To Kill A Mockingbird Prejudice has caused the pain and suffering of others
for many centuries. Some examples of this include the Holocaust and slavery in
the United States. In to Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee racism was the cause
of much agony to the blacks of a segregated South. Along with blacks, other
groups of people are judged unfairly just because of their difference from
others. The prejudice and bigotry of society causes the victimization of people
with differences. Some who are discriminated against are those who are born
differently than the majority. One person that is treated unfairly is Calpurnia,
as you can see when Aunt Alexandra tried to get Atticus to fire Calpurnia,
because in her eyes, Calpurnia wasn't a good enough female role model (p.136).
This is a prejudice action, because Calpurnia is as good as a role model as Aunt
Alexandra, if not better. Aunt Alexandra is a bigot and doesn't see the
character of Calpurnia, just the color of her skin. Another person who is
treated like an inferior is Scout by her teacher, because she knew how to read.
She discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint
distaste. (p.17). Scout is treated like it is her fault that she knows more than
the average child did. She learned earlier than others so she gets punished
unjustly. Tom Robinson is also one who is discriminated by a biased community.
Tom is found guilty by the jury in his case against the Ewells (p.211). The
guilty verdict is a direct result of a racist community. Tom was never given a
fair chance in the trial, even though that the evidence was proving him
innocent. People that are born differently often get mistreated and are
discriminated against. Another group that is treated poorly in the society based
on bigotry, are the people who have chosen to be different. One who chose to be
different is Dolphus Raymond.
He pretended to be drunk so no one gave him any trouble on the way that he
lived his life (p.200). The way a person lives should be there own personal
business. He has the right to live differently than others if he feels that is
the way he wants to live. Another person that lives differently is Boo Radley.
Boo stayed inside his house for a number of years without ever coming out to
interact with others. He didn't want attention that would come from the rumors
that were said about him. Stories were made up about him and he felt it was best
for him to stay inside. The people who chose to be different took a risk of
being made outcasts of the majority of the society. The final group that was
made to feel different was the group that defended and protected the minorities
and the wrongfully treated people. Atticus was a good example of one who
defended the different by defending Tom Robinson in his case. Atticus had
integrity that gave him the strength to endure the ridicule that arose from his
decision to defend a black man in a segregated area. Atticus was threatened and
his children were treated poorly by their peers, because he had the courage to
stand up for the oppressed. Sheriff Tate defends the different when he says, I
never heard tell that it's against the law for a citizen t do his utmost to
prevent a crime from being committed, which is exactly what he did, but maybe
you'll say it's my duty to tell the town all about it and not hush it up.
(p.276). Sheriff Tate is trying to protect Boo from the attention that could
frighten him. The sheriff is doing the right thing by hiding the truth from the
community. By defending the different, people take a chance of being known as
strange or inferiors to the rest of the people that they are around. Throughout
the story, people that are unlike the majority, get hurt. They are given
obstacles that they have to overcome in order to survive. Some people in the
world can survive these obstacles, and there are some that just give up. By
fighting for your rights, people start to realize that character is the
important attribute to a person. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee showed me
that the people with differences are not always doing things the wrong way. It
is the majority that may be going at it all wrong.
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