Racial Prejudice
Racial Prejudice
Description of theme: To Kill a Mockingbird was set in 1930’s Alabama in a small town called Maycomb. At the time society was governed by unspoken racial divisions between the black and white populations. This novel explores the injustice surrounding such divisions revealing the fundamental similarities that lie beneath the colour of one’s skin.
Examples:
1. The Tom Robinson case is the primary example of social injustice in Maycomb. Tom Robinson, clearly proven innocent by Atticus, is still convicted by the white jury. This displays how the narrow minded townsfolk cannot see past such deep rooted divisions to acquit a black man accused by a white lady even though she is considered to be the lowest of all white people in Maycomb.
“You know the truth, and the truth is this; some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women - black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men.”
2. When Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to the “First Purchase African M.E. Church” we are introduced to the Black community of Maycomb. We observe the poor conditions in which they live in contrast with the comfortable lifestyle of the white community of the town.
Differences in social status are explored largely through the overcomplicated social hierarchy of Maycomb, the ins and outs of which constantly baffle the children. The relatively well-off Finches stand near the top of Maycomb’s social hierarchy, with most of the townspeople beneath them. Ignorant country farmers like the Cunninghams lie below the townspeople, and the white trash Ewells rest below the Cunninghams. But the black community in Maycomb, despite its abundance of admirable qualities, squats below even the Ewells, enabling Bob Ewell to make up for his own lack of importance by persecuting Tom Robinson. These rigid social divisions that make up so much of the adult world are revealed in the book
Description of theme: To Kill a Mockingbird was set in 1930’s Alabama in a small town called Maycomb. At the time society was governed by unspoken racial divisions between the black and white populations. This novel explores the injustice surrounding such divisions revealing the fundamental similarities that lie beneath the colour of one’s skin.
Examples:
1. The Tom Robinson case is the primary example of social injustice in Maycomb. Tom Robinson, clearly proven innocent by Atticus, is still convicted by the white jury. This displays how the narrow minded townsfolk cannot see past such deep rooted divisions to acquit a black man accused by a white lady even though she is considered to be the lowest of all white people in Maycomb.
“You know the truth, and the truth is this; some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women - black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men.”
2. When Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to the “First Purchase African M.E. Church” we are introduced to the Black community of Maycomb. We observe the poor conditions in which they live in contrast with the comfortable lifestyle of the white community of the town.
Differences in social status are explored largely through the overcomplicated social hierarchy of Maycomb, the ins and outs of which constantly baffle the children. The relatively well-off Finches stand near the top of Maycomb’s social hierarchy, with most of the townspeople beneath them. Ignorant country farmers like the Cunninghams lie below the townspeople, and the white trash Ewells rest below the Cunninghams. But the black community in Maycomb, despite its abundance of admirable qualities, squats below even the Ewells, enabling Bob Ewell to make up for his own lack of importance by persecuting Tom Robinson. These rigid social divisions that make up so much of the adult world are revealed in the book