Preview

Racism In Tkam

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
596 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Racism In Tkam
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, tells the story of Two kids, Scout and Jem, who live in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s. They are very adventurous and curious. Scout and Jem's dad, Atticus, is a lawyer who is given a tough case of defending a black man who was accused of rape. During this time in Maycomb there is a lot of racism going around. This theme appears in the novel when Cecil jacobs announced that Scout's dad Atticus defends black people and started to make fun of her it, when Tom Robinson was accused of rape when he didn't do anything and they know that he is innocent but was still found guilty and sentenced to death, and when Tom Robinson was shot 17 time and killed.
Racism plays a big role in this book. One example of racism is when Cecil Jacobs, a kid in Scouts grade, announces out during recess that Scout's dad defends black people. In the book it says “Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout’s daddy defended niggers” (Lee 99). This shows racism because Cecil Jacobs is making fun of Scout because her dad is trying to help a black man. If the person that Atticus was trying to defend was white …show more content…
Tom was trying to escape the jail during their free time outside. Tom made a run straight to the fence and got shot while trying to jump the fence. “‘Toms dead’. Aunt Alexandra put her hands to her mouth. ‘They shot him’, said Atticus. ‘He was running. It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over. Right in front of them’” (Lee 315). The book also says “Seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much” (Lee 315). This is an act of racism because they shot him 17 time and killed him. They could have shot him once so they could get him and get him back in jail but they shot him 17 times and killed
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    How Does Atticus Finch Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Does Atticus Finch Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

    Innocent people are being targeted for the color of their skin and their social class just like the residents of Maycomb,Alabama during the 1930’s in Harper Lee’s book “To Kill A Mockingbird”. In this book, which is based on a white family and told through the eyes of the youngest child, “Scout Finch”, you learn about her residential city Maycomb, and its many issues with racism and social discrimination. You also learn about Scout's father , Atticus Finch, who is an attorney for a hopeless black man striving for innocence due to being falsely accused of rape. Throughout this essay, you will read about the characters of “To Kill A Mockingbird” and how they mature due to racism and social profiling. Scout changes her racist and social view of Maycomb after her dad talks to her about the various situations and why they happened.…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Lee Use Symbols In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Does Lee Use Symbols In To Kill A Mockingbird

    To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is a parallel story about two young children who grow up in a racist southern town and learn that life is not all fun and games. In the beginning of the book the main characters Scout and Jem spend their days playing together and exploring their hometown of Maycomb, Alabama. They are especially intrigued with their mysterious neighbors, the Radley's. Later on in the novel, Scout and Jem’s father Atticus is appointed to defend a black man and the children realize how unfair and prejudice the townspeople of Maycomb really are. The trial of Tom Robinson and the mysterious Radley house come together in an action packed ending.…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Who Is Tom Robinson's Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Who Is Tom Robinson's Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

    Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird depicts the childhood and coming of age of a young girl named Jean-Louise “Scout” Finch. The main focus of this novel is the trial of an African-American man named Tom Robinson, who was accused of raping a white woman, and Scout’s father, Atticus, who has been assigned to defend him. Written during the Civil Rights Movement, Lee’s purpose is to highlight the racial prejudice that had permeated throughout the Southern culture. She achieves this in the trial scenes, where she embeds Atticus’s strong dialogue into the context of the vivid imagery she presents of the trial.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Atticus Finch's Life
    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Atticus Finch's Life

    The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee has a naive view of life in the South of America in the 1930’s. The book is written through the eyes of Jem and Scout Finch. Scout is a young girl that is growing up around her father’s case. Her father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer who is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who is fighting the charge of raping a white lady. The lives of the characters are changed from the effects of racism in the book To Kill a Mockingbird.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird: Helpul Essay
    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To Kill a Mockingbird: Helpul Essay

