To Kill A Mocking Bird 4 Essay

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To Kill A Mocking Bird 4 Essay, Research Paper Do You Think That Prejudice is a feature of life in Maycomb as seen in “To Kill a Mockingbird”? The novel “To kill a mockingbird” was set in 1935, a period where prejudice and racism were encountered in everyday life. The small country town called Maycomb was very “old and private” and the people there were not subjected to anything different to their traditional ways and did not experience things that were beyond the boundaries of their town, and was therefore very narrow-minded. The town was bounded by generations of tradition which provided an essence for prejudice and discrimination. The attitudes, treatment and judgment of people such as Boo Radley, Tom Robinson and others clearly reflect the prejudice that

exists within the town. Racial divisions and hatred was a characteristic of Maycomb. The small town was made up of two major races, the whites and the Negroes. The whites, being the dominant race, disapproved of the black population and was weary about any association with them. The Negroes were out casts of the town and were considered the lower class of Maycomb, even lower than the true trash of the white community, the Ewells. The Negroes were referred to as niggers , trash among other dehumanizing names and they were stereotyped as violent, unclean and were unfit to blend with their community. In Maycomb, Negroes were generally assumed guilty of any crime that a white man accuses them of because of the stereotypical ideas constructed about them. In this case, Tom Robinson was

found guilty of the crime even though evidence and testimonies clearly indicate his innocence. The majority of the white community, not knowing the full story and the facts, automatically assume his guilt because he is the typical Negro and they do not recognize the other evidence that proves his innocence. Despite of Bob Ewell s reputation as a drunk, trash and a burden, the white community is willing to believe his questionable testimony over any black man s. The mob of drunk men that came to the jail that night with intentions to hurt Tom Robinson showed their views of Negroes through violence, even willing to hurt Atticus in order to carry out the punishment in which they think was appropriate for the guilty Tom Robinson. They refuse to be open-minded or to wait for the

official trial to begin. In Maycomb, people were judged not only for the color of their but also for their social class and family history. Upper class were made up of white people with respectable family background and skills in particular fields. The lower class were considered to be the Negroes and whites such as the Ewells who were trash . Even the most respectable, wealthiest or the smartest Negro would never be considered to fit into upper class because the upper class were not willing to accept and mix with the lower class or Negroes. Aunt Alexandra, like many others, believe that you are born into a class and should therefore act accordingly. When Scout wanted to invite Walter Cunningham to dinner, her Aunt strongly objects and explains that” .they’re good folks. But

they’re not our kind of folks” pg.247 She also adds that “you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem” Since several generations of the Cunninghams were considered low class, Aunt Alexandra judges Walter by his family history and shows that she does not want to relate to him in any way. Mixing of different classes were not desirable as it meant the roots of upper class was no longer pure because you have mixed with lower class. This division is revealed when the ladies of Aunt Alexandra s Missionary Society openly admit that “down here we ll just say, you live your way and we ll live ours” pg.258, Mrs. Merriweather Mayella Ewell stepped over these divisions by flirting with a black man which