A stereotype is a widely known saying which reduces someone’s entire identity and puts them into a single category with set characteristics which do not necessarily apply to them. For example, racial stereotyping is seen when individuals from the Middle East are automatically assumed as being terrorists. In addition, gender stereotyping is seen when all women are expected handle all the housework. Within Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, the character of Scout is affected by gender stereotypes, because she is constantly being told that she is a girl and is expected to act like so. Additionally, the character of Boo is affected by ableist stereotypes, because the children are highly frightened of his presence in Maycomb. Lastly, the …show more content…
For example, this is seen in the way the young Finches describe him. Readers will witness an example of this in the following quotation, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall...he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained...There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 16). Within this quote, one sees the theme of stereotyping because the children have no trouble describing Boo with monstrous and inhuman qualities based on what they had heard about him and his peculiar personality, thus developing the theme of stereotypes in the novel. Meanwhile, the adults of Maycomb, such as Miss Stephanie, are no different from the children themselves. Readers can see this in the quotation “Jem received most of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford, a neighborhood scold, who said she knew the whole thing” (Lee 13). As one can see, the the reference to neighborhood scold shows the theme of stereotyping because it reveals that Stephanie Crawford’s nosiness and blindly spread rumours caused Boo to be put in an undesirable category among others, thus developing the theme of stereotyping in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Later in the story, Scout …show more content…
For example, Atticus explains why this is so at the trial. Readers witness this in the following quote, “‘You gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption—the evil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women’” (Lee 273). One can immediately sense with the reference to all Negroes the theme of racial stereotypes because Atticus emphasizes that their society’s ways of generalizing all black people and disregarding their true identities was the inevitable cause of Tom being falsely accused, altogether developing the theme of stereotyping in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. In addition, Aunt Alexandra does not approve of Atticus defending Tom. This is evident when her grandson, Francis, says “‘Grandma says...now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb agin’” (Lee 110). Through reference to the term nigger-lover the theme of stereotyping shown because Aunt Alexandra was among the many white people of Maycomb who did not even care about the details of Tom’s case because they knew as a black man he would stand no chance automatically, and that it would do nothing for Atticus but spoil his own
Stereotyping is represented in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird through historical allusion. Tom Robinson, who was an innocent crippled handed and kind, was falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Consequently, he was put into trial. This trial, which alludes to Scottsboro trial, portrays white man’s stereotypical view of black man at that time.
Stereotyping in To Kill a Mockingbird Which characters in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird experience the most discrimination throughout the story? Many people would say that Tom Robinson is the obvious choice when considering the characters that are most victim to prejudice and stereotyping; however, Scout Finch is repeatedly exposed to preconceptions and biases about her gender. Tom is faced with brutal racism that eventually resulted in his death. While the consequences he suffered due to his race were far more severe than what Scout dealt with, she was still largely susceptible to inequality. Both Scout and Tom were challenged with unreasonable and unfair standards in Harper Lee’s
For example, “Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw.” (Lee, 275) This shows the racial stereotype of Tom Robinson due to his color. He was stereotyped as an ignorant criminal who ran from prison although people didn’t know why he ran. They only saw the stereotype of him as a criminal due to his skin color.
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is about a town full of racism, hatred, and stubbornness, with a case about a black man allegedly raping a white girl through the eyes of a little girl named Scout, with the adventures she has with her brother Jem and her friend Dill. It illiterates the existence of good and evil characters using symbolism, imagery, and situational irony. First, symbolism is an important part in this novel. In the novel ,Atticus states that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. You can relay this to the title and to Tom Robinson’s trial.