    To kill a mockingbird is an insightful novel that effectively educates its reader about the discrimination and prejudice against African Americans that was occurring at the time. Through the pity and intensity of Tom Robinson’s trial the reader learns how the rights of African Americans were very different than the white Americans at the time. To kill a mockingbird highlights the pure injustice that Tom Robinson faces, when accused of a crime that he didn’t commit. Due to these accusations Tom’s fate is put on the line and his dignity is robbed from him as the whole of Maycomb assumes that Mayella Ewell is right. Immediately the town people build a sense of hate and anger towards Tom Robinson and attempt to act on their thoughts and opinions. Throughout this text one will learn how not only Negro’s were affected by this prejudice and discrimination but how innocent white Americans, such as the finch family were too.…

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Atticus Finch Empathy
    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Atticus Finch Empathy

    Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in rural south Alabama in a town called Maycomb during the Great Depression, in a time when many Southerners both accepted and expected discrimination toward minorities. Atticus Finch, a widowed father of two, trying to raise his children well, teaches them to see things from another’s perspective. Lee incorporates the crucial quality of empathy in the feelings of the characters and expresses the empathetic theme with the influence of racism and prejudice in Maycomb society within the main characters Scout, Jem, and Atticus.…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Examples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

    Racism in To Kill A Mockingbird was very common, and it is an important part of the story. Racism is shown by the Caucasians in Maycomb against the African-Americans in many different ways. The only reason Tom was killed was because he was colored and he didn't have the freedom the caucasian have. The white society was racist against Africans-Americans call them by a different word. The judge was very racist even after Atticus giving so many proofs that Tom was not the one who did it, the judge already made his mind because the jury was black he had done it. They have not trusted blacks in jails or any other job. In the end, the one main focus of the author was how racism affected black lives, and how it was present at all…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of Truth Vs Reality In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Theme Of Truth Vs Reality In To Kill A Mockingbird

    The 1930s was a time of depression and prejudice. The stock market plumited and a majority of people lost their jobs. For this reason, men predominantly became drunks and abusive. African Americans were treated as second class citizens and their words did not mean as much as a caucation’s words. Anyone who stood up for, or defended an African American was considered a “negro lover”, and also bought shame to his or her family. Usually the truth became distorted and was in favor of whites over blacks. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the truth versus reality is distorted through three main themes, the three ways are, Tom Robinson being accused of rape, Tom Robinson feeling bad for Mayella Ewell, and Tom Robinson being convicted of the rape of Mayella Ewell.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Theme Of Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

    “Racism and injustice and violence sweep our world, bringing a tragic harvest of heartache and death,” Billy Graham once said. In Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird Atticus is a father and a lawyer, who lives with his children, Jem and Scout, and their cook, Calpurnia, in a town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a town populated with black and white people, where racism is apparent. White people feel they are superior than the black people and treat them poorly. Racism is evident when Tom Robinson lost the trial to Bob Ewell, because he was black, even though he is innocent. People were also being judged on appearance, or being treated improperly, like how people see the kind of person Boo Radley is in the beginning of the story. Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” is about injustice.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Fair Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Fair Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

    Imagine how hard life was for colored people back then. How one couldn’t even receive a fair trial because of someone’s color or ethnicity. How is was virtually impossible for them to receive a fair trial without people using stereotypes to structure their judgment. To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates many conflicts, one being the beating and rape of a white woman by a black man, which back then was punishable by death. With this case, a man by the name of Atticus accepts to defend the man who is accused : Tom Robinson. Atticus has to endure what the society throws at him, along with his two children : Jem and Scout. To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee reveals, by using characters and characters’ actions and choices, it is morally correct to stand up and do the right thing. Without someone pointing out what is wrong with the society, things will never change for the better.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of Equality In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Theme Of Equality In To Kill A Mockingbird

