Theme Of Prejudice In Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

Carli Bonnett Mrs. Lawson English 10 19 January 2023 Prejudice in Maycomb County In Maycomb county, Alabama there was a court case full of injustice and bias. Maycomb county is a fairly tight-knit community but they still have its faults. In the Book To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a lawyer Atticus finch. He represented Tom Robinson who is a colored man that was accused of raping a girl named Mayella Ewell.

The Civil Rights Movement is historically agreed upon to have occurred from 1954 to 1968 and although the year 1968 marked the end of the movement period, the year was no calm

The prevailing attitudes of the 1930s evokes responders to realise the inequality reflected in the novel, more predominately the town of Maycomb. Lee expresses the immorality during the era through Atticus's repetitive statements "that all Negros lie, that all Negros are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women." The anaphora of "that all Negros" encapsulates the moral voice which reinforces the prevalent assumptions of racial prejudice against disenfranchised individuals. The high modality demonstrates the injustice attitudes of the White people upon the "other" stemming from the Great Depression during that era. In comparison to Atticus's previous statement, he replace the "all" with some. "

As stated prior, segregation and Jim Crow Laws promoted racist ideas and actions. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, examples of post Plessy v Ferguson racism is quite prevalent throughout the book. The most significant example is during the court trial scene, where Atticus proves Bob Ewell had falsely accused Tom Robinson of rape, yet still wins the trial. After the trial had been lost, Atticus states “In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins,” to explain how racial inequality was the decisive factor in the trial, and not the truth. This is a perfect example of the struggle for racial equality, and the town of Maycomb backs up that ideal.

For hundreds of years African Americans have faced racial discrimination in the United States. Over and over again contracts were made that gave them hope of equality such as the Emancipation Proclamation, the 14th and 15th amendment, and the end of the separate but equal law. However, they were continuously refused the basic rights that they were promised and were still forcefully separated from whites. Racist police and white supremacists evoked fear in African American men and women who attempted to participate in the rights they were entitled to. Then, in the 1950s and 60s there was a spark of interminable protesting of the clear racial injustices that the African American people faced, this time was known as the Civil Rights Movement.

There are many different types of prejudice, such as racial prejudice, prejudice against where people come from and age prejudice. People may judge another person based on their looks, the way they dress or the way they talk. Prejudice is based on ignorance. This is shown in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee when the following characters are judged: Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and Boo Radley.

Everyone experiences rough patches in life. My rough patch occured when I moved to Michigan from Wisconsin in fifth grade, I became a victim of pre-judgement. Classmates bullied me because I supported the Wisconsin badgers and not the hometown spartans or wolverines. Making friends became difficult, I became known as the “new kid” and colleagues deliberately avoided me. Day after day, the distance between me and my peers only escalated, and school felt similar to solitary confinement.

Aaron Loya Mr. Snell English III 1/27/23 ¨If there is no struggle, there is no progress¨ as said by Fredrick Douglas which thoroughly can describe the vigorous events and actions that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement. Constant prejudice, judgment, and unfairness throughout the United States occurred while African Americans were fighting for their rights to be treated as equals. With all things considered, the Civil Rights Movement was an extraordinarily important event to occur in the history of the United States because it allowed people of color, such as African Americans, to begin getting equal treatment and be treated as full people. Although slavery ended in America and African Americans were considered free, they continued

1930, Maycomb, Alabama the Great Depression is in reign. Not only is the Great Depression a dominant conflict for citizens, so is the long lasting social and racial hierarchy. In Maycomb the superior group are the caucasians who believe that any other race, particularly African Americans, are their minority. During this time most white men believe they are in control of every other man not of his race, but not every man did. Author Harper Lee creates an immense representation of the racial prejudice in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird through character Bob Ewell.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates a story surrounding the prejudice of the time and its impact on the innocence of the children in the town. The narrative takes place in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. An old, suffocating town, home to aimlessly fueled hatred and bias. “Maycombs Disease” describes the behaviors portrayed by the residents, which embrace the racist and classist behaviors of the time. 1930, a period of depression, was infested with discrimination among many minorities.

American poet Maya Angelou once said, “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.” This is especially true during the 1930s period in Southern United States history. However, prejudice comes in many forms, like in social status or even on the basis of race. Bob Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird was a major example of the type of racial animosity most southern Americans showed towards people of a different skin color, religion, or even gender. However, Jem and Scout’s

The African American Civil Rights movement existed at large between the early fifties and the late sixties in a society that was constantly on the verge of social destruction. The black rights movement existed politically, socially, and economically everywhere in the United States. As time progressed the movement developed and saw many changes along with schisms separating activists and how they approached getting their rights. In the early fifties there was a large non-violent integration based movement spearheaded by figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. However, as the time progressed, the movement started seeing a more aggressive leadership with figures such as Malcolm X, but eventually it turned into an extremist movement

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells a story of racial prejudice during the Depression and how it is combated. The main development in the novel is that a Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, has been appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young white woman named Mayella. Many people in the town of Maycomb, particularly people involved with the case of Tom, have a negative attitude towards African Americans. Prejudice was a terrible issue in the South during the Depression, but Atticus Finch shows that racial injustice can be combated in two main ways, each having different levels of effectiveness.

Throughout history, African Americans have faced a long and challenging struggle for Civil Rights. Their fight for equality and desegregation has had an enormous impact on the United States. Not only have their struggles against racism changed the lives of many people, their struggles have ultimately shaped the development of the country. The idea that the civil rights movement arose somewhere in the timeframe of the 1950s is somewhat plausible.

One of the main themes of the novel is Racism. During the time of depression, racism and poverty were a common issue. People with a dark skin tone, i.e the African- Americans were seen as derogatory and treated like dirt. Harper Lee depicts it in a very realistic way.