Examples Of Racial Oppression In To Kill A Mockingbird

Imagine living in a rural town in Alabama back in the early nineteen hundreds; racism runs wild and social injustices occur frequently, unregulated by law enforcement. This is just what The Finch family in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, has to deal with. This is an appealing story about the Finch family and the problems that they face, especially regarding an instance of racial oppression involving a black man and a white lawyer, Atticus Finch. Besides Atticus Finch, other characters in the town of Maycomb such as Boo Radley, and Scout Finch are all known for their courageous and sometimes defying actions throughout the book.
To start, Atticus is obviously courageous and shows it in many ways, such as shooting a dangerous, mad dog. Atticus is forced to shoot the mad dog when no one else would. The narrator recounts, “The rifle cracked… [the dog] leaped, and crumpled on the sidewalk”(Lee 127). Atticus was man enough to put the poor and suffering dog to rest while everyone else watched in fear. He is also defending Tom Robinson, a black man, in court when there is a primarily racist community surrounding him. Robinson is convicted of
He shows it by protecting the Finch kids when they are in danger, and doing anything possible to help them. First off, Boo does not even know these kids, but still has the decency to help them. Jem tells Scout after he loses his pants in a wild night, “When I went back [my pants] were folded across the fence...like they were expectin’ me.” “They’d been sewed up”(Lee 78). After the community pageant, Scout and Jem were attacked by Bob Ewell, a poor farmer. Boo has the courage to save the Finch kids in a life or death situation. Scout explains, “Suddenly he [Bob Ewell] was jerked back and flung to the ground”(Lee 351). Boo is a timid person who learns to express his bravery through