A description of how Harper Lee portrays the black community in the novel 'To kill a mocking bird'.

Harper Lee shows that Tom Robinson is a badly educated, poor black man, therefore accepted by very few of the white community. Anyone who is willing to ever to take his side or stand up for him is immediately the centre of accusation and disapproval, “What did Francis call him? A nigger-lover” Harper Lee shows that many people are very ashamed to even be partly associated with any members of the black community, “Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again.”

The colloquial language used in “To Kill A Mocking Bird” emphasises the lack of care or consideration others have towards the black community, “Your father’s no better that the niggers and trash he works for!” However Harper Lee does not believe that all of the white community are against the black community because the character of Atticus is wise, “They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions,” said Atticus, "but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.  The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.” through Atticus Harper Lee can state her own believes and morals. Atticus also shows empathy throughout the book, "…As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash."

Harper lee clearly shows the different lives the black community and white community lead, the communities seem like worlds apart, “Calpurnia led a modest double life.” The black community even lived in separate parts of Maycomb, segregated from each other, “Church was in the quarters outside the southern town limits.” Their way of living was shown in the book as very different to the white community, “There was no sign of piano, organ, hymn books.” – they had no necessities, “the familiar ecclesiastical impediments we saw every Sunday.”

Overall Harper Lee makes the reader feel pity for the black community because no black family is portrayed badly and Tom Robinson is found guilty purely on the basis of the colour of his skin, by the jury in his case against the Ewells. The guilty verdict is a direct result of a racist community. Tom was never given a fair chance in the trial, even though that the evidence was proving him innocent. “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads – they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are facts of life.”

                          

                                         

18th November 2002