Prejudice In Harper Lee’s Novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
PREJUDICE IN HARPER LEE'S NOVEL, "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD"
To kill a Mocking Bird's prominent theme is prejudice and the novel as a whole seems to be a reliable and unexaggerated portrait of southern Americans' prejudice in the first half of the last century. The author, Harper Lee, used Maycomb as the setting for the book (an invented county which seems far from the typical idealistic and picturesque American society pictured in fantasy) and the character Atticus as fictional portrayals of real places and people at the time. For example, Maycomb is actually a replica of Monroeville, and Lee's father was a lawyer by profession. Monroeville was Harper Lee's hometown and this gave her reason to know the society well. The people of Monroeville and other places in southern American districts recognised themselves and can identify the part that they played in the society, of which we learn a lot in the first section of the book, that existed at the time. This illustrates the connection between the society in the 1930s and the fictional narrative. The novel really is based on history.
Having the book so accurate, the author can then hit the reader with more impact and can express her views on prejudice and discrimination with stronger force and more focus. The dismissive mentality described during the story is a realistic representation of attitudes at the time. This essay is about the various forms of prejudice involved and how we can see proof of these different types at different points throughout the story. I think that it is important to remember Atticus' famous statement which tells us that "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird." In the end, there are two principle mockingbirds.
The book investigates many types of prejudice. One is the hatred and fear directed towards the coloured people and the violence between the two communities that could explode at any time, for example the lynch mob. The lynch mob were a group of men that threatened to take the law in their own hands and got together to kill Tom Robinson before his trial. It shows the hidden aggression that surfaces before the rape case starts. It also illustrates how the lynch mob feel powerful in a group, because they are able to hide behind others. Scout doesn't understand their intentions and sees a face in the crowd and names him. 'Hey, Mr Cunningham´ she says singling him out from the group. Mr Cunningham realises this and is put in the spotlight and cannot hide behind anyone. He also realises that an innocent little girl has caught him in action. This puts pressure on Mr Cunningham and makes him consider his foolish actions. This is an effective way to combat this type of prejudice. Scout manages to disarm Mr Cunningham, and he has to rethink. Other types of prejudice are sexual, religious and social, although they are fairly minor and trivial.
As you can see, there are numerous types of prejudice and they all subtly revolve around the Tom Robinson rape case. For example, when Scout meets Mr Dolphus Raymound during the trial she becomes aware that he is a victim of prejudice and that he has become an outcast. This is because he lives with a black woman and this is thought to be terrible amongst the people of Maycomb. One of the effects of this is that he pretends to be drunk so as to seem unaware of his integration with the blacks. Another is that his ...
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As you can see, there are numerous types of prejudice and they all subtly revolve around the Tom Robinson rape case. For example, when Scout meets Mr Dolphus Raymound during the trial she becomes aware that he is a victim of prejudice and that he has become an outcast. This is because he lives with a black woman and this is thought to be terrible amongst the people of Maycomb. One of the effects of this is that he pretends to be drunk so as to seem unaware of his integration with the blacks. Another is that his children are also victims of prejudice as they are of mixed races and they don't fit in with the blacks or whites. Because of all this they live in the isolated out-skirts of Maycomb far away from anyone. This also means that Dolphus Raymound does not have to face any of his peers. This shows how cowardly his character is. However, it is the way he tackles racism.
The ladies of Maycomb also show misguided prejudice towards individuals. Mrs Merriweather for instance never questions her actions, or what she says, as she is convinced of her own perfection. But in actual fact she is as bad as everyone else. For example, Mrs Merriweather insults Atticus as a "misguided and lost person." When she says "I tell you there are some good but misguided people in this town," we can once again see how prejudiced she is. She later goes on to say, 'Folks in this town who think they are doing right, I mean. Now far be it for me to say who,´ This shows Mrs Merriweather's character and how two faced she is. When Mrs Merriweather insults Atticus in front of Scout, it shows how self-content she feels. There are the odd people who disapprove of all this pre-judgement. Bob Euell names Atticus a "Bloody nigger lover". Miss Maudie combats this prejudice by stopping her sharp and showing her up in front of the other ladies to realise what she has just said. Miss Maudie says 'His food doesn't stick going down, does it.´ This reveals Mrs Merriweather´s victim as Atticus. Miss Maudie is open-minded and sticks up for Atticus as she feels that he is doing the right thing.
The rape plot shows the prejudice between the characters. The author discretely shapes the many varieties of prejudices into the different characters of the town. There is clear segregation between the types of people and this is shown regularly in the book, as the black people are servants or workers. Driving a truck is the best possible job available. The blacks live in their own part of town and have their own church to worship at, not to mention their own section in the local Mobile Times. When Scout and Jem go to visit, it is frowned upon by Aunt Alexandra. The segregation is shown here when Scout and Jem arrive at the church as the crowds part to let them through first. The blacks are also segregated in the courtroom as they sit in the balcony further away from the court scene. It shows the reader how the prejudice is blatant in society. This is how it would have been in southern America in the 1930´s.
