Preview

What Is The Theme Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
118 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is The Theme Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird
Prejudice is defined as a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, the adolescent characters, Jem, Scout, and Dill, all learn about prejudice through the different experiences they face. They experience racial prejudice during the trial of Tom Robinson. They learn about class prejudice through the ways different people are treated in their small town. And, they learn about gender prejudice when people stereotype Scout and the way she acts and dresses. Throughout “To Kill a Mockingbird” prejudice is a very strong topic because it changes how people treat each other. This theme of prejudice affects people of different races, classes, and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Webster’s Dictionary definition of prejudice is “an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” Prejudice can create fallacious bias towards a subject or person. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee creates Jem and Scout to support her opinion on the topic of prejudice and bias. Lee portrays Jem and Scout and their relationships with other characters in the novel to demonstrate how prejudice is created through initial impressions and is over come by first hand experiences with the issue.…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prejudice, a negative opinion formed without experience or knowledge, is a state of mind as old as humanity itself. Prejudice has been the cause of wars, hatred, and intolerance throughout history. Countless innocent lives have been lost or destroyed all because of prejudices based on things as simple as skin color. In Harper E. Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, prejudice is shown to lead to injustice and inequity.…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Introduction-In this book there is a lot of prejudice in this Maycomb. In this story there were maybe some but not alot of racisism. People in this book didnt really take it to serious as when slavery was actually developing. In this book a girl named Scout had a dad named Atticus he was a loyor, and in this story Scout’s dad was defending a negro in this story. So as she went to school she would get made fun of, or bullied for her dad defending a negro.…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, many different prejudices are revealed. The most prominent being the racial prejudice between the white people and black people in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930's. However, there are many more subtle and discreet prejudices against other people in Maycomb, also.…

    • 820 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the novel To Kill A Mocking Bird it shows prejudice actions all threw out the book. In the novel it shows prejudice because people from the book are judging other people from the book before they even know them. They treat people differently because of where they're from, they treat people differently because of their education, and they don’t see things thru. In this essay i will give examples how they treat people different. Either about where their from, their education, or not seeing things thru . The ways the novel shows prejudice is that they treat people differently because where they're from, they treat people differently because of their education, they treat a place differently because they think that it's not important. I think…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    The objective of this thesis paper is to delve into the work of Harper Lee and examine her uses of prejudice. This research defines the different uses of prejudice the novel and in the world. The research reflects upon the racism, sexism, and social classing of the 1930s through the primary sources of articles and books. Throughout the research, it has been found that the prejudices mentioned in Lee’s book have extensive histories that date back hundreds of years. Through showing the history of prejudice, this research pinpoints the political and social aspects of Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prejudice is a preconceived opinion established without any thought, reason or knowledge. It is an act of discrimination towards those considered subordinate compared to others. Prejudice is a habit that one develops with experience and the effects of a negative surrounding environment. During the 1930s, prejudice was a more critical issue, as demonstrated in Harper Lee’s award winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Throughout the novel, there are various situations of discrimination. However, few characters in the novel portray egalitarianism, which is a belief that favors everyone equally. One remarkable character that portrays egalitarianism is Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. The seven year old portrays egalitarianism through her actions and…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prejudice is bias against someone or thing without influence from personal experience. Racism, sexism, and classism are all examples of prejudice. Both Inherit the Wind and To Kill a Mockingbird exhibit this bias. In the time period in which they were written (1950-1960), prejudice was starting to be recognized and fought more. Although both works experience and overcome prejudice, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s Inherit the Wind focuses on discrimination against free thought and faith, whereas Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird condemns victims through racism along with ageism.…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prejudice is having a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. This is an action that is often used today. Society comes up with opinions about people they have heard from someone’s personal experiences. They choose to judge people or things without knowing anything themselves. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch defends a black man, Tom Robinson, when he is wrongly accused of raping a white girl. When he takes this job the Maycomb community instantly criticized Atticus for helping Robinson. Atticus’ two children, Scout and Jem, are also harassed by kids at school who had heard from their parents. A majority of Maycomb has preconceived judgements against Atticus and the blacks in the community. In…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird Intro:Have you ever heard the word prejudice?Prejudice is an opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. In the book To KIll a Mockingbird their is alot of racism and prejudice,some people belive that the book is not a good piece of literature I belive the opposite and I will tell you why. To Kill a Mockingbird is good literature because I believe that it successfully impacted me emotionally,also that the content is very believable. During the time the book was published racism against blacks was very common and was more popular than it is now.…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Due to fear and ignorance, prejudiced attitudes have affected communities and the way society operates for hundreds of years. Prejudice involves the negative preconceived ideas or opinions about a person without any reason, knowledge or experience. Prejudice derives from fear and ignorance of the unknown along with rigid attitudes. Both Harper Lee and John Steinbeck convey the clear nature, causes and consequences of different types of prejudice. These 2 authors depict the injustice, discrimination and inequality present in society due to racial, class and socio economic prejudice.…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Society plays a massive inquiry in Atticus, Scout, Warren Buffett and the Jew’s Lives, positively or negatively, in the three books, the main aspect is racism. Racism plays an enormous role in society. Racism can alter where someone sits on the bus, and how you are looked upon in society. In the first paragraph, Atticus, Scout and African-Americans represent an example of how society treats people negatively.Warren Buffett will have to face his anxiety of public speaking, overcoming with the logic of racism. In When the plague strikes, the Jews have to deal with getting accused for generating the diseases, because of having a diverse religion. In To Kill a Mockingbird Mr.Ewell accuses an innocent black man for causing the rape of his daughter, Atticus and Scout liking African-Americans, they are getting made fun of.…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tkam - Prejudice

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Prejudice can be found in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, through the eyes of a young middle class white girl named Scout. Scout was brought up by her father, Atticus, to be respectful of blacks, however she discovers at school that other children her age have picked up their parents racist views, and tease her about how Atticus is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, in court who is charged with raping a white girls. Scout responds with violence, because she feels the need to defend her father. “My fists were clenched I was ready to make fly. Cecil Jacobs had announced the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers” I think this is important because it is the beginning of Scouts discovery of prejudice in her town, Maycomb, and it is starting to change her life and her views of people, and her ideas about how others view each other.…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before I began reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I was aware that the setting (Southern Alabama in the 1930s) would play a significant role regarding the conflicts in the story. Although racial prejudice is the main focus in the novel, other issues that I found quite prominent were sexism and the firm enforcement of gender roles. Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, having been raised without a mother, lacked many feminine characteristics and mannerisms. In today’s terms, she would be called a “tomboy”. While being motherless played a large role in Scout’s boyish personality, it was fueled by Scout’s older brother, Jem and their childhood friend, Dill. Both boys repeatedly use the word ‘girl’ as a derogatory term instead of a simple statement of gender…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In America racial injustices have been present for many years. Slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and many other cases are examples of racial prejudices. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee effectively shows the American mindset in the 1930’s while Black or White effectively shows the American mindset of today. Even though America has progressed racially, America is still working towards equality.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays