to kill a mocking bird - prejudice

A detailed Summary of to kill a mocking bird - prejudice

In this paper I intend to explore one of the main themes of Harper Lee's

To Kill A Mockingbird, the issue of prejudice. I intend to explore how the children change through out the novel and the novel relevance to the time and place it was written, in other words, the historical content.

Prejudice is defined in Comprehensive Desk Dictionary by Thorndike Barnhart as

an "opinion formed without taking the time and care to judge fairly". The main focus of part one is Boo Radley. Boo was considered to be an outcast by many of the people in Maycomb. He never came outside, except for two occasions in the book. The first time Boo comes out is when a fire breaks out at Miss Maudies, and Scout is standing outside in the cold. Boo wraps a blanket around her, without her knowing that he did. The other time didn't happen until part two, when Jem and Scout are attacked by Bob Ewell. People were prejudiced against Boo because he is different. The children had not seen him so they made up stories about him (Johnson,1). They were afraid of him. They didn't realize it was Boo leaving the gifts and wanted to be friendly. In part two the main focus is on Tom Robinson. He is a black man accused of raping white woman. The prejudice in this part

The novel was written about the 1930's. During this time the country was in the period known as the"Great Depression". Many people were jobless and homeless, many people lived in shanty towns, with shelters made of sheet metal and scrap lumber lean-tos. All over America it was common to see unemployed men and women riding the rails looking for work, shelter, and food. In 1931 a person working 55 or 60 hours in Alabama would only earn $156 annually. Because of the shortage of jobs and how low paying they were, there were ferocious rivalries for these few jobs. The blacks and whites hatred intensified with the competition for jobs. One of the most famous court cases in American history was during this time, it was the Scottsboro trials. The Scottsboro trials were very similar in many ways to the fictional trial of Tom Robinson(Johnson,15).

about racism. She believed Tom would be found not guilty. She doesn't believe Mayella on the witness stand. Her father proves that Tom could not have raped Mayella yet the jury still find him guilty (Johnson,4). The children learn about injustice and racism. Atticus tells them that a black man's word can not be taken against a white man's word. Scout is upset when she hears the comment made by Miss Gates when leaving the courtroom that it was good Tom was convicted because it would keep the blacks "in their place". In part one, they didn't know who Boo Radley was, or what he looked like. Jem and Scout were afraid of Boo, and Dill was curious about him. They wouldn't walk on his property and never went in front of Boo's house. Until Jem was dared by Dill, they never even thought of going up to Boo's house. They like everyone else thought of Boo as different, strange and a outcast. The children begin to realize that Boo isn't the way they see him as, when he wraps the blanket around Scout during the fire (Johnson,4). The children learn to see people as human beings and not to prejudge them because they are different. Scout especially learns this because she sees herself as different than the average girl in Maycomb. She likes to read and is a tomboy (Johnson,4).

In conclusion, there are various theme in the book. The theme of prejudice is present throughout the novel in the first pa

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1506
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels