To Kill a Mockingbird illustrates that a prejudiced society strongly oppresses individuals who are affiliated with Negro’s. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the community of Maycomb continuously antagonizes Atticus, because he gives a Negro the same rights as whites. “Your fathers no better than the niggers and trash he works for.” By classifying Negroes as “trash”, and placing Atticus in the class with Negroes, Mrs. Dubose strongly divides mankind. The most significant event in To Kill a Mockingbird that demonstrates Maycomb’s dividing sense of integrity is when the jury convicts the Negro, Tom Robinson, guilty. Their decision is clearly prejudiced. In result of neglecting Negro’s rights, and prejudging Negroes before having a fair trial, the jury separates blacks from whites.
Contradictory to the rest of Maycomb, Atticus’s sense of integrity is constructed from his morals of truth and justice rather from prejudice and bigotry. Atticus, no matter what stands in his way, follows his individually moral sense of integrity. Atticus’s sense of integrity unites mankind.
The theme of justice and courage is brought about by Atticus, who was the anchor of reason in Maycomb. His courage gave him enough strength to endure the ridicule that arose from his decision to defend a black man in a segregated area. He was one of the few respectable people who were not blinded by the racial injustice Tom Robinson faced. A great deal of courage is shown by Atticus after he was spat on by Bob Ewell. It took courage for Atticus to stay calm, and not fight back. Instead he withheld his true feelings, thus keeping his dignity intact. “I wish Bob Ewell wouldn’t chew tobacco”, is all Atticus had to commend on the ordeal. Atticus believed that no one is pure evil; meaning that if you look hard enough, you would find that there is good in every person you meet. He understood many people in town and believed that if you knew what someone had been through, you would understand them better.
To Kill a Mockingbird deals with two “mockingbirds” in Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. “They don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” Maycomb physically and socially kill these two Mockingbirds in the novel.
Tom Robinson is the recipient of unfair racial prejudice. He is killed trying to escape from jail after having been wrongfully convicted for rape. Boo Radley is also the victim of social prejudice. Just because he stays inside, people automatically hide their better judgment in the belief that he is a monster. At the end of the book, the two mockingbirds collide, as Boo kills Bob Ewell, in a scuffle between Bob and the Finch children. As Heck Tate says “There’s a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for it’s dead. Let the dead bury the dead…”. When Boo kills Bob Ewell at the end, it rehashes the idea that the innocent should not suffer in the hands of the powerful.
A point that sums up the main theme of the book is that of what Atticus said: "You have to learn what life is like in other people’s skin before you can make any judgment about them." Unfortunately in the novel, the majority of Maycomb believed that their judgments were correct, resulting in many people getting hurt in the process. After reading the book, one can easily believe that if everybody took that step in their lives, this world would be a better place.
Françienne Duncan
