To Kill A Mockingbird Pride Through Prejudice Analysis

Superior Essays
Pride through Prejudice Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, numerous examples of prejudice are depicted. Harper Lee demonstrates prejudice being used in the book through the circumstances of Mrs. Dubose, Boo Radley, and of course, Tom Robinson. I find this statement to be true based on evidence from the book. Lee succeeds in incorporating a prodigious amount of prejudice by displaying it in all aspects of the novel. In the county of Maycomb, Mrs. Dubose is generally perceived as a hard-hearted, loud-mouthed woman whom despises everyone and everything for no exact reason. The citizens of Maycomb often think of her poorly due to her unpleasant behavior, however, they do not know the cause of her unruly ways. Mrs. Dubose is a deathly ill woman, filled with frustration and despair, looking for company in subtle …show more content…
After this, he is tooken to the county jail, where during the inmates excecise period, he is shot dead for attempting to escape. Atticus later has to visit Helen, Toms wife, and tell her of the news. All of this heartbreak could have been avoided if the people of Maycomb could just open their eyes and see that just beause Tom did not share the same skintone as they did, did not mean he wasn’t just like them on the inside. Instead, his children and his wife would have to lay their heads down at night and think of Tom, and how he was never coming home again.
To Kill a Mockingbird has taught me how prejudice can ruin the lives of others, and affect the lives of all those around it. Black or white, shy or outgoing, rude or kind, we ar all people just the same, and need to treat each other as such. We must learn to love one another for the sake of humanity. Difference is something our world to this day has a problem with accepting, but being different is perfectly normal, and we need to realize

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Dubose, a previous morphine addict, is judged, mainly on the way she treats Jem and Scout. Most people of Maycomb see Mrs. Dubose as a mean, old, morphine addict; however, Atticus Finch sees what most people do not see in her, a woman who had a difficult life trying to die with a shred of dignity. When talking to Jem, Atticus explains, “I wanted you to see what real courage is… it’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what,” showing that who Mrs. Dubose made herself out to be was the not they same person she actually was (Lee 149). Atticus also indicates, “you rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won……

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The characters in the book To Kill a Mockingbird try to change their ways, so people’s prejudice doesn’t affect them, but most of them can’t overcome the prejudice because the town they grew up in is full of prejudice and for them to stop being prejudice would be hard for them, since it’s engraved into their society,therefore is shows that people's prejudice is hard to defeat. To begin with, on the first day of school Scout’s teacher, Miss. Caroline discovered that Scout was literate and she was not happy at all. She looked at Scout with more than distaste, she told Scout that her father must not teach her how to read and write anymore.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tom should have been awarded justice, but instead, he was punished with being found guilty and sent to prison. Tom Robinson was later killed, which took a tremendous toll on Atticus and their family. It is because of characters like Tom, that racism is made evident to be stronger than reason. The town of Maycomb and many other societies today are so filled with hate, that they outweigh…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay 7 Everyone has prejudice at times, but sometimes it gets out of control. The definition of prejudice is to judge someone or something without any knowledge on it, to be ignorant to a subject and judge it and anything that is associated with it. Most of the time these judgements are false because there is not any information behind it. Though prejudice maybe involuntary it still does not excuse some peoples actions due to it and the fact that it is wrong. The theme of prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird was shown various times through Harper Lee's characters Jeremy "Jem" Finch, Artur "Boo" Radley, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, and Tom Robinson.…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Racial prejudice is shown mostly through Maycomb's famous Tom Robinson case. Class prejudice is shown throughout Maycomb’s social groups and how the wealthy people control the town. Lastly, gender prejudice is shown through most of the women in Maycomb, especially Scout. During To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee displays tragic events that prejudice led Maycomb through, and how this could happen to any town if everyone had prejudice flowing through their streets. The lesson learned in To Kill a Mockingbird is that harming events will occur in any community that shows prejudice.…

    • 1147 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Published in 1960, To Kill A Mockingbird allowed Harper Lee to demonstrate the prejudice against negroes by using Atticus Finch, a white lawyer, who bravely defended Tom Roberson, a negro, and his false accusation for rape of a white woman. The daughter of Mr. Finch, Scout, narrates the story of this trial of Tom Roberson. “She is an innocent, good-hearted, five year old girl who has no experience with the evil of the world; however, as the novel progresses, she sees firsthand the evil in form of racial bias.” (Spark Notes Editors).…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stereotyping lives in many forms, and has changed throughout history. We see it everyday, it can be something as small as a comment in a movie to someone being accused because of their skin color. In many novels stereotyping is present, and that includes Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Stereotyping has been a problem in our society today, as well as in the past.…

    • 1859 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In her novel, “Pride and Prejudice”, Jane Austen narrates a story of love between a middle class Elizabeth Bennet, and an upper-class Fitzwilliam Darcy. However, their marriage was no consequence of love at first sight, nor an easy journey. It was an uneven road throughout most of the novel—a road with numerous obstacles. Such obstacles that initially prevented a relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy include the latter’s pride, and the former’s prejudice, and the actions of those around them. Darcy’s pride throughout much of the novel was the first factor that prevented an earlier relationship between himself and Elizabeth.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The kids understand how prejudice impacts people’s everyday lives. Scout experiences some prejudice herself, and so does Tom Robinson. Prejudice is frequently portrayed throughout To Kill a Mockingbird by race, class, and gender. Racial prejudice is often used to show the injustice that takes place in the book.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee in the early 1960 's. The story takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. All is normal in this southern town until a particular court case involving an African American man named Tom Robinson comes to the attention of the residents of Maycomb. The case has also come to the attention of Atticus Finch. Atticus is a small town defense lawyer who, unlike anyone else in the town, disagrees with the false accusation of rape againest Tom Robinson.…

    • 1429 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Destroying Innocence To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about prejudice towards people of different races, female orientation, and lower class. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee reveals that even selfless people can face prejudice from others as seen through the characters of Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. Firstly, Atticus Finch is a kind soul who only wants to help others, but faces prejudice for going against what his community thinks is right.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The 1960’s was a period of new mindsets. The Civil Right’s movement was occurring; people all over the country were beginning to see African Americans as humans instead of property. They were beginning to immerse into the general population. Segregation was finally coming to an end. However, some people were still unwilling to believe that African Americans should be tolerated as equally as Caucasians.…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    (271), and ““The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is.”” (271). In other words, the court members, and audience vote Tom as guilty, because he is black, and in Maycomb there is no way he will get a fair trial. Since the town is racist, even if Tom is innocent, he was sent to prison, because the jury is still stuck in that mindset. Not to mention, when Tom was in prison, he tried to escape, but the police shot him many times, and killed him. When Atticus came to tell everyone what happened, he said, “They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill ...…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The theme of prejudice is very prevalent throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Many scenes and character’s provoke the reader to…

    • 1715 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tom Robinson Racism

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Maycomb County, the setting of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, has a deeply ingrained culture of racism over reason. Tom Robinson’s death was unjust, yet few mourned and the eventual death did not shock anyone. The reason for this tragedy is that Tom was too confident that people would show good morals when faced with a complicated decision. He made a series of poor choices that placed him in a difficult situation that even the best lawyer could not get him out of. Although Tom was framed, it was his own mistakes that enabled Bob Ewell to prosecute him in the first place.…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays