...Discrimination is so unknowingly dangerous, it causes a plethora of people to die. In the literary works of To Kill a Mocking Bird, and 12 Angry Men, people were killed or almost killed because of their ethnic or social economic background. These situations happen all over the world, and these stories bring them to life. Maycomb, a quiet old town in the South, has one problem-discrimination towards those who are different. For this reason alone, Tom Robinson, a black slave, was sent to death for a crime he didn't commit. Jem stated, "once you have a drop of negro blood, you are all black," (Lee 56) when talking about a half black citizen. The mere association with black people makes yourself "black". The people of Maycomb avoid black people...
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...In the novel to kill a mocking bird there is many examples of discrimination. Discrimination is the injust treatment of a person based on their appearance, race, sexuality, class, or gender. There are three main types of discrimination found in this novel and these are racism, which is the main form of discrimination found in this novel; sexism; and classism. These forms of discrimination put together form the main plot of this book. Racism is a belief that all members of a particular race possess certain traits or abilities. There is many forms of racism in this novel, many of the bad things being towards African Americans. Calpurnia is the only African American person treated decently in the course of this novel, she is employed by white people and they appreciate her. The only character that says anything bad about her was Aunt...
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...It seems like almost everyone has to be perfect to not get judged. There people in life who say all the right things at the right times. There will also be people who will say all the wrong things at the wrong times. If God wanted this world to be perfect and everybody be the same, then he would have created that way. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee everyone seems to be discriminated by their looks or how they dress. Six year old Scout, who acts like a tomboy likes to voices her opinions and recognize hypocrisy and injustice in her elders, just so happens to be be at the right place at the right time and say the right thing. Aunt Alexandra, the kind of woman who wears a corset even under her bathrobe, and has to be a perfectionist, walks in the front door and the first thing she says is, “ Put my bags in front of the bedroom Calpernia” and “ Jeane Louise stop scratching your head” was the second thing she said. What this is showing is that Aunt Alexandra jumps to conclusion when she sees Calpernia standing in the Finch’s house. This shows how people can come to judgment...
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...Outsiders Our society has issues regarding racism and discrimination, but is it really fair? What if you were in their shoes, how would you feel about it now? Social issues in our society with racism and discrimination have been a problem for years and it’s also a very touchy subject to some people. Some people argue that talking about supporting racial discrimination and prejudice is just words and that freedom of speech should allow such views to be aired without restriction. Other people point out that those words can lead to some very dreadful and serious consequences. In To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee clarifies about racial and excommunication. When Harper Lee was younger and how outsiders were dealing with racial discrimination...
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...Throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee discusses the effects of discrimination and the toll it takes on people. Through examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the townsfolk of a small town in Alabama, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of discrimination serve as the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story, as said by Atticus,“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee, 94). In essence, this story demonstrates the loss of innocence of many, especially Scout who is affected by sexism and racism most of all. By far, one of the most evident forms of discrimination present in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism. It impacts the actions of every single character in the book and formulates...
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...1930’s inspired Harper Lee’s world renown novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Three events that profoundly correspond to the novel are the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the Scottsboro trials. The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird are the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws are a set of anti-Black laws in order to keep whites on the top of the racial caste system (Pilgrim). The Jim Crow laws vary from ordering Blacks to let White motorists go first at intersections...
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...Molly Pincince Mrs. Kimmerlein AP English 11 04 June 2018 The Persistence of Discrimination in Modern Society Throughout history, humankind has been plagued by the vice that is racism. Fitting into a crowd is comfortable and familiar, and people who stand out are often ridiculed. The sense of safety that people feel when they are in a group allows them to do things that they wouldn’t normally do. This mob mentality has led to a long history of discrimination in the United States. Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird, speaks of a small town called Maycomb, where young Scout Finch lives. Scout’s father, Atticus, bears a striking resemblance to Harper Lee’s father. This is just one of the many parallels between Monroeville, where Lee grew...
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...life as a young child. The protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, is the daughter of a lawyer, a single father who raises both her and her brother, Jem. Nelle Harper Lee was also the daughter of a lawyer, Amasa Coleman Lee, who raised her, two sisters, and a brother, while their mother was suffering from a bipolar disorder. By just describing their immediate family situations, there is already a few similarities between both families. Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is not an autobiography, but there is no doubt there is a strong sense of relativity between Harper Lee and the young Scout Finch. One of the similarities between Scout and Lee is their early exposure to racism as young children. Lee has a very strong experience with racism or segregation, due to the fact of her father being a lawyer who represented all kinds of black clients, and the developing chaos of discrimination, riots, and racism. On March 25, 1931, nine young men were accused and arrested for rape of two white women, which means that Lee would have been around at that time. Both women denied having been raped by any of the men. After a period of five trials, five of the men were sentenced to long prison sentences and many lawyers thought the sentences were motivated by racial prejudice. Harper Lee addresses this in her novel by saying, “People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for (To Kill a Mockingbird.) Another time when Harper was exposed to...
