Essay on To Kill A Mockingbird

Submitted By noamlevin
Words: 550
Pages: 3
Open Document
Through the eyes of the child Scout, Harper Lee introduces us to the violence and intolerance which underlie everyday life in this small community.
Discuss

To Kill a Mockingbird reveals the damaging impact of deeply entrenched values on every citizen where even the best intentions are not always enough to overcome the extreme prejudicial views that underlie everyday life in Maycomb. Yet, within the tragic occurrences of racial and social discrimination there exists a glimmer of hope that what has been damaged can equally be repaired.
Social prejudice of the Maycomb is part of the traditional fabric of the ‘tired old town’, accepted without question and demonstrated as potent forces lying beneath the surface of polite society. In institutions such as schools, the in built prejudice towards the lower classes is evidenced when Miss Caroline tries to loan Walter Cunningham a ‘quarter’ to buy his lunch, unaware of the unspoken acceptance that the ‘Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back’ revealing how the poor are treated differently, despite the good intentions of the naïve Miss Caroline. Yet, from Scout’s point of view, there is nothing extraordinary about Walter Cunningham. Her innocence diminishes any judgement in what she describes. Furthermore, as the town is established on a social ladder, those of a lower status such as the Ewells are considered inferior, villains, the ‘white trash’ element of Maycomb county. Likewise, those who reject the social norms of Maycomb are perceived to be suspicious. When the Radleys behaved in a manner considered ‘alien’, simply because they ‘kept to themselves’, they are exposed to perceptions by a prejudiced community. Regarded as a ‘malevolent phantom’, Boo Radley is demonised by the township exemplifying the dangerous and damaging suspicions that overwhelm the attitudes held by citizens of Maycomb as told by Scout.
Where social prejudice dominates the attitudes of the town folk, it is the racially prejudiced views toward the blacks that segregates and divides Maycomb in a hateful and destructive discrimination where even Scout is forced to see the hate that lies beneath the surface. When Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the inbuilt
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on To Kill A Mockingbird

Essay To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird Personal Integrity Nic Grob Mr. Smadu Ela 20 November 23rd 2012 The most important theme in To Kill a Mockingbird is personal integrity, doing what is right. First of all, Atticus knew he needed to do what was right in the Tom Robinson case. Also, Atticus told his kids to quit bothering Boo Radley and to leave the poor boy alone. Lastly, when Bob Ewell wins the case against Tom and attacks Atticus’s children. But then Boo comes in and saves Jem and Scout…

Words 743 - Pages 3

To Kill A mockingbird Essay

To Kill a Mockingbird is a powerful book. It tells us about historical American culture back in the 1930s. This was the time when discrimination was very harmful. Harper Lee published this book To Kill a Mockingbird. Despite being published fifty years ago, it still manages to send us the main reason why her book is still significant. To Kill a Mockingbird is an accurate historical representation of the culture of American South during the Great Depression. The Ewell family symbolizes the type…

Words 616 - Pages 3

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

In To Kill A Mockingbird One can learn many lessons from the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. The theme revolving around the mockingbird represents innocence and how it is wrong to destroy it. The characters of Jem, Atticus, and Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley demonstrate courage in situations that would be easy to shy away from. Many of the characters in this novel grow up in some way, whether it is learning or accepting something new. Three essential themes in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird are innocence…

Words 1002 - Pages 5

To Kill A Mockingbird Letter

Dear Editor: I believe that our high school must include To Kill A Mockingbird in the 9th grade level English class because the book teaches people a lot of life lessons. In the book, there is a huge use of the “n” word. While critics may argue that the “n” word is not something children should be around, however, this argument is incorrect because in today’s society a lot of songs out there that children are listening to have that word in it all the time, and since they hear it all the time…

Words 688 - Pages 3

Feminism In To Kill A Mockingbird

What Does It Mean to Be a Woman Through the Book To Kill A Mockingbird In to kill a mockingbird feminism is without a doubt present. The book alludes to the question what does it mean to be a woman. Scout struggles with this throughout the entire book because she likes to wear pants and play with the boys, but does that make her not a girl? To Kill a Mockingbird includes various allusions to the idea that society has certain expectations and preconceptions of what it is, and what it means to be…

Words 919 - Pages 4

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

Lindsey Congdon Mrs. Peterson Period 7 December 1, 2009 To Kill a Mockingbird Essay The Dictionary defines prejudice as, “an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” There has been prejudice known throughout history, mostly against the blacks during and before the time of Martin Luther King Jr. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there is clear evidence of prejudice against the blacks. In…

Words 864 - Pages 4

Reflection On To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee Overall, I thought To Kill a Mockingbird was an exceptional book. I found that I learned a lot more than I already knew about how the South functioned as a whole back in the 1930s, which I found to be very interesting. I never knew specifically how slavery and racism affected what it was like to live in the South and how much of an impact these issues had on different situations, like the trial in the book. Reading this story helped my understanding of these…

Words 385 - Pages 2

To Kill A Mockingbird Relationships

The book To Kill a Mockingbird is about a family of Finchs. Atticus Finch is helping a black man that was accused of raping a white girl. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has mockingbirds which are people who are completely harmless and helps others. Two mockingbird are Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Tom Robinson never did anything harmful to anyone, even as a worker, he never hesitated on work. Page 256 ”Were you paid for your services? No suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first…

Words 178 - Pages 1

Labels In To Kill A Mockingbird

Labels have affected us throughout history. Whether it being now in modern day times or it being during the times of racial segregation and suffrage against women and blacks. In the book “To Kill A MockingBird” by Harper Lee, Lee tells the story of how labels affect the people in Maycomb, Alabama treat one another. These labels can deny people equal justice, decide where people belong on the social hierarchy, and force people to cope with stereotypes. The white people of Maycomb deny equal justice…

Words 821 - Pages 4

Innocent In To Kill A Mockingbird

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD FINAL PAPER Innocence is both a definitive and relative word. In one sense, a newborn infant is the only truly innocent, as it has just come into the world without any chance to do anything negative. On the other hand, we also tend to see those starving after natural disasters as innocent despite the fact that they may have past misdoings we are dubious to. In the sense of the town of Maycomb, in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, children such as Scout and Jem, who…

Words 1072 - Pages 5