Racism

Racism “Scout, nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything – like snot-nose. It's hard to explain – ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It's slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody" (Lee 108). Racism can hurt people, in the book To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme racism plays a generous sized role. The movie and book show parts of racism that are the same, yet totally different in some ways, the ones I will be pointing out will be instances throughout Tom’s trial, Mayella’s testimony, and Dolphus Raymond’s role. Tom’s trial is one of the finest events in both the movie and book, I believe in this part there is a lot of racism. Tom during the trial doesn’t get called by his proper name, he is referred to as ‘boy’ throughout most of the trial which in itself is disrespectful (Lee 196). I believe he isn’t shown respect like the other because he is black. Obviously you can see Tom’s handicap in the book. In the book Tom can’t take the oath properly because he can’t raise his right arm and touch the bible with his left, making it very clear his arm isn’t functional (Lee 190). In the movie Tom can catch the glass with his right very easily, but when Atticus says, “Use your left hand Tom”, Tom tells him he cannot. The racism is portrayed again there because he’s black, people believe he could have found a way around his handicap and hurt Mayella like she claims. They don’t believe him because he’s black. Similar to this is how Mayella gets respected in the courtroom and everywhere else unlike Tom Robinson. During the trial Mayella is caught off-guard when she is called Miss Ewell and Miss Mayella (Lee 181). She believes Atticus is making fun of her and mocking her, when all he is really doing is showing her the respect everyone deserves in the courtroom and in everyday life. When she began crying