relationship between whites and blacks.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, and in the world today there is racial and social inequality going on all around us. I am sure that there will never be true racial and social equality, but I think that it will get dramatically better. Just like it has gotten better since the 1930’s, which is the time that To Kill a Mockingbird is set in.
As previously mentioned, the point of view in this narrative is from Scout. Her upbringing has been respectful to the African-Americans in her society and she shows this with her
In To Kill A Mockingbird injustice is exhibited at intense depths; sometimes it takes extreme measures for justice to be displayed even though it might be wrong in the law’s eyes. The most prevalent of these is the injustice the because this leads to the stage in the book where justice has been revealed.
In the 1962 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee, shows how racism can impact a society in a negative way through character construction because it is a reoccurring problem. In chapter 15; while Tom Robinson awaits his trial, he is transferred to the Maycomb jail. At ten o’clock pm, Atticus is on his way to the jailhouse; Scout, Jem, and Dill follow secretively. When Atticus got to the jail, he sat outside the doors and read; meanwhile the kids are hiding and spying on him. In the middle of Atticus is reading, four cars pull up, a group of men get out of the cars and tell Atticus to move away from the jailhouse doors. The men want Tom Robinson to get released; so that they can severely beat him and possibly murder him, simply because of the color of his skin. The characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are all constructed differently. Some characters are constructed to be extremely closed-mindedly prejudice, while others are constructed to be open-minded and accepting of differences. Although the book is set in an earlier generation, concepts of the book are extremely relevant today.
There are unforgettable moments in a society when one can shape events for generations to come. For an individual to use proper judgements to change one’s living environment, and make the situation equal for others is a significant responsibility. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch presents as an evident contradiction of the society of Maycomb in which racism and injustice are customary in able to emphasize Lee’s lesson that one must stand with their own moral code, regardless of what others think in order to change society.
There are many examples of injustice that exist in our world. Harper Lee in her novel, To Kill A Mockingbird reveals injustice in her novel. Through the novel there are three main ideas about how the main characters deal with injustice that are, One must use their own conscience regardless of social norms, represent those who don't have a voice or one that is a minority, and that change does not come easily. The author develops the idea that the individual must stand up to injustice to demonstrate awareness of their own morals and values that can transcend conformity.
Racial inequality is an ongoing issue in America. Throughout history, people have discriminated against minorities. The same is true in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, where Maycomb is facing a sensible amount of racial inequality and injustice.
Moral cowardice is when someone is a bystander, and witnesses something unfair. They don’t do anything to stop it and stick up for what is right, even if they have intentions too. A Social Injustice is something unfair that happens because someone or something is different. Whether it be race, gender, opinions, personal beliefs, or someone simply don’t fit in. These two ideas go hand in hand, and how people choose to respond to a situation can show their true purpose. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Calpurnia is an example of someone who is both a moral coward and someone who stands up against social injustice. This book takes place during the depression in Maycomb, Alabama. In this small town people have strong opinions about almost everything around them; most of which are racist and just plain cruel. Calpurnia is a black woman who works for the finch family as a maid and acts as a mom towards the two kids; Jem and Scout.
A lot of racism occurs in “First Purchase” church. Mainly because Calpurnia brought which children into a black church. “I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillun to n----r church” (Lee, 158). Lula uses the word n----r which is very offensive if used in 2018. “‘They’s my comp’ny’ said Calpurnia. Again I thought her voice was strange: she was talking like the rest of them”(Lee, 158). The way Calpurnia speaks when Jem and Scout are in “First Purchase” church is different from how she speaks in the Finch’s house. Another point why racism affects everything and everyone in Maycomb county is when Miss Gates rants about how much she hates Hitler for discrimination and then she discriminates against blacks. “Coming out of the courthouse that night, Miss Gates was...talking with Miss Stephanie Crawford. I heard her say it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson. They were gettin’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us”(Lee 311). Miss Gates spends her time preaching/ranting about how Hitler is such a bad person for killing thousands of Jews. She also teaches the class about democracy and then goes around being racist. The Tom Robinson trial is full of racism including the accusation itself. “She tempted a negro”(Lee 272). Mayella Ewell accused Tom of rape because Tom was a daily reminder of what she did, “She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black
“‘Your father's right,’ she said. “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.”’ (Lee 90). In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, siblings Jem and Scout Finch grow up in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama. There they witness racial inequality and injustice. By analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader can learn that racism, the moral nature of human beings, and social status relate to the theme of justice and fairness.
One of the most crucial motifs in this novel is prejudice. The two kinds of prejudice displayed in Chapter One are racial and the fear of the unknown. The reader sees for the first time an indication that the white people of Maycomb discriminate against blacks, when Jem and Scout were shocked that Calpurnia said Mr. Radley was “the meanest man ever God blew breath into” (pg. 15), because “Calpurnia rarely commented on the ways of white people” (p. 15). Calpurnia’s comment is out of place because African Americans are usually respectful of white people since they were considered superior in the 1930s, which is the time period that this novel is set in. Perhaps the biggest example of this racism is the trial involving Tom Robinson. Tom is accused of raping Mr. Ewell’s daughter, Mayella (pg. 164). During the trial, before Tom even has a chance to recite his side of the story, most people have already made up their minds about him. Even though Atticus is able to provide evidence that Tom was innocent, the biased white jury still found him guilty,