Raman Gupta
Mr. Seike
Literature and Writing Period 6
30 November 2014
TKAM Essay In "To Kill a Mockingbird" Harper Lee shows the stereotypes created by the different people in Maycomb County, and the views on these stereotypes of a young girl. The young girl, Scout, doesn't understand why people are discriminated against each other, and refers to Atticus, her father. The stereotypes portrayed in the novel are about race, social, religion, and sex. These stereotypes define the people of Maycomb, because of how much these opinions on different people, affect others. Throughout the novel Scout learns more and more about the racism in Maycomb and how most of the people of Maycomb are not as good as he thinks. Scout first encounters racism
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In the social ladder, the Finches are very well respected, and is considered to be at the top, then the rest are the neighbors and farmers of the Finches, below them are the poor Cunninghams, and lastly the Ewells. But unknown to Scout there are a group of people in Maycomb below the Ewells and those are the negroes. The negroes are considered to be worse than the Ewells to most of Maycomb, as seen during the trial. Scout also doesn’t know about how the Cunningham’s poorness affects them, so he wonders when Aunt Alexandra tells her not to talk to the Cunninghams. "'But I want to play with Walter, Aunty, why can’t I?' 'I’ll tell you why...Because—he—is—trash, that’s why you can’t play with him.'" Scout not understanding why the Cunningham’s are trash gets mad at Aunt Alexandra because she doesn’t know who Walter Cunningham truly is underneath his family's poorness. Since the negroes at the bottom of the social ladder in Maycomb are treated so bad, families such as the Finches are very well respected, especially Atticus. Except, Atticus does not disrespect those who are below him in the social ladder. Maycomb County's stereotypes on people who are very poor are terrible, especially to the Cunninghams and the negroes, but are good for the Finches. …show more content…
Maudie Atkinson is the Finch's neighbor who doesn't go to church, but gardens her flowers instead. Many people hate her for not going to church, and do terrible things to her. "'Foot-washers believe anything that’s pleasure is a sin. Did you know some of ‘em came out of the woods one Saturday and passed by this place and told me me and my flowers were going to hell.'" Baptists threaten Maudie Atkinson, for not going to church and took the punishment. Maudie's house was burned down with her flowers, on a snowy morning. Atticus also believes that religion is important to himself, and he believes that taking the case would be moral and ethical. "'This case, Tom Robinson’s case, is something that goes to the essence of a man’s conscience—Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man.'" Atticus also mentions God's name in his closing statement, which shows how badly he wants Tom Robinson to be acquitted. "'I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty.'" Religion is very important to Maycomb County; therefore, those who don't go to church are
Another way Scout has changed since the beginning of the book is she understands people have both good and bad qualities that coexist within them, as she becomes closer to an adult and encounters evil in the world. 20. Miss Gates’ lesson to the class about Hitler’s prosecution of Jew’s is ironic, because she herself came out of the courthouse after the trial ended and responded by telling Miss Stephanie Crawford that “it was about time that someone taught them a lesson” when referring to the blacks in the town. It reveals that most people during that time where racist and prejudice to some extent in Maycomb. An example that is similar in our current society portrayed in this chapter is how white males get paid the highest salary, but people of other races and women get paid lower salaries for
Girls are expected to dress and act lady-like, and men are perceived as the breadwinners. Another problem is that racism plays a part of the division in Maycomb. Black people are valued as lesser people, and they are treated unfairly. Tom Robinson was mistreated during his unjust trial, and because of the stereotypes and racism he was sent to jail for a crime he did not commit. Scout also finds herself stereotyping Arthur “Boo” Radley.
Scout empathizes for Mayella and her situation, comparing to Dolphus Raymond who can live how he wants just because he owns land and such. “She couldn’t live like Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who preferred the company of Negroes, because she didn’t own a riverbank and she wasn’t from a fine old family. Nobody said, “That’s just their way,” about the Ewells. Maycomb gave them Christmas baskets, welfare money, and the back of its hand.” (Lee) Scout is thinking about Mayella Ewell, and how her status in the lower class is socially constricting.
Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird Prejudice, although not as prevalent in today’s society, was very common during the time of the Great Depression. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee. It follows Scout, the protagonist and narrator, as she matures throughout her childhood. As she matures, she is introduced to the evil in the world, specifically prejudice, as her father defends Tom Robinson, a black man, for being wrongfully accused of rape. This novel reveals that prejudice does not only harm an individual, but also contributes to a larger problem in society.
