Prejudice is Everywhere “There’s nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who’ll take advantage of a Negro’s ignorance” (Lee 221). Atticus, the narrator’s father in To Kill a Mockingbird, expresses his disgust in the manner of how white men treat the African-American race. This part of the novel is only one example of the prejudices observed in To Kill a Mockingbird, as the novel highlights the issue throughout. Racism was a major issue a large number of men, women, and even children had to face during the time periods of the novels To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Scout, the protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird, is a young girl living in Maycomb, Alabama.
Lee’s “To kill a mockingbird” is simply about the racial issue during the1930s. It is a portrayal of the racism and oppression black people suffered through and still suffer from in modern times. The story is narrated from Jean Louise Finch also referred as “scout” eyes about the trial of a black man called Tom Robinson accused for raping and beating the white poor Mayella Ewell. Even though Robinson is defended by scouts father Atticus Finch whom is the most respected and professional lawyer in Maycomb, Robinson is still sent to the chair. As a lawyer, Atticus Finch is a role model for the modern justice system.
Thomas Rice was a white man who painted his face with black paint and represented a poor black man. “It was not very long until “Jim Crow” became a definitive example of racial segregation”, which would help support the inequality of the blacks (Maratous). The Jim Crow laws were also known as the “Black Codes”. They were written and passed to make sure that segregation in a worldwide aspect was enforced (Marotous). The laws were enforced from 1950 to 1960 (American Radio Works).
It is hard to state in particular to why Maycomb holds such ideas towards Black people, but Lee blames this to the conditions of the country and how it influenced each and every citizen present at the time. Lee gives her opinions through Atticus as he states on Page 98, chapter 9, ‘’Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a negro comes up is something I don’t pretend to understand’’. It is quite plain what Atticus means when he says the he doesn’t ‘’pretend to understand’, this shows how Atticus responds away from the norm of the society towards the racism and is actively against it, and is also one of the reasons to why he defends Tom Robinson in the first place, other than ‘it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’ the metaphorical term for the innocent Tom. It is further evident in chapter 16, page 176, what was meant by ‘’people go stark raving mad when anything
Mayella had a hard, lonely life. She took care of her many brothers and sisters, was mentally, emotionally, and physically abused by her own father, lived in extreme poverty, and was looked down upon by the rest of the town. She looked for acceptance in a black man named Tom Robinson, the only man (or perhaps the only person) that was ever decent to her. When she was found out the guilt of breaking a social barrier so thick caused her to accuse an innocent man of rape. This shows that even though Tom was so good to Mayella, he was black, and even she let her racism get the best of her and took him to court.
Harper Lee uses the character Tom Robinson as character to use as an example to show how bad racism was back in the 1930’s. Tom Robinson was a black man accused of rape. It was common for people to be racist and use racist slang words back then. One example of racism Harper Lee uses is when Scout is talking to Francis and he called Atticus a “nigger-lover” (chapter: 9 page: 110) The reason being called a “nigger-lover” is racist because nigger was a racist way to refer to a black person back then. During slavery people would, called black people niggers rather than black people and they did not treat
We can relate a lot of what was going on to the book To Kill a Mockingbird. In to kill a mocking bird you don’t only see inequality between whites and blacks but between people who are different than what’s considered the “norm”. In To Kill a Mocking Bird Harper Lee digs deeper into the problem of segregation. She demonstrates this in the Trail of Tom Robinson and with her character Boo Radley. One of my favorite parts of To Kill a Mockingbird is when Harper Lee’s character Atticus Finch says "You never really understand a person until you consider things from
The story is shown through the eyes of Scout and Jem Fintch who are both growing up with the debate that involves her fathers Atticus Fitches lawsuit. Her father is a white man defending a black man by the name of Tom Robinson who is accused of raping a white girl. Racism plays a huge factor on the lives of these characters living in the town of Maycome. For the African Americans living in Maycome county it was much different then the whites. Black and whites were completely segregated.
Racial prejudice was a way of life in the deep south of the United States in the 1930’s and it dictated what people thought, how they acted, and what they believed in. Despite efforts to initiate change, most peoples’ repugnant attitudes towards African Americans in the South remained the same. After being badgered by numerous residents, Scout asks her father, Atticus, “Do you defend niggers?” prompting Atticus to explain, “Of course I do. Don’t say nigger, Scout” (Lee, 75). Although it seems so simple, Atticus redressing Scout about using this contemptuous term is a big step in helping her understand that African Americans are human beings.
To Kill A Mockingbird Digging A Little Deeper After having read the novel & seeing the movie, it occurs to me that the story is set in during the days of great depression when racism and prejudice was still around, but more and more people were fighting for equality and rights. The city is Maycomb, Alabama, where trouble is brewing when Atticus Finch takes up the job of lawying for a negro man in court and is then forward criticized and mocked for defending him. People treat each other like crap in this town and the economy is terrible. People don’t have much jobs because the great depression but those who do are farmers. He was convicted of rape, and was testified against by Robert E. Lee Ewell, the town drunk.