When Scout asks if she may visit Calpurnia, her Aunt rules rejects bluntly, without an explanation but by saying 'You may not´. This implies that Aunt Alexandra is prejudice towards Calpurnia and her shortness and the tone that she projects to the reader also suggests this. Aunty Alexandra says "She is trash!" referring to Calpurnia. However, the blacks and whites do not know any better. For centuries, blacks had been used and exploited, and it is second nature for the whites to discriminate against them.
There is also sexual prejudice in 'To Kill a Mocking Bird´, for example Scout has to wear a dress to school and has to accompany the ladies of Maycomb for their weekly gathering. However, Jem does not have to be present. The appearance of females is one particular view that Harper Lee projected to me as the reader. This is because the women all have the same routines and all have well kept appearances. The females are very feminine and stereotypical and never question their roles. ("Why don't people like Miss Maudie sit on the bench?" asks Scout. There is no hint at a woman being part of the jury.)
Examples of general "social" prejudice are also apparent. For example, Walter Cunningham is prevented by Scout's aunt from coming home for dinner at first, because she believes that Scout and Jem have "No business mixing with those people." Atticus is under fire as well for trying to properly defend Tom when the norm would be to just let a negroe be convicted.
Prejudice is widespread and you cannot escape it, it is all around you, and you would always be a victim of some kind of prejudice in Maycomb County at that point in time.
Boo Radley could see the segregation of the people of Maycomb and the prejudice. He therefore may have shut himself away trying to escape it. I think this because of when Jem says 'I think I know why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time...its because he wants to stay inside." This proves to me that he chose to stay inside and hide. This is just one explanation of why Boo Radley shut himself away. Another idea was that his father punished him and restricted him to the house. I think however, it is the first idea that the author tried to portray to the reader. By doing this Boo became one of the outsiders and was still a victim of the prejudice, as he was different. This is also clear with Dolphus Raymond as he didn't hate the blacks but simply didn't have the courage to own up to his beliefs and therefore pretended to be drunk so as to fit in more with the local community.
Few could escape some sort of prejudice in the 1930´s and the book shows this by describing prejudice even towards Atticus. His children are teased at school and the ladies of Maycomb gossip about him behind his back as quoted before in the essay and so I guess that,
in writing this book, the author investigates not only the types of prejudice but also the causes and the consequences of it.
One of the many causes of prejudice Harper Lee illustrates in the book is that humans need a scapegoat, something to blame their actions on. Tom Robinson being accused of rape by the Euells shows this in the book. When Mayella regretted kissing Tom, she needed to blame some one for her actions. She was not the brave enough to face up to the consequences of her act. This is hinted at in Atticus' speech in the courtroom. 'She did something every child has done - she tried to put the evidence of her offence away from her´ Atticus says to the courtroom. He says this implying that Mayella wouldn't except what she did and turned her guilt around on to Tom.
One other reason for prejudice is the fear and insecurity of crossing the barrier of tradition into the unknown. It is easy to follow the crowd like with the lynch mob, but to stand up for what you believe in takes more courage and a lot of determination. Blacks are also stereotyped throughout the book as aggressive and this just another example of a misunderstanding of the so-called "inferior" race. However, the separation between the two types of people is clear and would be clear in the 1930´s.
The book tries to deal with how to combat prejudice: It shows how an individual's actions like Atticus and Miss Maudie can make more of a difference and through this Scout learns how to cope with it herself. The book educates about prejudice, Scout and Jem start with not recognising prejudice at the beginning of the book and then learning about prejudiced people in the community that they live in. They then learn how to cope with and occasionally combat it for example, when Miss Maudie and Scout manage to deflect criticism away from Atticus and pay Mrs Merriwether back at the missionary tea.
The book also teaches the reader empathy by showing how Scout and Jem are taught it. Atticus throughout the book teaches it to his children and says 'You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them´ this is what Atticus tells his children, it is a good moral to live by. The reader has to stop and rethink back to the beginning of the book when Jem´s arm broke to understand the connections of how the enclosed community of Maycomb could be so narrow minded and how someone could attack another adult's children. The reader also reconsiders why Boo Radley never wanted to come out, giving you a different perspective to wards the book and the inhabitants of Maycomb. The novel depicts many aspects of prejudice and racism, and we can see how often the most honest and admirable people are mockingbirds. The problame is how often they get shot, when all they do is good.
By writing the book, the author raises awareness of the prejudice that was in Southern America. We learn that prejudice is aimed at minorities and often people who are only slightly different. Women, coloured people and people who attempt to protect black people are all treated with minimal respect and are affected by prejudice every day. After all this, the locals dare say that "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird"...
