The lack of knowledge in Maycomb about the outside world and their opinions about black people ingrains ‘Maycomb’s usual disease’ into their minds as they have no other opinions about black people. This is shown by the crowd’s outrage as they gather to lynch Tom, not knowing that he was innocent, but blinded by ... ... middle of paper ... ...sirable traits to have as they can motivate you through the toughest tasks and drive you to do what should be done instead of abandon your duties. In conclusion, Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird highlights the horrible prejudice and ignorance towards black people in the southern town of Maycomb, but also shows wisdom and compassion as not only desirable but necessary traits to have to withstand the bombardment of pre-conceived ideas from the people surrounding you, and also portrays these qualities as a shield to people around
When Scout stands on the Radley porch, she suddenly realizes why Boo Radley behaves the way he does in the novel. Tom Robinson is also a character in this novel where misinterpretation takes place throughout his life. For example, during the trial Bob Ewell testifies and points to Tom and says, “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella”(Lee, 173). As a result, people visualize Tom as an evil person and believe he is responsible for the rape of Mayella. The truth is, the people of Maycomb are judgmental towards him because of his race and due to the rumors that
They discriminate against blacks, mulattos, the poor, and people they do not even know any information about. Blacks encountered most of the discrimination, by the people of Maycomb. Tom Robinson is a black man that is accused of raping a poor girl names Mayella Ewell. Atticus Finch the father of Scout and
Quotes from Atticus Finch 1. "Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” - spoken by Atticus Finch, by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird This quote could be used in real life by a person who is struggling to get something done. 2.
“Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced.” However, her attitude towards the whole Tom Robinson case says the complete opposite. Scout even hears her say after Tom's sentence "it's time someone taught 'em a lesson, they were gettin' way above themselves, an' next thing they think they can do is marry us. " Scout does a lot of "growing up" in this novel. She doesn't understand much about the world in the beginning, and by the end she understands a little too much.
The whites don't like colored people, and in return the colored don't like the whites. In the novel Calpurnia decides to take the children, Scout and Jem to her church, a “colored” church. Lula, criticizes Calpurnia for bringing white children to the church. We can take this to the past, Emmit Till and Trayvon Martin both of these boys death was caused because of racism, and other parts of prejudice. This novel shows how injustice is not only perpetuated by individual people, but a whole system that needs to change because despite the honorable work of people like
“If Mr. Finch doesn’t wear you out, I will.” (278) Calpurnia isn’t scared to give the kids a spanking. She has been around them long enough that she is comfortable to discipline them. And this quote tells exactly that. She is practically a mother figure to the kids. With just these few examples of the way Harper Lee addresses “Family” in To Kill a Mockingbird, it is noticeable that family matters a lot in this book.
Therefore, this novel is still relevant because we are still experiencing racism in different ways. An article about how racism and ethnic bias in the media is a serious problem, Elizabeth Llorente, a journalist was interviewed on how racism in the media is a serious problem and how it affects people all around. She explains that the African American reporters she works with have spoken “…about feelings of being unwelcome, especially when they’re covering white areas” (Llorente). This proves that even now in the modern world and in our everyday lives we experience horrible things like feeling like you don’t fit in because of race. Llorente also talks about how it all depends on you appearance.
A prejudiced society is usually ignorant of its flaws, many prejudiced people do not realise the extent of their hypocrisy. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), Scout and Jem encounter prejudice in their little southern town of Maycomb, in which many social divisions exist. Maycomb County harbours many kinds of prejudices, and this lack of acceptance negatively affects many characters, which are stereotyped based on their race, economic status and level of education. Firstly, the 1930’s have large amounts of racial tension between strangers, neighbour, and even fellow family members. The white community feels that the black people are beneath them in the world.
From this quote it shows how the whites are against African Americans because of their color. The whites and blacks just want to show each other that they are better than one another. Another way prejudice allows criticism and hypocrisy is what happens in the Maycomb churches. For example, a lady named Lula that goes to church with Calpurnia tolled her “I want to know why you