Preview

Examples Of Discrimination In The Heat Of The Night

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
636 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Examples Of Discrimination In The Heat Of The Night
In The Heat Of The Night

In the novel, "In the Heat of the Night", a murder is investigated by a negro detective, Virgil Tibs, and a team of white officers. "In the Heat of the Night" is a detective novel written by John Ball to show racial attitudes that happened in a small town in the southern part of the United States. Discrimination not only affects the main character Virgil Tibs, but also affects everyone involved in the story. Lastly, discrimination, is a negative and degrading action that clouds a person's judgement and affects everyone negatively. The following essay is about how discrimination affects a negro detective and southern whites negatively when they investigate a murder.

Discrimination is racial attitude that affects people negatively. The main character, Virgil Tibs, is a strong person who finds himself in with many racial situations. The first racial example in the novel is when Sam Woods, a police officer, arrest Virgil Tibs for no reason at all as he waits for a train. "On your feet, black boy he ordered...make one false move and I'll drop you
…show more content…
These racist people, the police department, makes mistakes because they have no proof, no evidence and they judge Virgil based on his colour. Gilliespie, the new chief of police, did not believe that Virgil was a police officer and checked that he was, he was surprised with what he found. "Confirm Virgil Tibs member Pasadena Police Department..reputation excellent"(23). They found out that Virgil was a very important officer in homicide who had an excellent reputation and yet, they arrested and brought him to the police station to question him without any evidence. The southern whites found out that they had made a mistake and they could be in trouble for arresting him with no evidence. Everyone has rights and everyone should follow the rules or else people will be treated

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Night a story about a young Jewish boy named Elie Wiesel and his experience during the holocaust. The book narrated by Elie Wiesel so it goes into detail about him losing his family and the struggles he faced in the concentration camp to stay alive. The literary device that I Believe that was most prominent through the…

    • 63 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The process of Dehumanization shows three different stages; Co Dependence, Rejection and Survival of the fittest. In the book Night, these three stages are shown through Elie Wiesel and other poor souls in a number of Concentration camps.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Heat of the Night

    • 545 Words
    • 16 Pages

    The novel “In the Heat of the Night” introduces the reader to two characters, Virgil Tibbs and Bill Gillespie. Virgil Tibbs is a homicide detective at the Pasadena Police department, and Bill Gillespie is the Chief of Police for Wells County. In the novel they are shown as two completely opposite characters whose personalities differ almost completely. The basic aspect of the novel is how during the 1960’s people in the south underwent severe racism and prejudice. The novel also depicts how because of those racial tensions the way these two characters interact with each other and how that is evident. In the beginning of the novel we are introduced to Virgil Tibbs. He is shown as a wealthy, highly educated, and confident young African American. Virgil Tibbs is introduced to us as a prime suspect for the murder of Enrico Mantoli. Soon after we are presented that Tibbs is an officer and that is a shock to Gillespie. Virgil Tibbs is a very well educated man, who is calm and patient with others. An example of this would be when Gillespie is angry or disturbed by Tibbs actions, he acts very calm and does not ever get angry. Despite all the hatred and anger people have for him he still continues to act in a civilized and well-behaved manor towards his co-workers and the people around him On the other hand, Bill Gillespie is a totally different character. He is physically larger and older than Tibbs, is a racist, and has several temper issues. Gillespie believes that Tibbs is far more experienced at the job then he is. Gillespie understands that Tibbs knows what he is doing, but is not happy about the fact that Tibbs has been selected to investigate the case. The problem Gillespie has with Tibbs is that he is more educated and has a higher source of income then he does. Also, Gillespie’s initial reaction to having Tibbs work on the case was negative and demanded that Tibbs be sent to his train right away.. An example of this would “Who in hell asked you to open your big…

    • 545 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Nazis used dehumanization against the Jews. One example of how they dehumanized them, is they killed older, weaker, and sick people. Another example is they used infants as targets for marksman practice. And the last example is public beatings and killings. The Nazis did not care for the Jews and wanted to see them suffer. In Night, by Elie Wiesel, it explains how through the process of dehumanization that the Jews are being downgraded and turned into nothing.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Staples explains his experiences when dealing with racial bias and discrimination, leading him to “reflect on issues of race, gender, and class in the United States” (Staples).…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Wright gets a job at a an optamonatrist (this word is spelled completely wrong) he thinks that he coworkers like him as a person, but soon he finds out that it was just a cover because the boss was there. Once Wright was left alone with the coworkers they threatened him letting Wright know that they didn't like blacks. This made Wright feel betrayed and used because the coworkers were using him just to let the boss know that they were racists. When Wright felt this way he quit the job. Another job Wright had was at a store own by a father and son. Wright was amazed by how other black people were letting his bosses hit them and talk to them in such an unproper manner. The first instance Wright saw the evil in his employer's eyes is when he saw them bring a black lady into the store and beat her up because she didn't pay per bill on time. Wright's emotions are dropped when he sees the ladies blood on the floor of the store. Wright could not believe so much hate could exist in the world that someone would beat someone for no good reason. In Wright's experiences at work he learns that in the world hate is apart of existence in which if you are not the victimizer you will be the victim and Wright was one of the…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee comments, “Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends” (Lee 270-1). This quote not only describes what prejudice is, but also how it comes to be. Prejudice is illustrated in many different forms throughout various works of literature. A few skillfully portrayed classics include: Twelve Angry Men, a play by Reginald Rose, “As I Grew Older”, a poem by Langston Hughes, and To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee. The aforementioned works all convey messages of racism, bigotry, and injustice.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Prejudice is defined as a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, the adolescent characters, Jem, Scout, and Dill, all learn about prejudice through the different experiences they face. They experience racial prejudice during the trial of Tom Robinson. They learn about class prejudice through the ways different people are treated in their small town. And, they learn about gender prejudice when people stereotype Scout and the way she acts and dresses. Throughout “To Kill a Mockingbird” prejudice is a very strong topic because it changes how people treat each other. This theme of prejudice affects people of different races, classes, and…

    • 118 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Racial prejudice is believing the entirety of an ethnic group possess the same qualities specific to that race. Racism is often based on the belief one's own race is superior or better. Over the years, racism has become less visible but is still happening. Throughout Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, the narrator and her older brother Jem see many cases of discrimination including the conviction of an innocent black man. Many of Maycomb's people treat the black community as though they are less then them and trash. Throughout the novel we see certain characters be blamed for something they didn’t do and be misjudged for something they’re not. Scout and Jem begin to understand someone’s appearance or ethnicity does not define…

    • 164 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book teaches the reader about how racial discrimination and segregation led to unjust treatment to the black society as a whole. All men are born equal, but society divides everyone into categories based on false pretenses. Harper Lee shows this through Tom Robinson’s court case. She also shows the good in people through Atticus’ character and his teachings, and the worse in people through the death of Bob…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Discrimination as defined in the Oxford dictionary is “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age or sex”. This can be explained by, one person or a group of people treating someone less favourably than another due to having a difference. An example would be a group or an individual would choose to show bias and prejudice to an individual who has a different skin colour to them.…

    • 2648 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Scout, the main character, is a young girl who does not understand why people in her town treat blacks different that they treat whites. Many people in her town hate black people and treat them different, one example of racism is how the whites referred to blacks. They call them very mean words and always accuse them of doing stuff, when in reality most of the times the blacks are innocent. One way we could correct blacks getting treated equal to the whites is giving them a same opportunity as whites in…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Different types of prejudice are evident in this chapter. For instance, Scout refers to Walter as a "Cunningham", and this automatically places him in the poor class (Lee 20). Miss Caroline displays prejudice towards Scout because she can read. Scout is singled out after she reads to the class, and Miss Caroline accuses her of her father teaching her how to read (Lee 17). It seems as though more serious types and instances of prejudice will develop as the story progresses.…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Discrimination is a way of forming an opinion and attitude towards members of a particular group or individual formed only upon the basis of their membership of that group that leads to negative opinions or bad treatment of that person. Often opinions won't change even in the light of new information. It is essential…

    • 1350 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Discrimination is the unjust categorization of groups of people. Eric Berne, a Canadian psychiatrist who studied human behavior, made several observations relating to discrimination. Berne stated, “The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing” (goodreads.com). The Canadian psychiatrist is stating that as soon as people notice that not everyone looks the same, stereotypes begin to form and the uniqueness and differences of people are no longer appreciated. This leads into the two stories that center themselves around discrimination, one of which is To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper E. Lee. To Kill A Mockingbird, is a story about a young girl and…

    • 1598 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays