Growing up and being an American Muslim after the tragic event of 9/11 was very tough for many. They faced all kinds of prejudice, making them fearful for their lives in their own home. One American Muslim, named Shawna Ayoub Ainslie, wrote an article in the Huffington Post about how her roots had cost her her life. She no longer felt safe in her community and started to doubt her relationship with her home country, Islam. Some ways 9/11 had changed Shawna’s life was how she became afraid to go outside, stopped looking up when walking down the street, changed the way she dressed, stopped going to religion events, and even had to watch her kids very closely while they played outside. The fear got the best of her, and her “world collapsed with
…show more content…
In the beginning of the novel, Jem tells Scout about the rumors he had heard about Boo Radley. The rumors consisted of false descriptions that left Scout and many other people in Maycomb believing Boo Radley was ultimately a monster. As kids, they never stopped to think if what they were being told was true and that had caused them to act upon this biased description without waiting to find out. Boo, being an easy target since he never leaves his house and has no other reputation, is being discriminated and inaccurately accused of things that were never proven to be true, like his appearance. Jem hears a rumor about Boo Radley’s lifestyle and looks, in which he recalls, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (13). After hearing this from other people in town, Jem and Scout immediately assume the worst. Even though nobody has seen him in ages, the rumors and preconceptions that are being spread about him are about his looks. In reality, Boo Radley never “dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch,” but because of the prejudice, people like Jem and Scout believe it is true. In fact, because of the strong prejudice in Maycomb, the rumors that are being spread about Boo are seen to be factual. Based on them, most individuals in Maycomb are influenced to act a certain way whenever the Radley name comes up. The people let these preconceptions cloud their judgment, leaving them to behave either very rudely to the victims of this prejudice, which in Boo’s case, is mockery and cruelty. This is also because it is hard for common folks to grasp on the
In the beginning of the novel, Jem tells Scout about the rumors he had heard about Boo Radley. The rumors consisted of false descriptions that left Scout and many other people in Maycomb believing Boo Radley was ultimately a monster. As kids, they never stopped to think if what they were being told was true and that had caused them to act upon this biased description without waiting to find out. Boo, being an easy target since he never leaves his house and has no other reputation, is being discriminated and inaccurately accused of things that were never proven to be true, like his appearance. Jem hears a rumor about Boo Radley’s lifestyle and looks, in which he recalls, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (13). After hearing this from other people in town, Jem and Scout immediately assume the worst. Even though nobody has seen him in ages, the rumors and preconceptions that are being spread about him are about his looks. In reality, Boo Radley never “dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch,” but because of the prejudice, people like Jem and Scout believe it is true. In fact, because of the strong prejudice in Maycomb, the rumors that are being spread about Boo are seen to be factual. Based on them, most individuals in Maycomb are influenced to act a certain way whenever the Radley name comes up. The people let these preconceptions cloud their judgment, leaving them to behave either very rudely to the victims of this prejudice, which in Boo’s case, is mockery and cruelty. This is also because it is hard for common folks to grasp on the