Harper Lee she is trying to suggest that the stereotypes related to specific races apply to the whole human race. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem and Scout discover the racism in their town, and discover how it can have major affects on people. In Harper Lee’s novel, there are several examples of white and black people that stick up for or go against stereotypes to show the reader race should not be viewed as a single story. Black, white, and other people have stereotypes attributed to them, but they can apply to everyone.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is an elementary aged girl who must battle concepts like prejudice and racism in her home town; Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s. Harper Lee uses symbolism and character throughout the story with characters like Boo Radley, her motif, and the character from whom the books point of view is written, Scout, to convey the message that you must consider things from another person’s point of view to fight prejudice. Harper Lee’s character Boo Radley is often misunderstood and serves as a gate way to understanding prejudice for Scout. Boo Radley had gotten into the wrong crowd as a kid and got mixed up with the law. The others who got in trouble with him were sent to industrial school, a type of special school that really only serves to provide children with food, shelter, and education (pg 12).
These actions caused by the society advise Scout about people and the existence of Maycomb. For example, when Scout and Miss Maudie are discussing how some men were born to do undesirable jobs for the world, Scout says, “I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like” (218). Scout is definitely learning the shady elements in reality of Maycomb, from the undesirable jobs to unpleasant people, they come from cowards. Miss Maudie realizes how prejudice citizens are about colored citizens and others unreasonable assumptions. In addition, when Atticus was strolling by the Post Office, Bob Ewell approaches him and spat in his face after stating he would get him if it took him the rest of his life.
People's use of tolerance, discrimination, and integrity have changed tremendously in the past century. In the small town of Maycomb, Atticus, Scout, and several other characters face their own dilemmas that shape them as characters. Throughout the book, they display several different themes as they conquer these real-world problems. The town faces plenty of hardships throughout the course of the story, but always seems to overcome them. Harper Lee displays discrimination, tolerance, and integrity because they indicate the improvements and struggles people in the 1930’s faced, as well as help in order to change our current society.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many chapters that involve racism, poverty, and or violence. This book takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. The Finches, Jem, Scout, and Atticus which are the rich white people, the Cunninghams, the poor humble people, the Ewells, the dirt poor white trash people, and the colored folks all are involved in either racism, poverty, and or violence. Many examples of poverty are stated in To Kill A Mockingbird. An example of poverty is the Ewells because the Ewells have nearly nothing.
Race has always been a part of history, from slavery to MLK, to Barack Obama. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee defines race in the south during the 1930’s. Jean “Scout” Finch, is the narrator of the story. Her brother Jeremy “Jem” and her dad, Atticus, are both main characters. Calpurnia is their house cook and helper, she is also black.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the story of a small town named Maycomb Located in Alabama, highlighting the adventures of the finch children and many other people in the small town. The people in this town are very judgemental and of each other and it often leads to people being labeled with stereotypes and people think they know everything about that person however that is not reality. It is not possible to know the reality of a person 's life by placing a stereotype without seeing it through their own eyes and experiencing the things they experience. This happens often throughout the story with many people in the town. People are labeled as many things such a “monster” a “nigger” and many other things that seem to put them in their
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the notion of racism is instilled in the town of Maycomb, causing characters to have different perspectives. Along the way being influenced by others perspectives. These characters show different emotions by the things they have witnessed, causing their change of mindset. There are three different perspectives to look at during these events in the book. These viewpoints come from the town of Maycomb, Scout, and Jem.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us about the town of Maycomb County during the late 1930s, where the characters live in isolation and victimization. Through the perspective of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, readers will witness the prejudice that Maycomb produces during times where people face judgement through age, gender, skin colour, and class, their whole lives. Different types of prejudice are present throughout the story and each contribute to how events play out in the small town of Maycomb. Consequently, socially disabling the people who fall victim from living their life comfortably in peace. Boo Radley and his isolation from Maycomb County, the racial aspects of Tom Robinson, and the decision Atticus Finch makes as a lawyer, to defend a black man has all made them fall in the hands of Maycomb’s prejudice ways.
She has racial prejudice views that she tries to enforce on the Finch family which causes some negativity in the household and an antagonist view upon her own character. She feels as though the Finches are civil and are of higher stance so she wants her whole family to look as such regarding clothing, presence, and attitude towards other races lower than the whites. She depicts such racial views to her niece and nephew and neither really appreciate her views. She mentions how someone poorer than the Finches should not even associate with them, such as the Cunninghams. As she states, “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till his shoe shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit but he’ll never be like Jem.”
Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour. Racism can be seen even in the first few chapters of the book. These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they were growing up.