    To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of life in the 1930’s from Scout Finch’s point of view. In any story there are problems and situations that nee to be dealt with. Atticus, being a defense attorney, shows Scout a first hand view of what really goes on in the little town of Maycomb, Alabama. This sparks her curiosity in her father’s newest case, which is Tom Robinson a middle aged black man with a wife and kids. He was arrested under the accusations of beating and raping Mayella Ewell a white female of the age of 19. Many don’t realize that segregation was beginning to heat up in the South during the 30’s, but that is the cause of tense controversy in Tom Robinson’s case.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay
    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

    Martin Luther King once declared, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “ This widely known quote shows that the color of a person should not limit the from doing anything. The topic of racism is frequently visited in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel that takes place during the Great Depression. It focuses on the life of Scout Finch, her brother and the neighborhood she has grown up in, Maycomb County. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee uses racism in the trial scene to show that some people are treated unjustly due to their status. This theme is used to represent characters in the novel to show how race creates tension between the people of Maycomb. The treatment of Tom Robinson during the trial scene reveals that people of the…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Scottsboro Trial
    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Scottsboro Trial

    Racism is part of everyday human society and it is human nature to judge other by their skins color, race, or the way they look. The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, talks about perspective of a young girl named Jean Louise or Scout on series of events that happen in the town Maycomb, Alabama. Her father and a widower, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer with high moral standards and with the help of Calpurnia, a black cook, Scout and Jem discover the extent of racism in their home community while witness many events such as snow in Maycomb, neighbor house burning down and rape trial between a white woman and a black man and these events significantly change her at the end of the book. The two consequences of racial discrimination…

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird Position Paper
    • 543 Words
    • 2 Pages

    To Kill a Mockingbird Position Paper

    The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee took the world by storm in 1960s with a story about southern racism and discrimination. Although the novel focused on small town life in southern Alabama, it influenced the future and success of the Civil Rights Movement. Harper Lee wrote this novel in a childs point of view at the beginning of the Civil Rights Era when events such as the murder of Emmett Till, the lunch counter sit-ins, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott put Alabama at the center of the movement. Throughout this era there was a great deal of racial discrimination and the expectation that no one would try to argue with the whites assumed authority. In Lees book, the focus is centered on the conviction of Tom Robinson, a poor black man. He was convicted of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a notoriously poor white family in a small town called Maycomb. The protagonists father, Atticus, took on the case but only did so because otherwise, I couldnt hold up my head in town, I couldnt represent this county in the legislature, and I couldnt even tell you or Jem not to do something again. Atticus also struggled with the fact that he had no hope of winning due to the race of his client. Ts morbid, watching a poor devil on trial for his life. Look at all those folks, its like a Roman carnival. At the end of the trial, Tom was convicted and sentenced to death, despite undeniable evidence that he was innocent. These results shocked readers and reminded many of the Scottsboro trials and how unfair they were. In addition, the childs point of view on To Kill a Mockingbird allowed many white southerners to question the way the system was if even a child could point out its flaws. After these realizations, the famous novel was quickly made into a movie, expanding its audience even further. After the movies big debut, several significant events occurred, which shaped the Civil Rights Movement and America as we know it today. For example, within a few years,…

    • 543 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Racism
    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Racism

    Tom’s trial is one of the finest events in both the movie and book, I believe in this part there is a lot of racism. Tom during the trial doesn’t get called by his proper name, he is referred to as ‘boy’ throughout most of the trial which in itself is disrespectful (Lee 196). I believe he isn’t shown respect like the other because he is black. Obviously you can see Tom’s handicap in the book. In the book Tom can’t take the oath properly because he can’t raise his right arm and touch the bible with his left, making it very clear his arm isn’t functional (Lee 190). In the movie Tom can catch the glass with his right very easily, but when Atticus says, “Use your left hand Tom”, Tom tells him he cannot. The racism is portrayed again there because he’s black, people believe he could have found a way around his handicap and hurt Mayella like she claims. They don’t believe him because he’s black. Similar to this is how Mayella gets respected in the courtroom and everywhere else unlike Tom Robinson.…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics