To Kill a Mockingbird Racism Analasys

Racism is a direct result of ignorance, and many of the people in To Kill a Mockingbird were racist, and those that weren't were greatly affected by it. Then there were the Ewells, who were ignorant on many other levels too. Even Scout's schoolteacher, whose job it was to impart knowledge, was hypocritical and racist! Racism in Maycomb was the norm. Any attempt to deviate from that way of thinking was shunned, and you as well as branded on your forehead `nigger-lover'. As Atticus told Scout, ."..nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything - like snot-nose. It's hard to explain - ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves."(p.113) Very few people in Maycomb dared risk the scorn of the town, but those who did were completely admirable. Tom Robinson's trial brought out the true characters of all the townspeople. The Ewells were proved to be ignorant and crass, while others, such as Atticus and Tom Robinson, shone through with their honesty and integrity.

The Ewells were on an entire other level of ignorance than the rest of Maycomb. Bob Ewell and his clan were the lowest of the white people in the Maycomb hierarchy, only slightly above the blacks. "All the little man on the witness stand had that made him any better than his nearest neighbors was, that if scrubbed with lye soap in very hot water, his skin was white." Bob, as a single parent on welfare, gets food stamps to provide for his seven children. But does he use the stamps to buy them food? No, instead he buys whiskey, and gets drunk. To allow him to provide for his children, the town has granted him amnesty to the hunting regulations. All the Ewell children just attend school for the first day in order to thwart the truancy people, so they are ignorant on an intellectual level too. The Ewells, though above the black society, were so much lower as far as morals and even cleanliness go. They are the most despicable and cowardly characters in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Scout's teacher was Miss Caroline Fisher who displayed a more innocent sort of ignorance than that of the Ewells. Miss Caroline was so set to teach in the so-called "Dewey Decimal System" that she didn't realize that she was actually hurting the children rather than helping them. She made the mistake of discouraging Scout's reading with her father, saying, "Now you tell your father not to teach you any more. It's best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him I'll take over from here and try to undo the damage--...Your father does not know how to teach." (p. 22) But, forgivably, she was also completely ignorant of Maycomb society, and social classes, unknowingly embarrassing Walter Cunningham with her inquiries as to the whereabouts of his lunch. Luckily, showing that she is a true Finch, Scout stood up for him, but in doing this, embarrassed the teacher and gained herself a stay in the corner.

Though ignorance is a definite factor in the actions of some of Maycomb's residents, there are more noble and admirable characters to balance them out, like Atticus, Mrs Dubose, and Mr Underwood. Racism and the Ewell’s are both equal evils that the town has to deal with on a day to day basis. But these problems can be dealt with in the same manner. As Atticus Finch said, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." (p. 34) This is the main view that Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird imparts: Judge not lest ye be judged.