“You never really understand a person until you [...] climb into [their] skin and walk around in it” (Lee 39). In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout narrates her early life being six years old during the Great Depression in Alabama. She and her brother, Jem, watch their father, Atticus, lose a case defending a black man being falsely accused of rape because they live in Maycomb, a racist town. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee shows the destructive nature of racism in society and promotes equality by describing conflicts and characters. Notably, Atticus gets asked by Scout what “N lover” means, and Atticus teaches her an important lesson about name calling. Atticus solicitously explains that only “ignorant, trashy people”
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The suspense in the courtroom had come to a climax when Tom was about to reveal a shocking twist to the story. Before he tells his side of what happened, he “glanced at Atticus, then at the jury, then [...] nervously ran his hand over his mouth” (Lee 259). Tom knows the chaos that will ensue if he tells the truth about Mayella, a white lady, trying to kiss him, a black man, making him hesitant about telling it. Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor, is questioning Tom when he brings up Tom’s disorderly conduct misdemeanor for getting in a fight. Mr. Gilmer asks Tom what the man looked like after Tom beat him up. Tom corrected him and said that he was the one that actually got beat up, but Mr. Gilmer does not care about that. Gilmer says “yes, but you were convicted, weren’t you?” (Lee 262). Implying that he does not care if Tom was not the one that was violent, but that he has been convicted before. Gilmer knows that if he can make Tom seem like a typical black man the jury will find Tom guilty, which is racist. Consequently, racism in the court system will always find a colored person guilty, proving the injustice and inequality that racism comes
The suspense in the courtroom had come to a climax when Tom was about to reveal a shocking twist to the story. Before he tells his side of what happened, he “glanced at Atticus, then at the jury, then [...] nervously ran his hand over his mouth” (Lee 259). Tom knows the chaos that will ensue if he tells the truth about Mayella, a white lady, trying to kiss him, a black man, making him hesitant about telling it. Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor, is questioning Tom when he brings up Tom’s disorderly conduct misdemeanor for getting in a fight. Mr. Gilmer asks Tom what the man looked like after Tom beat him up. Tom corrected him and said that he was the one that actually got beat up, but Mr. Gilmer does not care about that. Gilmer says “yes, but you were convicted, weren’t you?” (Lee 262). Implying that he does not care if Tom was not the one that was violent, but that he has been convicted before. Gilmer knows that if he can make Tom seem like a typical black man the jury will find Tom guilty, which is racist. Consequently, racism in the court system will always find a colored person guilty, proving the injustice and inequality that racism comes