The prejudice against blacks, as reflected in 1930s U.S. history, is uncovered in To Kill a Mockingbird through lynching attempts and an unjust court trial of Tom Robinson, an African American minority. To begin, the reader is introduced to discriminatory action toward African Americans at the Maycomb county jail when Mr. Cunningham and his mob attempts to lynch Tom similar to the mob mentality that occurred in the Southern U.S. during the 1930s. Lynching is when a mob executes somebody without consent from court, usually using the method of hanging. First, in To Kill a Mockingbird, a lynching attempt can be witnessed when Mr. Cunningham and various mob members arrive at the Maycomb County Jail and demand to see Tom. “‘He in there, Mr. Finch?’ a man said ... ‘You know what we want,’ another man said. ‘Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch’” (Lee 202). Mr. Cunningham and the other mob members wanted to lynch Tom due to the accusation against him, however, they would be unsuccessful due to Scout’s conversation with Mr. Cunningham about his son Walter. The incident in the novel correlates to many other lynching attempts in the historic 1930s. Historically, racist mobs captured and beat African American males like
The prejudice against blacks, as reflected in 1930s U.S. history, is uncovered in To Kill a Mockingbird through lynching attempts and an unjust court trial of Tom Robinson, an African American minority. To begin, the reader is introduced to discriminatory action toward African Americans at the Maycomb county jail when Mr. Cunningham and his mob attempts to lynch Tom similar to the mob mentality that occurred in the Southern U.S. during the 1930s. Lynching is when a mob executes somebody without consent from court, usually using the method of hanging. First, in To Kill a Mockingbird, a lynching attempt can be witnessed when Mr. Cunningham and various mob members arrive at the Maycomb County Jail and demand to see Tom. “‘He in there, Mr. Finch?’ a man said ... ‘You know what we want,’ another man said. ‘Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch’” (Lee 202). Mr. Cunningham and the other mob members wanted to lynch Tom due to the accusation against him, however, they would be unsuccessful due to Scout’s conversation with Mr. Cunningham about his son Walter. The incident in the novel correlates to many other lynching attempts in the historic 1930s. Historically, racist mobs captured and beat African American males like