Cases of Prejudice and Discrimination: Tom Robinson and the West Memphis Three In the court of law, prejudice and discrimination often influence a jury and in turn result in the conviction of innocent or wrongly accused people. Prejudice and discrimination often affect those who are looked down upon or marginalized in society. The case of the West Memphis Three saw a young man sentenced to death row and two others to life in prison for the murder of three young boys. These young men had troubled pasts and were rumoured to be Satanists, they were inexplicably made lead suspects in one of the most poorly conducted homicide cases in American history. Similarly in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson is convicted and sentenced to death for the rape of a white woman without any substantial evidence.
This creatively written novel by Harper Lee shows the children’s reaction to the Radley Place which effectively foreshadows the depth of prejudice and intolerance present in the wider community of Maycomb. Scout and Jem are both bred and born in Maycomb, living off a diet of gossip. The prejudice and intolerance in the community is shown from the very beginning of the novel, when Scout tells us about the mysterious myths and town gossip surrounding Boo Radley. For example, Boo never seen outside for years, getting into trouble with the law and stabbing his father with a pair of scissors in the thigh. “..people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.” (Page 9) This shows how small and connected the
5/25/10 Stereotyping In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson was killed because he was stereotyped. They believed that he beat and raped Mayella Ewell because a white person said so. Many of the characters in the book were stereotyped because of their lifestyles. For example, Dolphus Raymond was stereotyped because he was a drunk. But in reality, he pretended to be a drunk so he can give others a excuse why he likes blacks more than whites.
In the mob scene in Huck Finn, the targeted character was Buck Harkness. Colonel Sherburn clearly criticizes him and his moral issues, using him as an example for the rest of people involved in the mob. He says, “You brought PART of a man—Buck Harkness, there—“Sherburn continues to refer to him with that negative connotation throughout the speech. For example, he later says, “But if only HALF a man—like Buck Harkness, there—shouts ’Lynch him! Lynch him!’ you’re afraid to back down…” In the jailhouse sequence in Mockingbird, Mr. Walter Cunningham is the main subject of moral attack.
Dictionary.com defines satire as, “the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc. Satire was the idea behind Mark Twain’s book, Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain wrote this novel to mock mob mentality, greed, and hierocracy. One target of Twains satire is mob mentality. In one scene the men in Bricksville try to lynch Colonel Sheburn, Colonel Sheburn saw that the town was getting ready to attack him, so he begins to give a speech saying “The idea of you lynching anybody!
First claiming to be sick and pregnant, Celia eventually full on rebelled and killed her aging master, Robert Newsom. Through numerous interrogations and court hearings, Celia was eventually found guilty of homicide despite her continual sexual demands from Newsom. Celia’s case and slavery in general resulted in domestic battles between proslavery and antislavery settlers in the western states. Eventually the morality of slavery and its counterparts escaladed these national disputes which eventually transformed into the Civil war, resulting in the death of nearly 620,000 American citizens (Faust
The Significance of Symbolism in “To Kill a Mockingbird” toward Social and Racial Prejudice The novel by Harper Lee, “To Kill a Mockingbird” mainly discussed about prejudice in many aspects. One aspect is about the prejudice against Tom Robinson, a black man who is falsely accused of raping a white woman and convicted to be guilty by all white jury because of the custom of the society and the racism of the people. Harper Lee uses symbolism which carries the message better than words to signify the prejudice that can be seen as symbols throughout the story, mostly about the problems of social and racial prejudice in the South in 1930s. The use of prejudicial symbolism can be studied by looking through symbols from the book. The paper will be discussing about symbolization of the prejudice against Tom Robinson, the causes from historical context and the evidence of prejudicial thought which is upheld by people in Maycomb society.
Tom Robinson had the most prejudice used against him in To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom was a black field hand that was accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, said that Tom had raped his daughter. Tom however did not rape Mayella, she tried to seduce him. Bob
Despite Atticus’s powerful arguments for Tom’s innocence, the all-white jury convicts the black man. The verdict adversely affects the Finches, especially Jem. When Tom is killed trying to escape from prison, Jem’s struggle with injustice comes to its culmination. Humiliated by the trial, Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, continually threatens Atticus,
Okonkwo plays a big role in the story because of how his character fits on Things Fall Apart. It is crazy how he treat people differently, he will beat up his wives and children yet he has a soft spot towards Ekwefi and Enzima. This makes me think that Okonkwo choose his moments to act manly or choose people to beat up, and he is always more aggressive to his family members than outside people. Okonkwo showed that he has no sympathy when he killed Ikemefuna, who helped Okonkwo a lot in his life, and yet he decided to kill him even though Ikemefuna was really close to him. Okonkwo does not care if you are part of his life or not, if you do not satisfy him he will do damage to you.