“Every veil secretly desires to be lifted, except the veil of hypocrisy,” said the late Richard Garnett, a United States Army officer. Everyone lies, very few admit it. There are also many people out there who tell others not to lie, but they too have lied many times themselves, which makes them hypocrites. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout witnesses many forms of hypocrisy in which the veil of hypocrisy is never revealed. Mrs. Merriweather, Miss Gates, Lula, and Aunt Alexandra are all blind to their prejudices, and those prejudices breed their hypocrisy.
Mrs. Merriweather is the perfect example of hypocrisy in To Kill A Mockingbird. During the “missionary circle” that Aunt Alexandra hosts, Mrs. Merriweather says many absurd statements. While Scout sits at the table with all of the women, she deems it polite to ask Mrs. Merriweather what she studied this afternoon. Then Mrs. …show more content…
Atticus is away on a Sunday, and Jem and Scout need to go to church. Calpurnia does not want to send the kids to church by themselves, so she decides to take them with to her church. When Jem and Scout arrive to Calpurnia’s church, everyone greets them with warm hellos, that is, until Lula approaches them. Lula is not so fond of the idea that Jem and Scout are at her church, and Lula says to Calpurnia, “‘You ain't got no business bringin’ white chillun here—they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?’” (158). Lula clearly does not want Jem and Scout there because they are white. That is because Lula, and the rest of the black community, is not welcome to the white church. The white people in her town are prejudice and hateful towards her, so she becomes angry and takes out her frustration on Jem and Scout. Lula is prejudice because whites are prejudice against her, which then turns into