The novel "To kill a mockingbird" was set in 1935, a period where prejudice and racism were encountered in everyday life. The small country town called Maycomb was very "old and private" and the people there were not subjected to anything different to their traditional ways and did not experience things that were beyond the boundaries of their town, and was therefore very narrow-minded. The town was bounded by generations of tradition which provided an essence for prejudice and discrimination. The attitudes, treatment and judgment of people such as Boo Radley, Tom Robinson and others clearly reflect the prejudice that exists within the town.

Racial divisions and hatred was a characteristic of Maycomb. The small town was made up of two major races, the whites and the Negroes. The whites, being the dominant race, disapproved of the black population and was weary about any association with them. The Negroes were out casts of the town and were considered the lower class of Maycomb, even lower than the true trash of the white community, the Ewells. The Negroes were referred to as 'niggers', 'trash' among other dehumanizing names

Aunt Alexandra, like many others, believe that you are born into a class and should therefore act accordingly. When Scout wanted to invite Walter Cunningham to dinner, her Aunt strongly objects and explains that"....they're good folks. But they're not our kind of folks" pg.247 She also adds that "you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he'll never be like Jem"

The mob of drunk men that came to the jail that night with intentions to hurt Tom Robinson showed their views of Negroes through violence, even willing to hurt Atticus in order to carry out the punishment in which they think was appropriate for the guilty Tom Robinson. They refuse to be open-minded or to wait for the official trial to begin.

Since several generations of the Cunninghams were considered low class, Aunt Alexandra judges Walter by his family history and shows that she does not want to relate to him in any way.

Children and adults alike taunted the Finches with names and threats such as nigger-lover Atticus wisely explains to his Scout what a nigger lover is '...ignorant and trashy people use it when they think somebody's favouring Negroes over and above themselves.....ugly term to label somebody.' Pg.120

The "normal" community were also prejudice of those who had different beliefs, values and ways of living. By standing up for what he believed in, Atticus and his family paid the ultimate price. Atticus Finch chose to go against the Maycomb's traditional codes of trashy 'blacks' and upper 'whites' and opposed of segregation, intolerance and racial inequality. But many of the folks were displeased that Atticus wanted to defend a black 'trash' man but he stood strong and defended Tom whole-heartedly and was highly respected by the black community "...but Atticus aims to defend this nigger. T

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, Kill Mockingbird, Dolphus Raymond, Aunt Alexandra, Boo Radley, Walter Cunningham, Dubose Children, Bob Ewell's, People Dubose, upper class, tom robinson, lower class, white community, walter cunningham, boo radley, guilty crime, mixed children, characteristic maycomb, aunt alexandra,
Approximate Word count = 1241
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)