27 October 2011 Title Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is full of moral wrongdoings and unfair treatment toward the already broken black community of Monroville, Alabama. The majority of the ill treatment is overlooked by the whites of the small, southern town. Atticus Finch, the father of Scout and Jem Finch, and the lawyer appointed to Tom Robinson, is a morally sound man who tries to instill his beliefs in his young children. According to Atticus it is wrong to kick a man while is he is down, or knowingly take advantage of someone. He reinforces this belief by saying “The one place a man ought to get a square deal is when is in the court room, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have ways of carrying the resentments right
“Unnecessary Controversy” Unnecessary Controversy “Jims’ a nigger and wouldn’t understand it” (Twain 182). That’s what Huckleberry Finn says about Jim, a runaway slave that he is helping and as if black people are any less intelligent. The word “nigger” gives the story more meaning instead of what some people think offends the reader. Throughout the book, Huckleberry struggles with himself about whether he should be helping Jim or not and that struggle claws at the reader. Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, made a good choice to include controversial words in the book to show racial injustice and should be taught in schools.
Comparative Essay- To Kill a Mockingbird & A Time to Kill In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird and Joe Schumacher’s A Time to Kill, one can see racism is a major issue for the characters who fight against it and for the characters who are victims of racial injustice in the setting of Maycomb and Kenton. The two major characters, Atticus and Jake prove that they are protagonists by fighting against racism. Through out the novel and film Tom Robinson Carl Lee are victims of racism. Finally, the settings of Maycomb and Kenton both have racial discrimination and white supremacy within the two towns. Therefore, in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird and Joe Schumacher’s film A Time to Kill, the characters and setting reveal the theme of racial prejudice comparing the two.
The people of Macomb’s jury during the trial choose to find Tom Robinson guilty even thought the evidence strongly suggests he is innocent. They do this because of their racist opinions and hatred towards the African American community. In contrast Atticus stands up to a mob for what he believes because he holds no prejudices. During the summer night when Jem, Scout, and Dill get shot at, Mr. Radley automatically assumes that it was a black man who was trying to steal from his garden. This shows that even thought Mr. Radley had no proof he assumed that it was an African American only because of his racist opinions towards blacks.
Prejudice is portrayed in many forms in the novel. Characters in the book suffer discrimination due to race, age, social status and sex. This racism appears to be a normal thing to the people of Maycomb. In the novel, Scout runs into trouble with both a classmate and a cousin when the two boys taunt her about her father, whom they call a "nigger love". Atticus explains to Scout that he will be defending a black man named Tom Robinson.
The themes that were most supported were Justice and Fairness, Different Forms of Discrimination, the Morals of Scout and Jem, and the Role of Place (Setting). The most apparent form of discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism; however, there are other types of prejudice and discrimination that symbolize relations among the novel’s characters. Scout, for example, is made fun of in "To Kill a Mockingbird" because she is a tomboy. Boo Radley is disliked despite the fact that hardly anyone knows him. The family of Atticus Finch undergoes discrimination when threatened while representing Tom
The Judges in The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe are considered villains because of how they torture innocent civilians. Okeke is the least villainous, the H-G men are the middle villainous, and the Judges are the most villainous from the three chosen stories. In the story Marriage is a private Affair Okeke is the villain because he treats his son unfairly. For example, when Okeke heard the news of his son’s marriage with a girl he did
“Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.” – Thomas H. Huxley The novel To Kill a Mockingbird told an unforgettable story of doing what a person thought was right no matter what the cost. Author Harper Lee used the character Atticus Finch to show a rejection of authority when he went against the social codes in his town and defended a black man in court. Lee showed Atticus’s penetrating defense that ended up revealing the town of Maycomb’s inherit racism. Atticus Finch challenged social justice and prejudice by defending Tom Robinson just as he would any other person. Atticus’s whole town went against him because he was defending a man of a different race.
Dubose show symbolic themes Harper Lee, the author of “To Kill A Mockingbird”, emphasizes in his story. Jem was troubled by Mrs. Dubose’s insults towards his father, Atticus, who was representing a black man accused of rape. What white man would ever stand up for a black man? Standing up for a black man is considered blasphemy during this time period. Only Atticus would do this because he knows what is right and what is wrong.
Harper Lee represents racial prejudice, social prejudice and fear of the unknown in To Kill A Mockingbird. Lee demonstrates racial prejudice during the Tom Robinson trial, as well as social prejudice and fear of the unknown. She does this by describing the types of people in Maycomb and their fear of Boo Radley, which the children later witness in the story. To Kill A Mockingbird illustrates racial prejudice in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. Harper Lee demonstrated racial prejudice throughout the Thomas Robinson case.