Theme Of Biases In To Kill A Mockingbird

Most are under the impression that all juries are chosen at random and are unbiased, however, this could not be more untrue. The results of court cases are still affected, if not determined, by bias. The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, highlights the difficulties faced by a black man, Tom Robinson, when trying to defend himself to a white jury. Harper Lee also called attention to the inequalities in court with Mayella and her testimony as a white, impoverished, female and the struggles that Boo Radley, an individual with disabilities, faced. In the historical context of the story it was a regularity for the topics of race, class, gender, and disabilities to be subject to bias.

In the modern world, we are surrounded by judgement and discrimination. Nearly everyone is faced with hardships and insults based on their beliefs, habits, interests, and appearance. In a time of such hatred, there is a handful of pieces of literature that have spoken truth through the ages. One such book is To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place during the Great Depression in the fictional southern town of Maycomb, Alabama.

Despite race discrimination around the world, there are still people who overcome and persevere through these challenges - often at great risk to themselves. During the 1930s, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, a small town called Maycomb held a trial against an innocent African American man accused of raping a Caucasian woman. The reader experiences life in Maycomb through the eyes of ten year old girl name Jean-Louise Finch, Scout. In this case, Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, was assigned to be the lawyer for the accused, Tom Robinson. However, Atticus has integrity and tries his best for Tom even if his own life is at risk.

On the surface Maycomb County might seem like quiet, nice place to live, but deeper into the town hidden identities are discovered, courage is needed, and the maturation of characters is crucial to unearthing the truth about life in the 1930s. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, readers learn about a small town named Maycomb County and the struggles that occur within it. During the Great Depression and a peak of Southern racism, readers met the main character Scout. Scout, a girl ages six to nine, narrates this story for years and the happenings in the town. Years pass and different incidents arise including a court case about rape, a mean old neighbor, and the mysterious man next door.

Name: Cejay Kyle J. Eduave Date: 6/4/2023 Section: 9-Fadz Score: /100 To Kill a Mockingbird A. Author: Harper Lee Number of pages: 324 Date of Publication: July 11, 1960 Place of Publication: United States Genre: Fiction, Coming-of-age, Southern Gothic B. Settings The novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" is primarily set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the 1930s. Maycomb is a small, close-knit community deeply rooted in Southern traditions and plagued by racial prejudice. The story unfolds against the backdrop of the Great Depression, which significantly impacts the lives of the townspeople.

In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the author uses the experiences of Scout Finch, a young girl growing up in rural Alabama during the 1930’s, to portray important life lessons and morals. The Tom Robinson case is a prime example of how the author used the experiences of Scout Finch to demonstrate the necessities of empathy, and unbiased perspective. The author uses an innocent child as a lens into some of the biases we develop gradually from society, and the people around us. Through the experiences and relationships of Scout Finch, the novel communicates the importance of morals like empathy, equality, doing the right thing, and not taking advantage of those who are less powerful than you.

Literature can be analyzed with many different critical lenses. While analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, one may use a critical lens to recognize the different ideas throughout the novel. Harper Lee’s novel demonstrates her perspective on intolerance and discrimination within the early twentieth century. Firstly, intolerance of people who are different is very prevalent within the novel.

In the 1930s, if a black man was on trial there was a ample chance he would be convicted even if evidence proved he was innocent. Throughout history humans being prejudice and bias have affected the lives of thousands of people; some ending with favorable outcomes while others weren’t so fortunate. Within the book To Kill a Mockingbird the readers learn that prejudice and bias people outnumber the understanding and kind. One decision or in this case twelve decisions decide the fate for an unfortunate man. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee reveals that people often follow their biases and prejudices rather than the truth.

Tom Robinson is a black man who is wrongfully convicted of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. This novel goes through Scout's life from when she was 6, till she is 9. She lives in the town of Maycomb Alabama, and lives an innocent life until about halfway through the story, where she begins to ask questions. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout shows the readers that racial inequality creates an unjust society through the African American community, through the people surrounding colored folks, and through Tom Robinson’s Case. The first example of the consequences of racial inequality is the African American community in Maycomb.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that show the life of a southern state od Alabama during the “black racism” time period, where majority of the people had the mentality that (quote) with the exception of a few. To chosen to portray it from the eyes of Scout Finch, from a child’s point of view. Living in Maycomb, in the midst of a conservative society of the 1930’s and 20’s Southern America Scout Finch is an extra ordinary child.

Humans live in a world where moral values are very clearly set determining what is good and what is bad. We know what scares us and how racism should be treated. Nevertheless, this was not the case back in Alabama during the 1950s. In the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee narrates the lives of the people of Maycomb, Alabama, focusing on the story of Scout and Jem Finch, and the case of a said to be rape. In this emotion filled narrative, readers learn how life was back then not only in general, but for the separate social statuses that there was.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us about the town of Maycomb County during the late 1930s, where the characters live in isolation and victimization. Through the perspective of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, readers will witness the prejudice that Maycomb produces during times where people face judgement through age, gender, skin colour, and class, their whole lives. Different types of prejudice are present throughout the story and each contribute to how events play out in the small town of Maycomb. Consequently, socially disabling the people who fall victim from living their life comfortably in peace. Boo Radley and his isolation from Maycomb County, the racial aspects of Tom Robinson, and the decision Atticus Finch makes as a lawyer, to defend a black man has all made them fall in the hands of Maycomb’s prejudice ways.

Cultural norms are what make and shape a society. They are the guidelines, and or patterns, that are to be followed, in order to be considered a normal, typical, everyday citizen. As such, it does not matter if the norms are right or wrong. As long as the citizen is still a part of their society, right and wrong does not matter, as far as they are concerned. In the case of To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the cultural norm, of Maycomb County, embraces the wrong, in the form of extreme prejudice behavior.

Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour. Racism can be seen even in the first few chapters of the book. These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they were growing up.

Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird Prejudice in the 1950s was a problem and it still is in 2017. When it comes to the topic of prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys it is important that before judging someone, get to know them better. One example of prejudice Harper Lee uses in To Kill a Mockingbird is Tom Robinson. In the small town of Maycomb almost everyone assumes Tom is guilty of raping Mayella Ewell even though there is no evidence or reasoning.