Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in rural south Alabama in a town called Maycomb during the Great Depression, in a time when many Southerners both accepted and expected discrimination toward minorities. Atticus Finch, a widowed father of two, trying to raise his children well, teaches them to see things from another’s perspective. Lee incorporates the crucial quality of empathy in the feelings of the characters and expresses the empathetic theme with the influence of racism and prejudice in Maycomb society within the main characters Scout, Jem, and Atticus.…
The 1930’s were hard times in Southern America, where racism took place and slavery was seen in almost every city. The divisions between blacks and whites lead to believe that whites were and always have been superior. In Harper Lee’s well known book, To Kill a Mockingbird, we see how families where raised on a day to day basis and how each family dealt with colored people. The Cunningham 's, Ewell’s, and Finch’s are three of the more important white families in the story and despite that, have raised there families in certain ways. We learn about the upbringing of the children and how there parents played a key role. Although all three families are white, they have more differences among each other then similarities. Things that set them apart are things like their social standing in the town as well as how they react to the Great Depression of the 1930’s.…
Innocent people are being targeted for the color of their skin and their social class just like the residents of Maycomb,Alabama during the 1930’s in Harper Lee’s book “To Kill A Mockingbird”. In this book, which is based on a white family and told through the eyes of the youngest child, “Scout Finch”, you learn about her residential city Maycomb, and its many issues with racism and social discrimination. You also learn about Scout's father , Atticus Finch, who is an attorney for a hopeless black man striving for innocence due to being falsely accused of rape. Throughout this essay, you will read about the characters of “To Kill A Mockingbird” and how they mature due to racism and social profiling. Scout changes her racist and social view of Maycomb after her dad talks to her about the various situations and why they happened.…
Childhood innocence is fleeting—when the world is no longer simply teddy bears and rainbows, the mind of a child seeks guidance. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a young girl by the name of Scout grows up in the narrow minded town of Maycomb, Alabama. While the Great Depression wreaks havoc on southern farmers, racism runs rampant as the poor white man attempts to assert his non-existent superiority over the black community. With her father defending a black man accused of rape in an upcoming trial, Scout becomes surrounded by more negativity and hate than ever before. Lost and confused, Scout finds herself looking up to the only parent she has—Atticus Finch. Through the admirable…
At the beginning of the novel, Scout is an innocent five-year-old child who has no experience with reality of the outside world. As the novel goes on, Scout is learning about the harsh world that is around her by all of the events that are happening that has to do with racial prejudice. People throughout the book, even her family, approach her and make crude and slanderous remarks regarding her father representing a colored man. The grounds on which she dynamically changes is centered around whether she will learn that humanity can be evil and how she responds to that.…
To Kill a Mockingbird is written from the perspective of a 8 year old American girl in the 1930’s. The novel unfolds a story about an innocent black man accused of rape in a white Southern American County. The young naive girl Scout, recognizes the injustice of the towns accusations and sees the biased prejudices. By writing in the perspective of the young girl Scout, it allows the reader to have no prejudiced opinion. Instead the book is read through…
The Finches went to an all white school with all white friends and in a white neighborhood with a black cook. The Finches were a typical white family, and they looked down on blacks, but back then it was normal, but Atticus Finch was the exception in their family, he was representing a black man in court, by doing this he put his family's life, his life, his job, his career,and everything that was important to him. Their cook was a black lady named Calpurnia, Atticus thought of her as family, but when Aunt Alexandra came to visit, she couldn’t believe the way Atticus treated her, he…
To Kill a Mockingbird has had a large influence on English Literature and is most definitely Harper Lee's greatest masterpiece. Many topics of human morals have been touched in this novel. To be more specific, the topic of prejudice towards African-Americans in the southern states is a very prominent one. This book reflects reasons why prejudice exists, the inner strength of the black community, and what should have been done to correct this problem. These fit ideally into the theme "beauty and the beast".…
