To Kill A Mockingbird Essay
Racism has been an issue for many, many decades in our society and has been addressed by numerous literary publications including the award-winning novel ‘To kill a Mockingbird’. Many of the ideologies of the time, in which the novel was written, the 1960’s, are embedded in the story. Some of these ideologies, challenged by the author, seem alive and well today, over 50 years later. The reason that I am writing this article is to indicate the relevance of ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ by linking the racism in the story with a recent event.
The novel is still relevant today, as the main ideology embedded in the story, which is racism, still exists today in the universal community. However, the racism in ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ comes from people …show more content…
that didn’t know better as they weren’t really aware of it and because it was part of everyday life. In spite of this, the racism was still very strong and visible in the way of life, which can be seen in the way that some people reacted to the fact that Atticus Finch would defend a black man in court.
Not all people in the town of Maycomb were racist, there were some people that showed sympathy and understanding towards those who were different or less fortunate.
One of these people was Judge Taylor. Judge Taylor handed Tom Robinsons case over to Atticus, because he knew that Atticus was the best lawyer in Maycomb, and hoped that therefore, Tom would receive somewhat of a fair trial. The town’s reaction was shocking. Most of the citizens of Maycomb were genuinely disgusted by the fact that a white man would defend a black man in court and give him a chance of justice, and they certainly did not mind showing this. Atticus’ children were subject to some very racist remarks from people on numerous occasions, which targeted their father. Even at school, Scout had to hear her comrads call her father a ‘nigger lover’. One student, Cecil Jacobs made a particular nasty comment. “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an’ that nigger oughta hang from the water-tank!” It seemed though that Cecil Jacobs wasn’t the only child that had heard the disgust people felt about Atticus Finch from his family. Scout’s cousin Francis also lets her know what their grandmother thought about the situation. “I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family
–‘
“Francis, what the hell do you mean?”
“Just what I said. Grandma says now he’s turned out a nigger lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He’s ruinin’ the family, that’s what he doin’.”
Even Atticus’ own family thinks he’s a disgrace, simply because he’s defending a black man against injustice in court. This is how people in the thirties were racist.
Being racist towards black people or prejudice against females or people of a lower social class was part of everyday life in the thirties and considered ‘normal’. Most of the time people weren’t aware of the fact that they were being racist, and/or aware of the fact that it was bad. Today, people are aware of racism and know that they shouldn’t do it because it’s not right, yet racism still exists in our society. This makes racism worse than it was in the thirties, as we know better, yet we still do it.
The novel is still relevant today, as the main ideology embedded in the story, which is racism, still exists today in the universal community. However, the racism in ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ comes from people …show more content…
that didn’t know better as they weren’t really aware of it and because it was part of everyday life. In spite of this, the racism was still very strong and visible in the way of life, which can be seen in the way that some people reacted to the fact that Atticus Finch would defend a black man in court.
Not all people in the town of Maycomb were racist, there were some people that showed sympathy and understanding towards those who were different or less fortunate.
One of these people was Judge Taylor. Judge Taylor handed Tom Robinsons case over to Atticus, because he knew that Atticus was the best lawyer in Maycomb, and hoped that therefore, Tom would receive somewhat of a fair trial. The town’s reaction was shocking. Most of the citizens of Maycomb were genuinely disgusted by the fact that a white man would defend a black man in court and give him a chance of justice, and they certainly did not mind showing this. Atticus’ children were subject to some very racist remarks from people on numerous occasions, which targeted their father. Even at school, Scout had to hear her comrads call her father a ‘nigger lover’. One student, Cecil Jacobs made a particular nasty comment. “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an’ that nigger oughta hang from the water-tank!” It seemed though that Cecil Jacobs wasn’t the only child that had heard the disgust people felt about Atticus Finch from his family. Scout’s cousin Francis also lets her know what their grandmother thought about the situation. “I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family
–‘
“Francis, what the hell do you mean?”
“Just what I said. Grandma says now he’s turned out a nigger lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He’s ruinin’ the family, that’s what he doin’.”
Even Atticus’ own family thinks he’s a disgrace, simply because he’s defending a black man against injustice in court. This is how people in the thirties were racist.
Being racist towards black people or prejudice against females or people of a lower social class was part of everyday life in the thirties and considered ‘normal’. Most of the time people weren’t aware of the fact that they were being racist, and/or aware of the fact that it was bad. Today, people are aware of racism and know that they shouldn’t do it because it’s not right, yet racism still exists in our society. This makes racism worse than it was in the thirties, as we know better, yet we still do it.