Prejudice Exposed In Langston Hughes 'The Negro Mother'

"Children, I come back today./ To tell you a story of the long dark way./ That I had to climb, that I had to know./ In order that the race might live and grow." --Langston Hughes. In his poem "The Negro Mother", Hughes describes the prejudices and the struggles his mother faced growing up in a time of segregation. Hughes illustrates the depressing lifestyle the blacks lead by symbolizing their lives as a "long dark way". Similarly, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches about the prejudices and hatred colored people faced in the 1930's. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch narrates the story as a woman reflecting on her events from childhood. Through the course of the novel, young Scout learns about the prejudice colored
people face. Scout witnesses the prejudices that leads to the death of Tom Robinson, an innocent black man. Tom is declared guilty because of the biased white jury who bases their decision on the color of Tom's skin. However, even after Tom Robinson is unjustly sentenced to death, the gossiping missionary circle continues to express their prejudices and spread bigoted gossip. Through the characterization of the missionary circle and the use of metaphor and connotation in the Tom Robinson trial, Lee demonstrates prejudice is learned, and can only be combated with knowledge of others.
Prejudice is taught by others, and is passed on from person to person.
During one of Aunt Alexandra's missionary circle meetings, Mrs. Farrow discusses her opinion of colored people: "It's just like I was telling brother Hutson the other day...We can educate 'em till we're blue in the face, we can try till we drop to make Christians out of 'em, but there's no lady safe in her bed these nights." (Lee 311). Readers can conclude from Mrs. Farrow's words and actions that she believes in the stereotype that black men want to have sex with white women. Mrs. Farrow's hyperbole "no lady safe in her bed" characterizes her as a ignorant, narrow minded woman. Mrs. Farrow announces her prejudiced thoughts to all the ladies in the missionary circle and to a priest, circulating the sour prejudices around Maycomb. After Tom Robinson's trial, Miss Merriweather, another member of the missionary circle, remarks about the dissatisfaction her helper girl, Sophy expresses after the trial: "I'm not read in the field but sulky... It's never entered that wool of hers that the only reason I keep her is because she needs her dollar and quarter..." (312). Miss Merriweather's speech reveals what kind of person she is; Miss Merriweather is characterized as a prejudiced gossip who degrades Sophy by using a metaphor to compare her head to "wool". Miss Merriweather draws on the stereotype that black people are not smart by comparing Sophy's head to balls of fluff. Miss Merriweather's prejudicial comments
are heard by many other women, promoting the spread of prejudice. Through the actions of the missionary circle ladies, readers conclude people casually throw around prejudice, passing it from person to person.
Through the Tom Robinson trial, Lee articulates that prejudice can be reversed through knowledge of others. Halfway through the trial, the cross examiner, Mr. Glimer rudely questions Tom Robinson, trying to make Tom confess to a crime he did not commit:
You testified that you were resisting Mrs. Ewell. Were you scared that she'd hurt you, you ran, a big buck like you?
No suh, scared I'd hafta face up to what I didn't do.(265)
During the cross examination, Mr.
Glimer questions Tom in a condescending and mocking manner, using a metaphor to refer to Tom as a "buck". Mr. Glimer dehumanizes Tom, comparing him to an animal. However, after being referred to as a buck, Tom keeps his calm and answers truthfully, his actions revealing him to be a respectable man. Through his actions, the person behind the colored skin begins to shine through. When Tom's humble demeanor is revealed, the flame of prejudice wavers for a short while. After the Tom Robinson trial, Atticus notifies Jem that Tom Robinson's trial was not fruitless: "The jury took a few hours. An inevitable verdict, maybe, but usually it takes 'em a few minutes'...'You might like to know that there was one fellow who took considerable wearing down—in the beginning he was rarin' for an outright acquittal." (297). Atticus uses the word "raring" to describe the attitude of one of the Cunninghams in the jury. "Raring" has a positive connotation, implying the Cunningham is enthusiastic about his beliefs, and strongly desires an innocent verdict. Through the learning and the truths revealed in the Tom Robinson trial, one of the Cunninghams unconsciously reverses his prejudice and fights enthusiastically for an innocent verdict. Tom Robinson's trial proves prejudice is wrong and unfounded, and knowledge is the only way to reverse injustice and
prejudice.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee proves knowledge is the weapon against prejudice, a sour lesson that passes on from person to person. Lee demonstrates this through the characterization of the missionary circle and the literary devices used in the Tom Robinson trial. Throughout the story, Tom Robinson proves stereotypes are not true. He is not a wicked man seeking to rape Mayella; he is a kind gentleman who wants to help her. When one learns about the person prejudiced, and gains knowledge, the prejudice fades away to tolerance. As proved in the novel, prejudice is the wall that divides people while tolerance is the glue that bonds them together. When people stop passing on the prejudice, and seek knowledge, the "long dark way" of intolerance and hate Hughes describes may shatter into a pathway of hope instead of despair. Even in modern society, these negative prejudices and injustices sadly exist. For an improved society without injustice, people must learn to stop passing on prejudice and instead seek knowledge and understanding of others.