Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Jocelyn Dawson
Ms. Gullette
H. Freshman English
11 January 2014
Prejudice and Bias in To Kill a Mockingbird
The Webster’s Dictionary definition of prejudice is “an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” Prejudice can create fallacious bias towards a subject or person. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee creates Jem and Scout to support her opinion on the topic of prejudice and bias. Lee portrays Jem and Scout and their relationships with other characters in the novel to demonstrate how prejudice is created through initial impressions and is over come by first hand experiences with the issue. Jem and his relationship with Mrs. Dubose show that prejudice is created by initial
Dubose, when she starts to badger Jem. Stating her bias that his “father was no better than the niggers and trash he works for” (102). This statement of blatant ignorance gives Jem the conception that Mrs. Dubose is just an old lady with nothing better to do than torment two children; he forms this notion of prejudice regarding Mrs. Dubose. The consequence of Dubose’s assumption causes Jem to act imprudently, “[Jem] did not begin to calm down until he had cut off the tops of every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose had owned” (103). This outburst was a result of Mrs. Dubose’s revulsion towards Atticus and his acceptance to racial equality. In turn she creates hostility between Jem and Scout; during this point in the book Jem and Mrs. Dubose both have a mutual spite due to their preconceived prejudice. The consequence for Jem’s outburst was to read to Mrs. Dubose daily. Later in the book the frail woman dies after having Jem come to read to her for a solid month. Atticus breaks
In the beginning of the book Scout is paraphrasing what she has heard through an unreliable source, Miss Stephanie. She is certain that “Boo [Radley] drove scissors into his parent’s pant leg, pulled them out and continued his [daily] activities” (11). This act of non provoked violence causes Scout to form some bias that Boo is an appalling sociopath when in reality Scout has never even met the reclusive Boo. Later in the book Scout, still possessed by her formidable bias towards Boo is fear stricken. When she was playing in the tire and rolled into “the Radley Place steps in front of [her]. [Scout] froze” (38). The reader can infer that Scout is perturbed by the thought of Boo Radley, for he may “[drive] scissors” into her own “pant leg” her prejudice remains unwavering. After Bob Ewell’s death Scout and Atticus acknowledge that Boo Radley saved both Scout and Jem. Scout is so grateful she feels in debt of Boo for “he gave [them] two soap dolls, a broken watch and chains, a pair of lucky pennies, and [their] lives” (278). After the fight Boo Radley peers at unconscious Jem on the table and strokes his hair. Soon after, Boo’s “hand tightened on [Scout’s indicating] that he wanted to leave. [Scout] led him to the front porch, where his uneasy steps halted. He was still holding [Scout’s] hand and he gave no sign of letting [her]