Today, we were seeing on the news important topics about colored skin marches like “black lives matter. “ Cops are supposedly killing colored men for “no reason.” Could this be history repeating itself like the 1930- 60’s? To Kill a Mockingbird is a tale of the twists and turns of social norms told from the point of view of a woman looking back at her childhood where she was oblivious to this discrimination. This book created a lot of controversy because it tackled the whole structure of southern society. But what types of segregation were being tackled to cause this much discussion about the book? In To Kill a Mockingbird there are three main instances that are frequently portrayed including social, gender, and most importantly, racial segregation. …show more content…
In the time frame that this story is told, the south is an inhospitable home for millions of black people who wanted equal rights and freedoms of their white peers. Maycomb County doesn’t deviate from this problematic condition. Like most rural southern towns, black people are not treated appropriately. Almost every white character in the novel has a prejudice toward black people and have a view that they are inferior. This is especially depicted in the trial scene. The court case is clearly going in favor of Tom Robinson, however, because of the intolerant nature of the people in the courtroom and on the jury, it appears that there is no possible way for Tom to receive justice. Jill May writes about this and conveys, “ No one, save Jem and his youthful converts, expects Atticus to win. The black minister who has befriended the children warns, ‘I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man’”(304). The concept of southern justice is illustrated here because even the faithful and lively black onlookers recognize and anticipate that the court will rule in favor of Bob Ewell, yet they watch in sorrow at the unfair cruelty of the horrible injustice. Only Jem, Scout and Dill fail to realize the reality of the somber situation. This is a showing of the twisted mindsets sketched into the children’s
In court, Tom Robinson was declared guilty and sentenced to death. Atticus discusses the outcomes with Jem, stating that whites will always win over blacks. However, Jem argues by saying it “‘doesn’t make it right’”
(100), here, Atticus knows even if everyone knows Tom is innocent and Tom’s opponent is white trash and ignorant, everyone understand that he will suffer racial discrimination and will be labelled guilty no matter the proof. Racial segregation will be the main factor as to why no one will choose a black man’s side over a white’s. No matter how much evidence there is, the mindset on blacks in Maycomb is nearly impossible to discard. “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (276), it is no surprise when Tom tries to escape the prison and dies doing so, because everyone knew there was no hope for him once a white accuses him.
What is your take on racism and segregation? This essay is about how Harper Lee’s society were shown through her characters while writing To Kill A Mockingbird. The society shaped and influenced Harper Lee to write To Kill A Mockingbird by teaching her how people can be different from one another. For instance, in the text it states, “In the south, Jim Crow laws mandated segregation in all public facilities from 1876 until 1965, and therefore sanctioned discrimination against black people throughout Lee’s childhood” (Shmoop). To sum up, when Harper Lee was growing up in Alabama there was segregation and people treated different races differently.
The Scottsboro Trials and To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the famous father named Atticus says “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 (Judith 2). This quote is said during a time of intense racism. “Not long after Obama took office, the National Urban League released its 2009 State of Black America report. The findings showed that racial inequities continued in employment, housing, health care, education, criminal justice, and other areas” (Buckley 1). This essay will primarily focus on the criminal justice area of this when discussing the Scottsboro trials and comparing the trials to the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee contains various examples of racism and prejudice throughout the novel. The story takes place in the 1930's, a period when racism was a part of everyday life. Prejudice and racism in this book are represented by acts of hate towards others because of the color of their skin. In this novel, prejudice and racism was dominantly pointed towards blacks. Acts of racism can be discreet to the point that you can easily miss them.
After watching the court hearings, Jem had confidence in the jury to rule in favor of the defendant, because of the compelling case that Atticus had made, where he had exposed the lies that the witnesses made on stand, while proving Mr. Robinson’s innocence with actual evidence and effective reasoning. “Jem was jumping in excitement. ‘We’ve won, haven’t we?’” (210). However, while Jem is aware of his community’s bias against people of color, he doesn’t believe that the bias will infringe upon justice and affect the verdict.
To illustrate, “Tom Robinson is a colored man, Jem. No jury in the world is going to say, ’We think you are guilty, but not very,’ on a charge like that.” (Lee, 251). This quote shows how little faith Atticus had in Tom’s freedom. He knew that he would not win Tom’s trial, no matter how hard he tried, because no jury in 1930s Alabama would take the word of a black man over that of a white man, no matter how much evidence there was to prove the black man’s innocence.
Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird famously said in his closing arguments: "You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some negro men are not to be trusted around women- black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and no particular race of men." (pg 232) What Atticus is trying to convey is a foreign concept to most people in Maycomb county. Atticus is trying to convey a point of equality and no prejudice in a world of social inequality which, as one can imagine, didn 't go over so well.
Most of the Maycomb town was unaffected when Tom was convicted guilty or was shot. They talked about it for a few days, then forgot all about him along with every other innocent black individual killed by a jury composed of white men. Likewise, in The Butler, we are shown that an acceptance of racism can also be coming from an African-American. Cecil Gaines is a character that is very conscious of how poorly black people are treated in the entirety of the United States but mostly in the slave states. Although he is aware, the problems in the southern states don’t directly affect him so he chooses to ignore them.
Racism, family background, and wealth are the three main forms of social inequality that appear multiple times in To Kill a Mockingbird. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee proves that the Negroes are not respected at all simply because of their skin color. They are so disrespected and looked down on to the point they have their own little community out of the town away from the white people. Although, the colored are racists towards the white people in Maycomb.
In chapters 17-24 in To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem and Scout observe their father in court defending Tom Robinson (a black man) from the accusations of the Bob Ewell (a "low grade ' ' white man). Bob Ewell accuses Tom Robinson of sexually assaulting his daughter; Mayella Ewell. Before the fate of Tom Robinson is given in the possession of the jury, both lawyers have a final attempt at convincing the jury that Tom Robinson should/shouldn 't be prosecuted. Atticus starts off his closing remarks with the fact that he believes that the case should have never come to trial and that the case "”is as simple as black and white."
Blue Jays and Mockingbirds Who are the blue jays and mockingbirds of To Kill A Mockingbird? Set in the early 1930’s of America, Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is a coming-of-age book that tells the story of an innocent, naive child becoming an adult through the experience and intake of racism, discrimination, and social injustice throughout the book. Harper Lee’s development, usage and characterization of her characters throughout To Kill A Mockingbird help establish two of her most important themes of the book, which are the presence of social injustice and the coexistence of good and evil. Social injustice is consistently seen throughout To Kill A Mockingbird.
In To Kill a Mockingbird there are lots of racial, gender, and religious, discrimination. Which is shown a multiple amount of times throughout the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee which takes place in Maycomb Alabama, where there is a lot of racial discrimination. But there is also some gender, and religious, discrimination.
What if the world was still the same as it was back during the great depression. What if this was the truth. In To Kill a Mockingbird readers can see how prejudice affected people of color back then, and how it’s not so different from today. In the novel readers will find unfairness in court, hate crimes, and segregation. Today readers can still find these same issues, but in different forms.
The black and white communities of Maycomb hardly ever come across one another, and in the rare occasion of such occurrence, the black individual most likely will get punished. Maycomb County is filled with so called “laws” that punish the black individual with