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...November 2015 Every Human is The Same Racial discrimination can affect others. For example, when people bullies others for being black. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, it shows that fictional texts showing racial discrimination and the negative effects of it can be influenced by real life. Some similar events happen in the non-fictional articles that relates to racial discrimination towards negros, such as Tom Robinson and Calpurnia. They are discriminated by whites. The two negative effects of racial discrimination in the novel and article are violence and segregation. One negative effect of racial discrimination is divisiveness, and it is shown in the article “What Price Diversity?”. Blacks and whites have separate facilities even though it is used for the same purpose. They have separate schools for the different races even though it is used for the same purpose. So your race determines what school you can attend. This article states, “Separate education facilities are inherently unequal” (“Diversity” par. 2). The phrase “separate educational facilities” means that there are schools just for whites and another school just for whites. “Are inherently unequal” means that the schools that are for whites, are better than the school blacks are attending. In To Kill a Mockingbird, blacks and whites have separate facilities that is used for the same purpose. Segregation is one of the negative effects of racial discrimination, but violence is also another one. Segregation...
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...“To Kill a Mockingbird” Analysis Harper Lee published “To Kill a Mockingbird “ in 1960, a time buzzing with racial segregation and irrational injustice. She based the book on various events that were all to real, only fifty years ago. Throughout the book, the author captures these horrendous inequalities and is able to explore these subjects through various situations and characters. However, it is not always just the color of one’s skin as to the reason of why they are treated differently. Lee is able to display examples of prejudice based on class and status of a person, rather than race alone, through the use of abstract symbols through the use of characters. Harper Lee use birds to symbolize traits in various characters throughout the book. Although it is not just mockingbirds used as the only bird example. When Jem and Scout receive guns to shoot for fun, Atticus warns them against shooting mockingbirds. However, he states that they may shoot all the blue jays they desire. Blue jays are the nuance bird; this connects to Bob Ewell due to the fact that he is the perfect display of a blue jay. The blue jays represent the prejudiced citizens of Maycomb; they are ever present and continue to taunt others. Atticus goes on to tell the kids that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. The mockingbird is the innocent bird and therefore sums up Tom Robinson the most clearly. As being an innocent man that is only being tried due to his race, he embodies the mockingbird perfectly. Throughout...
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...feel that you didn’t really belong to that society? That’s how African-Americans felt during the 1960’s. That’s how they were treated in the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”, in the trial of Emmett Till, and that of Scottsboro trial. In the book, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the trials of Emmett Till and Scottsboro, prejudice is displayed by the acts of hate and misunderstanding because of someone’s color. In the book, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, people of color (blacks) were the majority that were treated unfairly. During those time period, black people had to use separate bathrooms, drinking fountains, sections in restaurants and even in the courtroom. One good example of discrimination in the book was how Tom Robinson a young African American was accused of raping a white girl and was found guilty of the charges against him. In the book, it was quoted, “I'd rather you shoot at tin cans, in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit them, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat gardens or nest in corncribs they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us that's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird”. (Page 90, Atticus, Miss Maudie). This quote in the book reflects that, Tim Robinson (Mockingbird or the black boy) did nothing wrong but was accused of raping the white girl and as he tried to escape, he was shot and killed. Can you also believe...
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...To Kill A Tom Robinson, an Atticus, and a Boo Radley Prejudice is a rather large theme in To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee. It is felt by many characters in the book. Atticus, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson are three very different people. They all experience prejudice in one way or another. All of them can be considered “Mockingbirds”. In the book Atticus tells Scout that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Miss Maudie later gets asked by Scout why did Atticus say that. She responds with ““Your father's right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” A mockingbird has done nothing wrong. That's why it is wrong to...
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...nowadays. Atticus is a man with many responsibilities, people can follow him and learn how to be beneficial to society from him. Atticus’ importance in To Kill a Mockingbird is by far imperative of all the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird because of the lessons people can learn just from Atticus’ actions in the book. Atticus represents various traits throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, but there is three that stood out the most. The traits that I felt made Atticus a likeable character is consideration, gratefulness, and intelligence. Atticus Finch’s traits of consideration, gratefulness, and intelligence, show how much he impacted To Kill a Mockingbird and other characters in it. The first trait I felt that Atticus expressed throughout To Kill a Mockingbird was consideration. Being considerate is an essential trait...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird Tiffin University Lisa Caskey September 28, 2012 Degree Completion Program English 365 Issues in Literature Discrimination and prejudice were very common in the 1900’s. Prejudice is defined in the Webster’s dictionary as “preconceived judgment; or opinion; an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge”. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/). Discrimination is defined as “prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, and or treatment” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/). Discrimination and Prejudice run rampant in Maycomb County, Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story based in time of the Great Depression. The book displayed acts of hate based on the color of someone’s skin. Colored people were the main ones discriminated against. But there were instances where poverty stricken families were also discriminated against. The story begins in the summer in a small town called Maycomb County. The story is told from a child’s perspective. The child’s name is Scout finch. She is retelling the story of her and her brother Jem’s childhood. Their summer consists of playing games and acting out scenarios from different books. They also act out stories made up about people residing within their neighborhood. They do this along with “Dill” Miss Rachel’s nephew who comes to Maycomb for the summer. These stories are based on assumptions and judgments of what they believe...
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...A beautiful melody fills the air on a clear summer’s day. As the gunshot rings through the sky, the space is suddenly left with an deafening silence. Never had the mockingbird, whose song was enjoyed by all, done anything to deserve that bullet. Yet still, the bird perishes. To Kill a Mockingbird is a magnificent tale regarding the ideas of racial prejudice. Harper Lee, the book’s author, uses a mockingbird to symbolize how the innocent are discriminated. Atticus Finch first establishes the idea of the mockingbird when giving Scout and Jem rifles; he explains that mockingbirds do nothing but make music which is why they are not to be shot. Shortly after, Atticus explains about the mockingbirds; Tom Robinson, one of the main mockingbirds, stands...
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