Stereotypes have been around longer than most believe. A primary example is during the Nazi era in Germany, when the government put out photos of "the Jews" having big pointy noses. They were shown as greedy monsters who smelled bad and whose jobs were to ruin the government. Another example is the "cholo" look. The look is seen on the mexican youth.…
Why does the word of an honest man sometime go unnoticed? Martin Luther King Jr. once expressed “The ultimate tragedy is not the opposition and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people.”. In a town where the common opinion and mindset is a preset prejudice of racism, the smaller unheard of belief that is more accurate gets turned down. Atticus Finch, a man who is brave enough to accept a case he know he is going to lose to prove a point. Equally important, someone who stands up to those who want to hurt him to protect others.…
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird: A Blow To Racism Beginning in the mid-1950s, the civil rights movement began to gain traction. There was an uproar aimed at addressing the racism and segregation that was prevalent and widespread in the United States. During this time, some activists—authors and public speakers—gained notoriety for their work with civil rights.…
Approaching Prejudism in To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch states in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his viewpoint...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” There is so much wisdom and truth in this quote, words that everyone should live by. Unfortunately, people do not always abide by this, judging and discriminating others often without trying to understand another person’s experience. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is told by the viewpoint of Jean Louise Finch (Scout), an innocent six year old tomboy.…
Recently, there have been protests at the University of Missouri about how the school had handled racial incidents, which resulted in the resignation of the university's president. Many people think that racial incidents don't occur today, but that isn't true. The reason racial incidents still occur today is because of prejudice. Prejudice is when people judge others when they only know a little or nothing about that person. People should know another person enough before judging them.…
“There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.”(pg 6) This quote describes Maycomb, the setting of the novel. Maycomb is a small confined town in the south where nothing appears to happen or change. The reason behind the monotonous cycle is the state of the people being of having no surplus income, nothing valuable to buy, and the idea that there is nothing worthwhile outside of town.…
Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist, once stated, “All men are created equal. No matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. That is what America is about.” Although it is a fundamental American idea that people are created equal, this often is not the case due to personal bias. The similar sentiment, unnecessary racism, is mirrored in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.…
They are perceived to be polite and proper and act and dress like a lady. However, scout portrays it's okay not to act like a girl, and that it's alright to be different. "I felt the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me, and for the second time in my life I thought of running away. Immediately... Fine—but do you have to wear overalls"( Lee 136).…
During Tom’s trial, Scout asks her father why their neighbor, Miss Maudie can’t be on the jury. Atticus goes on to say, “‘Besides, I doubt if we’d ever get a complete case tried - the ladies’d be interrupting to ask questions.’” (Lee 296) Men thought women wouldn’t be able to handle the case or they would talk to me. Both of those things are stereotypes of women. Another example is of what Scout wears.…
Prejudice In To Kill a Mockingbird “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy... That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 90, ch. 10). This quote, though simple, is absolutely bursting with meaning. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story detailing the lives of two children living in 1930’s Alabama through the Great Depression.…
Racism and Prejudice/To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee addresses many controversial issues. Such issues as, racism, discrimination, gender and social class are explored. During the 1930’s in the small county of Maycomb, the mentality of most southern people reflected that of the nation. Most of the people were racist and discriminatory. In the novel, these ideas are explored by a young girl , Scout.…
Throughout the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, one of the main characters, Scout, is impacted by sexism from her family, peers, and community. The book is set in the 1930’s when women were not thought of as equal. There were specific social rules that girls should follow and the ways that society told them to act. The scout is a character that is impacted by sexism throughout the story. She is a young girl that changes because of the oppression that is placed on her by her family and peers.…
Metamorphosis Over the course of time, there have been a great many classical novels written that embalm the essence of humanity. The truly great works of literature capture the human element, confronting prevalent issues in society through their thought provoking messages. Often these works of art challenge sociological stereotypes. Most of these stereotypes are even prominent to this day. A modern day stereotype such as the concept of it being impossible for someone growing up in an abusive or neglected childhood will never be a successful adult is contradicted by Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird.…
The Racist Americans The world as we know it right now is made up of many different races and different kinds of people. Each race has its own backstory, some have their own religion, practices, civilizations, and many other unique things. Humankind has managed to invent, survive, and prosper to this point that we are at right now. The one thing that has stuck around throughout the centuries is racism.…
We are all the objects of stereotypes at some point in our lives and they affect us in many ways. We are influenced by the world around us to be what everyone wants to see, not who we really…