Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

To Kill a Mockingbird:

A Society full of Prejudices

The novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" takes place in Maycomb is a town in the south of the United States, in Alabama. The population is divided by race and black people are considered a lower class, so they have no rights and are treated like scum. The story is told from the perspective of a little girl named Scout whose father, Atticus is a lawyer willing to defend a black man, for this reason the novel focuses on the case of Tom Robinson, because everyone knows that a black man does not have the chance to win in the court, but Atticus is putting himself and his family in a difficult situation. Scout is very young to know what is going on around her, but with her innocence she can show how society can be easily manipulated, influenced, unfair and foolish at the same time. In the novel we can see that the families of Maycomb are completely different from each other, but they are not Judged by their good or bad actions, but by the color of their skin and their customs.Tom Robinsons case is a scandal because a black man (Tom Robinson) was accused of raping a white woman (Mayella Ewell), but who cares? Most of the people already have a guilty ... No matter if he is innocent, they just want to see the sentence.

Boo Radley is ... One more of the residents of Maycomb, but everyone is afraid of him ... He is a young man living under the rules of his older brother after his father died, which has remained locked in his house for years, and everyone have thousands of legends about him, since he was confined by its scandalous and rebellious behavior until he presents some type of mental illness and eats cats. People can make up thousands of things, but rarely, they say the truth. The kids had set up a game about Boo Radley in which he was crazy and his life was a drama, but Atticus and Miss Maudie, interferes and tries to make the children realize who actually Boo Radley is. I remember Arthur Radley when he was a boy. He was always spoke nicely to me, no matter what folks said he did. Spoke as nicely as he knew how (Lee, 46) they dont have to believe everything that they hear, you never know when something is true or just the opposite ... always tell the truth with justice.

Calpurnia is the servant of Atticus and she has always taken care of Scout and her brother. Calpurnia is undoubtedly of great trust, but Scout's aunt, Alexandra threatens to fire her because Atticus was defending the case of a black man, comments start running through the town, which of course has already condemned Tom Robinson because of his skin color. Everyone believes that Atticus Finch defends a lost cause, and many go beyond and insulted the lawyer and his children. Because of these rumors Alexandra, clearly considered Atticus a dishonoring for the family, and keeping Calpurnia in the house was a big mistake. But Calpurnia stays at home and even take children to church (A church just for blacks). Children are welcome only because Calpurnia had taken them, but anyway they did not feel part of that community. You aint got no business bringin white chillum here-they got their church, we got ourn. Its our church, aint it, Miss Cal? Calpurnia said, its the same god, aint it? Jem said, lets go home, Cal, they dont want us here-(Lee, 119)

Tom Robinson, "Tom is one of the novel "Mockingbirds, "an important symbol of innocence destroyed by evil" (Small reference from Sparknotes), in this case, society. Atticus was his lawyer and it was a completely scandal because he is a white man defending a black man, no one would do that because the black people did not had rights in that time. But we can see that there were descent people like Atticus, that have clear that everyone is equal and he had to make justice in Maycomb; He would fight until the end, and he did, he showed enough evidence to expose Ewell.Did you Called a doctor, Sheriff? Did anybody call a doctor? Asked Atticus, No sir, repeated Mr. Tate, Why not? Asked Atticus, Well I can tell you why I didnt. It wasnt necessary Mr. Finch. She was mighty banged up. Something sho happened, it was obvious. (Lee, 167)

Just describe her injuries, Heck, She had a black eye, Which eye?, Her left, Was it her left facing you or her left looking the same way you were?, Oh yes, thatd make it her right. It was up on that side of her face. (Lee, 168). Atticus shows that the hit on the right side of Mayella's face was produced by a left-handed man, as it would be difficult for a man that uses his right hand. Even though the racist jury doesnt even care about the evidence and gives Tom a death sentence.

The novel shows clearly how we control society, and today there is still that division that shows the book, and the worst thing is that we know we are doing wrong, but we do not do anything about it. Why we do not worry about how to break these racial barriers, instead of thinking about the differences and war? But gladly, not everyone is selfish; there are also people who show interest in change as Atticusthose few are the people who manage to change the world. this novel leaves us the lesson that we should not Judge people by their appearance or their customs, because we are all equal and nobody is lower or higher. If we Judge a person just because it is different without giving an opportunity to defend themselves, we can make a big mistake and end the life of that person ... we have to think a little more in the others and stop being silly.