Thesis In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses dialogue and thoughts derived from the characters experiences to convey how the physical appearance of a person affects how they are treated because of the social stereotypes made about a certain race and gender lead to the person facing discrimination that puts them at a disadvantage in the society. Body Paragraph #1 Tom Robinson, a black man, which at that time automatically meant he belonged in the lowest class of the society. This idea also meant that he was seen by others as irrelevant and his only purpose really was to work for others in a higher class.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee reveals how prejudice is portrayed through the characters in the story. Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and Boo Radley are all victims of prejudice in the novel and each of the opinions towards them are proven wrong. During the trial of Tom Robinson, people are prejudice towards him purely because of the fact that he’s an african american man who was accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. The day of the trial occurred and the jury was predominantly white. While Bob was accusing Tom he said “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!”
Prejudice is perceived opinion that isn’t based a upon actual fact. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, there are a lot of examples of prejudice towards black people because it was around that time that African Americans were finally receiving the same rights legally as that of a white man, but the white man thought that this was preposterous. However, throughout the story we see plenty of prejudices against other types of people. For instance, there are prejudices against, Boo Radley, women, and finally white people that believe the blacks are equal to the whites. These are the three types of prejudices that I will be discussing throughout my essay.
In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” gender roles play a big part in the development of a lot of the characters. The Biggest example of this is Scout Finch, who is a young girl who must deal with the gender norms and expectations of 1930s Alabama. Throughout the book, Scout gets to see how the social norms are, based on how she’s treated by her brother, her friends, and her father. This essay will show us how Scout navigates through the gender norms of her time.
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
Stereotypes help form the society in which we live. They affect the outcome of our courts, of how people are treated and what one can and cannot do. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch was likely trying to stop his children from judging people based off of stereotypes or what society expects, specifically the stereotypes of Arthur Radley whom they believed to be some sort of monster because he doesn't bend to society's opinions of socializing. Atticus’ attempts are displayed when he quotes “you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.” Through the use of Scout’s childlike views and imagery, Harper Lee shows readers that it can be misleading to believe in stereotypes.
To Kill A Mockingbird Stereotypes Around the 1600’s many problems and conflicts had been happening, in today's society some of those problems are pretty much gone such as slavery and so on. But even today we face the same conflicts as before. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee a problem that is occurring is stereotypes. Stereotypes are a fixed idea of someone or something.
“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” This is a quote from Atticus Finch, a courageous and wise character from Harper Lee 's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. The story is told through the perspective of a young girl, Jean Louise ¨Scout¨ Finch. She lives with her older brother, Jeremy, and widowed father and prominent lawyer, Atticus, in Maycomb, Alabama during the time of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, the children experience the injustice and prejudice of society through a tough case that their father was appointed to and are taught to respect and tolerate all people, despite their differences.
While using stereotypes in a literary piece of work can be monotonous, it can be very effectual when getting a point across. Harper Lee accomplishes to get her moral condemnation of prejudice in a precise way by using stereotypes within the story. Lee creates the characters to be judged upon without any knowledge of what is really the truth. Arthur “Boo” Radley is a victim of the stereotype in the story. He is believed to be a crazy monster who should be feared yet his only sins are his lack of communication skills and shyness.
When stereotyped characters are employed successfully in a novel, they can be very beneficial in achieving the author’s purpose. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, the author’s main purpose is to convey the societal norms of racism, ignorance depending on class, how innocence can be destroyed due to prejudice, and even sexism in the 1930s. Rhetorical devices can be used to create more of a connection to the reader and improve the flow of paragraphs. Harper Lee uses metaphor, ethos, pathos, and the stereotyped characters of Tom Robinson, Scout Finch, Atticus Finch and the jury to help portray the societal normalities of the 1930s town of Maycomb, Alabama.
The main character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch, a middle aged man living in Maycomb Alabama. Even though he is a southerner he isn’t racist and he believes that everyone should be treated equal, Atticus teaches his children empathy and not to discriminate against other people, he does his by telling them “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Even though Atticus treats everyone as equals he gets affected by the town and their prejudice way of thinking. Because Atticus accepts Tom Robinsons case he gets called a “nigger lover” and him and his children get treated differently by the town.