Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Words: 800
Pages: 4

Prejudice
Prejudice has been a problem in society for as long as we can remember. Prejudice is an opinion people have without experience. We’ve studied prejudice in every unit such as the Holocaust, The Merchant of Venice, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

One book that we read that had examples of prejudice in it was The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. In the book the was the main character whose name was Junior. He lived on an indian reservation. Indians were teased and made fun of by white people constantly. “One time my dad got pulled over three times in one week for DWI, driving while indian” said Junior (Alexie, 46). That quote is one of the many examples of prejudice found in the
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In the book Atticus is a lawyer defending a black man for rape. He gets called names and men tried to hurt him. His daughter, Scout, was even getting harassed by kids calling her dad a “nigger lover”. “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s the white man always wins. They’re ugly but those are the facts of life” sad Atticus (Lee 39). Even Atticus knew that there was no hope in him winning the case. The court will always take what a white man says even if the know deep down that the white man is guilty. All the facts in court showed that Tom, the man being accused, couldn’t have done it. But he was still tried guilty. Not everyone is prejudice though, it’s how you are taught, everyone is born equal. Everyone is born thinking we’re all equal too. “I think there is just one kind of folks, folks” said Scout (Lee 227). Scout is young and grew up in a family that wasn’t prejudice towards black people. On that note, it’s not always white people who are prejudice. “You ain’t got no business bringin white chillun here- they got their church, we got air’n” said Lula (Lee 119). This quote is from when the kids were brought to an all black church. The woman, who was black, was telling them that they shouldn’t be there because they have their own …show more content…
“Hath not a Jew eyes? If you prick us do we not bleed? if you tickle us do we not laugh?” asks Shylock (3.1.58). Shylock said this to a few Christians when they were mocking him. Not only do the characters show prejudice towards Jewish people but also black people. When the Prince of Morocco, who is black, comes to win Portia he says “mislike me not for my skin” (2.1.1). Portia is relieved when the prince fails the test. Shylock also shows prejudice but towards the Christians. Shylock calls them fools and refused to eat with them at one point.

The books we’ve read and topics we’ve researched dated back as far 1596 when The Merchant of Venice was written. Prejudice was going on at that time and already before that, as long as we can remember. Many books are based on the topic. Events in history have been started from being prejudice. Prejudice may never