What Are The Changes In To Kill A Mockingbird
Fifty five years ago Martin Luther King Jr. stated in his famous I Have a Dream speech: “One hundred years later the life of a Negro is still badly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” Racism has plagued this nation for hundreds of years and many unforgivable things have been done, but progress has been made and there may be a light at the end of this tunnel of racism. Although King’s words are indefinitely true, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Raisin in the Sun, and American Denial show that, through paradigm changes brought on by life-altering events, there is hope for a future where black and white people are treated equally. The beginning of a change in behavior is a change in mindset, which can be seen in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It takes place in a small town
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In the story, a major conflict is the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape. After the jury took four hours to decide Tom was guilty, Atticus, Tom’s lawyer, stated: “That was the one thing that made me think, well maybe this is the shadow of a beginning. That jury took a few hours. An inevitable verdict, maybe, but usually it takes ‘em just a few minutes.” (Lee 297). This presents an obvious change in the mindsets of the jury. Before this trial, a white jury in Maycomb would never consider siding with the black man, but this time a few of the men pondered this option, making the verdict take much longer. The difficulty in making this decision shows progress against the hard-set ideals of many people in the town and they are beginning to question the way they view black people. In addition to this, another scene after the trial shows a different way the town is changing its paradigms. After the trial, Atticus’s son, Jem, is deeply distraught about the outcome. He asks his neighbor if anyone in the town did anything to help Tom, to which she replies: “His colored friends for one thing, and people
In the story, a major conflict is the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape. After the jury took four hours to decide Tom was guilty, Atticus, Tom’s lawyer, stated: “That was the one thing that made me think, well maybe this is the shadow of a beginning. That jury took a few hours. An inevitable verdict, maybe, but usually it takes ‘em just a few minutes.” (Lee 297). This presents an obvious change in the mindsets of the jury. Before this trial, a white jury in Maycomb would never consider siding with the black man, but this time a few of the men pondered this option, making the verdict take much longer. The difficulty in making this decision shows progress against the hard-set ideals of many people in the town and they are beginning to question the way they view black people. In addition to this, another scene after the trial shows a different way the town is changing its paradigms. After the trial, Atticus’s son, Jem, is deeply distraught about the outcome. He asks his neighbor if anyone in the town did anything to help Tom, to which she replies: “His colored friends for one thing, and people