Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Prejudice cannot see the things that are because it is always looking for things that are not. This is emphasized as one of the main themes in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Set in the South during the 1930’s in a small town known as Maycomb County, the one of the most important morals, the one that all humans are created equal, is justified. Prejudice can be shown on a scale from most extreme down to least: genocide, expulsion, slavery, segregation, assimilation, and assimilation. The theme of the wrongs of prejudice is brought forth through the eyes of a nine-year-old girl. Prejudice is shown in many different forms throughout the novel, but also show similarities in how they are all connected to one universal idea. Prejudice
“Shoot all the bluejays you want… but remember, it's a sin to kill a mockingbird,” the mockingbird is being represented as a recurring motif to symbolize innocence and victims of injustice throughout the novel (Lee 90). It is a symbol of innocence and goodwill against racism and hatred. The symbol shows the important moral of treating others the way they would like to be treated. The mockingbird also serves as a way relating to humans and how only actions make up a person, not what they look like. People like the Mr. Ewell only see things that make others he does not like inferior so he feels better about himself. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy” (Lee 90). “The symbolism reveals the prejudice and narrow-mindedness of the common citizens of Maycomb County, the fears they have, and all of the immoral things they do”
“I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella!" This obscene language, specifically the use of "ruttin," makes Tom Robinson and black men seem like animals, giving black men a beastial, non-human quality. Ewell does not like the fact that he is discriminated as the poorest and dirtiest in Maycomb so redirects it into hatred of others he does not like. He also adds to the non-human, bestial representation of Tom Robinson by referring to him as a “big buck.” “If [Atticus] was a nigger like [Tom Robinson], [he’d] be scared too” because colored people in maycomb are treated so badly they have become conditioned to be afraid of white people. In a way, those people who are afraid are also being prejudiced against white people because they assume that all white people are just as hateful as the Ewells, stereotyping them, so it is more of a two-sided problem. He also mentions that if people would take a moment to step into another person’s shoes, they might understand their side and their perspective of things, the way they see it through their eyes. Then they would not be so narrow-minded and interracial problems would be a thing of the