The novel To Kill a Mockingbird somewhat demonstrates that prejudice is too strongly engraved in society for any one person to make a difference.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird somewhat demonstrates that prejudice is too strongly engraved in society for any one person to make a difference. The novel portrays the events leading up to, and the results of a case in which a black man, Tom Robinson, is falsely accused and convicted of the rape of a white girl. The story is told through the eyes of Jean Louise (Scout) Finch as she reminisces about her childhood at the age of about six. Scout recognizes through the course of the novel that there are many prejudices facing society and that most members of the community happily and openly accept the injustice caused through these prejudices. Racial, sexual and social prejudices are exhibited in the novel, although the racial and social prejudices are those of the most fundamental significance to the outcome of the novel, as it is these prejudices that define the differences between life in Alabama in the 1930's, where the novel is set, and other places in America at the time. At this time, there was great international economic depression, which caused people to be very uneasy about change. This made people particularly uneasy about accepting anything that may further dampen their economic state, and so they were not likely to change their views about social classes. This may account for the lack of compassion seen in the book by the higher class white people to the lower class black people.
The title of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, has no apparent literal connection with the novel's content, although when we look into the meaning of the title, we find that the word 'mockingbird' has extreme significance. In its literal sense, a mockingbird is a small bird which mimics the songs of other birds. There are occasional references to mockingbirds throughout the novel, but only to illustrate that they are a sign of innocence and purity. We find that there are not any actual mockingbirds in the novel, and so we look to the symbolism of the term and find that there are in fact several mockingbirds in the novel. Atticus, Scout, Jem, who is Scouts sister, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are all mockingbirds in that they are all pure in their ideas, are innocent, well-meaning, moral and are not persuaded by the ideas, views and pressures of others. This is perhaps where the resemblance fails, however, as a mockingbird copies and mimics the songs of others, yet in the novel it is these people who do the exact opposite of what mockingbirds would be expected to do in that they do not copy or mimic the views of society and they are able to make up their own point of view, or song as it would be in the case of a mockingbird. It is these people who are responsible for trying to convert society's views about black people and social standing, to the idea that all are equal and that to discriminate against a person because of their class is wrong.
To Kill a Mockingbird contains several examples of injustice, the most prevalent being the inequality between black people and white people in unjust. This is illustrated clearly through Tom Robinson's case, whereby Tom is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white girl who resides with her father and several younger siblings. The Ewells are very poor and live in a predominantly black neighborhood. The only thing that separates the Ewells from the lowest class of society is the fact that they are white, the lowest social class being the black people. On one occasion, Mr Ewell beat his ...
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To Kill a Mockingbird contains several examples of injustice, the most prevalent being the inequality between black people and white people in unjust. This is illustrated clearly through Tom Robinson's case, whereby Tom is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white girl who resides with her father and several younger siblings. The Ewells are very poor and live in a predominantly black neighborhood. The only thing that separates the Ewells from the lowest class of society is the fact that they are white, the lowest social class being the black people. On one occasion, Mr Ewell beat his daughter. This event would obviously cause people to think less of the Ewells, so a scapegoat, Mr Tom Robinson, was accused and blamed for the rape and assault of Mayella Ewell. Mr Robinson was obviously chosen as the scapegoat for one reason alone; he was black. The Ewells were quite aware of the fact that society held no respect for black people, and so thought that there would be no problem in putting Tom in prison, because no one would dare attempt to challenge the idea. However, Atticus Finch was assigned to defend the accused, and consequently did the best he could to ensure that Tom Robinson walked free. However, because of the injustice in society and the views towards black people and those that defied their social standing to befriend them, Tom's case was lost before it began. There was simply no way that a jury that was composed of only white people was going to let a black man accused of the rape of a white woman, walk free. Whilst Atticus clearly proved that Tom was not guilty, Tom could not walk free because of the injustice in society. Through this case, however, Atticus managed to persuade many people that racial barriers were unimportant. It is these racial barriers that Mr Ewell found so important. The Ewell's were basically the lowest class of life that could exist. They were lazy, rude and immoral. If Atticus managed to prove Tom Robinson's innocence, he would be breaking the only barrier that held the Ewells above the lowest form of life in Maycomb County, because the Ewells would in effect be placed below the black population. The white population in the novel was mimicking what would have happened in reality at the time, and they could not allow this to happen.
The next important example of injustice is the attitudes of the people in Maycomb County toward Mr Arthur (Boo) Radley. Boo lives reclusively in a derelict house nearby the house of the Finches. Boo is never seen by members of society, and therefore a large degree of interest, intrigue and skepticism revolves around him. Because of the injustice and lack of understanding in society, Boo is not well received and therefore people speak cruelly of him and make up many rumors that tell of just how inhumane Boo supposedly is. This illustrates that the people of Maycomb County are unable to accept people that are different or are non-conformers. We find near the end of the novel that the reason Boo chooses to live such a solitarily and secluded life is because he does not wish to endure or be forced to accept society's unfair and unjust beliefs. He will not associate with people on their terms if their terms result in the unfair treatment of a class of society. It is primarily for this reason that Boo is seen as a mockingbird; he will not accept the unfair and immoral attitudes of those around him and so secludes himself from them. Jem and Scout take an interest to Boo's way of life, yet they do not aim or wish to torment him for it. It is this that separates the children from the rest of society; the community condemns Boo for his way of life without a thought of why he might live the way he does, they simply believe that because he will not follow what they believe to be the normal way for a man to live, he must be bizarre and dangerous. The children, on the other hand, are in some ways affected by society's depiction of Boo, in that they are afraid of going near his house, yet their intrigue in his way of life does not cease. This indicates that the children are more concerned about the reasons behind Boo's behavior than just the behavior itself, and so allows us to conclude that they are more open and accepting than most of society. This illustrates that one of the principals in creating a fair view is to retain innocence and purity, as can be seen in children.
It is difficult to define Boo's reason for existence in the novel, as he is in the majority of ways a very abstract figure. The reader, although introduced to Boo through gossip about his character, does not actually meet him until the very end of the novel when he saves Jem's life and kills Mr Ewell, who was on the verge of killing Jem. This makes Boo a very strong person, in that he chose to come out of solitude to save the life of a boy that he does not know. This tells us something about Boo's morals. The reason that this event makes Boo strong is that he defied his own principals to save the life of someone possibly more innocent and moral than himself. The fact that Boo was willing to relinquish his reputation in order to save Jem tells that Boo truly is a mockingbird.
The most important figure in the novel, perhaps, is Jem and Scout's father, Atticus. Atticus is a moral and fair person who understands society's faults and understands that although he is not likely to change them, he still tries because it is the more moral thing to do than follow the injustice and immorality that exists in the society. Atticus always tries to do the right, most moral and just thing possible, and he tries to pass this view on to his children. Atticus tells Jem and Scout that it is not right to fight someone simply because they have a different view point to what they do, and allows them to be who they want to be. Although the women of the town, particularly Scout's Aunt Alexandra, tell Scout that she is disobedient for not wearing dresses, Atticus is not fussed because Scout's giving in to the people that wish her to change the clothes that she wears is in effect giving in to the pressures that society puts on people to hold their class and social standing, which is something that Atticus believes should be created on the basis of morality and kindness, and not on race or ancestry.
At the beginning of the novel we see that Scout is accepting of society as it is and does not question the motives of what are apparently unfair and unjust prejudices towards certain classes of society. Throughout the novel, we learn more and more of the input that Atticus has on Scout's beliefs, and therefore Scout begins to think more along the lines of what Atticus is thinking. Whilst Scout still sees society as it is, being unjust and racist, she is told reasons for the unjust prejudices by Atticus, and so believes that all people think the same way as Atticus, regardless of the fact that they act differently. At Tom Robinson's trial, however, Scout sees people undertaking most cruel behaviors and so is confused, as she believes that all people think the way that her father does. She could not understand the reasons behind the fact that Tom Robinson was not acquitted, nor could she understand why people held such strong beliefs that Tom was a bad person. In this way, we can see that Atticus has affected Scout and her beliefs. We know that Atticus is a strongly moral person whom believes that the long standing separation of people into classes of society with unpenetrable boundaries is wrong, and it just so happens that he has effectively altered Scouts perceptions as well, hence weakening the prejudices in society through detaching one person from the unjust views. Scout is, however, not the only person that Atticus managed to influence throughout the course of the novel. Scout, Jem and Dill were all influenced by Atticus to a degree and stood up for their father in the playground which henceforth caused more children to change their perceptions. Mr Heck Tate, the county sheriff, was also affected by Atticus's views to a degree, and during the court room scene of the novel it was clear to see that the judge was in some ways agreeing with Atticus.
Through the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, it is clear to see that prejudice is engraved into society strongly in Maycomb County, it is apparent, however, that one man is predominantly responsible for altering the views of several people, which is a small step to take to changing the views of society. The fact that Atticus Finch chose to actively defend Tom Robinson in a case that all white lawyers would be expected to dismiss demonstrates that the barriers between social classes were not to strong to be broken, just that courage was needed to break them. The barriers between the levels of society were created and were held in place by the prejudice members of society, and it took a very strong, moral and courageous man to begin to break them down, whilst at the end of the novel it is apparent that a large degree of prejudice still exists in society, the effects of a challenge against the inequalities and prejudices are beginning to be felt.
Lucy Martin, E05 To Kill a Mockingbird Essay: Choice Two Year 11 English 2002