Throughout the 1930’s many people in the United States had to suffer though a Great Depression that caused many Americans to lose many things, starting from their jobs to even their own pride in themselves. How ever this was different for the people who lived in the south, the southern people were not only just affected by the Great Depression they were also affected by heavy racism and strongly enforced Jim Crow laws. With the enforced Jim Crow laws, these laws heavily restricted the life of a colored person, causing them to have restrictions to their daily lives. On the other hand the laws did not only affect just the lives of a colored person, the laws also affected even the people who are suppose to benefit from the laws, the white people. For example some of the white people who were against the Jim Crow laws and were for racial equality were even lynched by their own race. But, to truly understand what life was really like for southern people in the 1930’s, the book To Kill A Mockingbird created by author Harper Lee, informs her readers through the plot, character development and tone of the story to show her readers what southern life in the 1930’s was really like.…
At the start of the book a naïve, young and innocent African American girl lived life almost oblivious to the socially constructed issue of race. She did not see the difference of skin color and believed it was perfectly normal to socialize with whites. As far as she was concerned raced did not exist. This view was quickly altered and changed as the little girl named Essie-Mae Moody grew up fast in a society dominated by racial boundaries involving whites, blacks and a hierarchy of people who had parts of both. Essie’s first encounter with race which initiated her first change, from being oblivious to being confused, occurred early in life. When she was young, she was friends with and often played with white children. This all changed when an unknowing Essie-Mae tried to sit with her white friends in a white’s only section of a movie theatre. After being harshly corrected of her errors by her mother her eyes were opened for the first time to a world with race. “I knew that we were going to separate schools and all, but I never knew why.”1 At this point her innocence was lost and confusion took hold of her. At this point she realized the bigger picture, that she and her friends were different because of their skin color.…
Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is well known for being on the list of banned books. This is because it is centered around racism and does use profanity, however it is still more than relevant. In the 1930’s, when this book takes place, the great depression is happening and there is still heavy racism. However there are good people like Atticus Finch that are accepting of everyone regardless of the color of their skin. To Kill A Mockingbird is still relevant in schools today because the book gives many events for learning: the coming of age journey from diverse, intriguing characters, the lesson of accepting others aside from differences and the difficult road of American racism.…
They are treated poorly and humiliated. One day Jem, Scout, and Dill walk by a picnic where blacks are hanging out, when they start to talk about ‘mixed children’, “Colored folks won’t have ‘em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ‘em ‘cause they’re colored, so they’re just inbetweens, don’t belong anywhere.” (215) This shows how the children who are half white and half black are rejected just because they aren’t one or the other. They’re neglected because of prejudice between blacks and whites. During the trial Atticus acknowledges the prejudice within the case, stating, “She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man.” (272) This displays how interactions with African Americans is interpreted in their society. They are expected to not have any romantic relationships that intermix. This thought that the two groups of people are different and one is worse or better has people passing their own ideas to others. The prejudice towards blacks is extreme in the book and is shown through many aspects. The way they are treated and talked about is all because people have predetermined opinions about them without their own background.…
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird is influential today by affecting other books, media, and people. According to, Cooper Ilene, a famous journalist the book, The Mighty Miss Malone, is an excellent example of a book influenced by To Kill a Mocking; she stated, “ It’s 1936… This story shows hardship from the point of view from an African American girl… ‘ I got the idea long after reading To Kill a Mockingbird, ’ stated Cooper.” This excerpt undeniably demonstrates the lifelong effect of the famous novel. The words, “ point of view from an African American girl,” demonstrates that the author was influenced by Scout to make a similar character, but a different race. Cooper, the author, even admitted that the book inspired him, by saying , “ I got…
Throughout the years there has been much of conflict and segregation among the people, but over the century people have started to cooperate with each other. This novel takes place in during a time period were there was segregation between races existed. Scout a young innocent, intelligent, girl has started to grow and is describing much of the racism that she sees in…
Discrimination is a prominent subject throughout the story as well as in today's world. Sadly, racism and stereotypes are still ongoing events, but in a different genre. A good example is the African American community. In the 1900’s it was more about rules discriminating against African Americans. In today's world, everything is about how aggressive or suspicious that young, black adult looks. Each category of racism lacks the respect and justice they deserve. Just like the modern day, Maycomb needs to find the dignity to respect others. The dysfunctional town goes through many instances ranging from trust and courage to standing up for what is right. Through Scout, the reader witnesses discrimination against gender, class, and race.…