As a philosopher, Allan Bloom said, “reason transformed into prejudice is the worst form of prejudice, because reason is the only instrument for liberation from prejudice”. Harper Lee explores prejudice and how it affects society in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The main character is a young girl named Scout, growing up in the 1930’s in Maycomb County, Alabama. Her father, Atticus is a lawyer, and tries to raise his kids to be unprejudiced. Having been raised this way, Scout and her brother Jem, struggle to understand the prejudiced ways of their society, sometimes showing their own prejudices themselves despite Atticus’ efforts. Through her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us that prejudice is the result of people going
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Scout manages to do this, and overcome her prejudice regarding girls. After Jem stops wanting to spend a lot of time with Scout, Scout starts spending more time with their maid, Calpurnia. Up until this point, Scout has viewed girls as superficial, wimpy, and lesser than men, but when she sees more of what Cal does, she changes her mind. She is watching Calpurnia cooking in the kitchen, and thinks “She seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl”(115-116). Until now, Scout has just adopted Jem and Dill’s opinion of girls, and by doing so, has become prejudiced against girls herself. Now that she gets more information on what girls do, and thinks about it, she begins to change her mind, and overcome her prejudice. In the book, Atticus is the symbol of wisdom and justice. He is the only character who does not seem to be prejudiced in any way. In his final statements to the jury regarding the case of Tom Robinson, he tries to convey this attitude to the jury, and practically begs them to make a fair decision using only the facts. He says, “ ‘A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up. I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family’ ”(205). Atticus is trying to convince the …show more content…
If people do think for themselves, they can overcome prejudice. She also shows how prejudice can keep people from being friends. The effects of prejudice can be seen everywhere in our day-to-day lives, and never in a positive way. If everyone just makes the effort to be the best, and the most open-minded person they can be, little by little we could see prejudice begin to fade. Almost any well-educated person will tell you that prejudice is harmful, though few are truly unprejudiced. Though it is not much, it is a good start to recognize the harmful consequences of
Scout manages to do this, and overcome her prejudice regarding girls. After Jem stops wanting to spend a lot of time with Scout, Scout starts spending more time with their maid, Calpurnia. Up until this point, Scout has viewed girls as superficial, wimpy, and lesser than men, but when she sees more of what Cal does, she changes her mind. She is watching Calpurnia cooking in the kitchen, and thinks “She seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl”(115-116). Until now, Scout has just adopted Jem and Dill’s opinion of girls, and by doing so, has become prejudiced against girls herself. Now that she gets more information on what girls do, and thinks about it, she begins to change her mind, and overcome her prejudice. In the book, Atticus is the symbol of wisdom and justice. He is the only character who does not seem to be prejudiced in any way. In his final statements to the jury regarding the case of Tom Robinson, he tries to convey this attitude to the jury, and practically begs them to make a fair decision using only the facts. He says, “ ‘A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up. I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family’ ”(205). Atticus is trying to convince the …show more content…
If people do think for themselves, they can overcome prejudice. She also shows how prejudice can keep people from being friends. The effects of prejudice can be seen everywhere in our day-to-day lives, and never in a positive way. If everyone just makes the effort to be the best, and the most open-minded person they can be, little by little we could see prejudice begin to fade. Almost any well-educated person will tell you that prejudice is harmful, though few are truly unprejudiced. Though it is not much, it is a good start to recognize the harmful consequences of