An Analysis on the Theme of Prejudice in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. ” It occurs when people assume things towards others based on false or misleading information and external influences, leading to unfair and unjustified biases. Since the dawn of time to the modern age, humans have been creating false preconceptions of each other, leading to conflict, war, blood, and gore. A time in American history where prejudice is particularly distinct ranges from the post-civil war era to prior to the start of the African-American civil rights movement 1865-1954).
Set in the South during the Great Depression (1929-39), To KillA Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, comprises of many themes, including prejudice. Examples of prejudice towards others throughout the novel includes blacks vs whites, the difference between the socioeconomic classes in Maycomb, Alabama, as well as gender and age. Ever since the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade, commencing in the 15th century, blacks have been looked down upon by the whites of the Western world as a less superior race; a subspecies of the human race.
The prejudice of blacks was a way of life for whites iving in the Southeastern United States, as owning plantations with black slaves was commonplace from the founding of the country until after the Civil War. In To Kill A Mockingbird, slavery had died over half a century ago, but the roles of blacks in society and the prejudice they face still remains. One character, Mrs. Dubose, is described by Scout as “… horrible. Her face was the color of a dirty pillowcase, and the corners of her mouth glistened with wet, which inched like a glacier down the deep Prejudice is defined as “an unfavorable opinion grooves enclosing her chin” (Lee, 142).
She treated Scout and Jem terribly, staring them down when they would pass by and always berating them. What makes the character of Mrs. Dubose particularly distinct is her racism. The theme taught by her character is that she stayed courageous by standing by her racist beliefs all the way to her deathbed. Although this was a meaningful life lesson for Jem, it also foreshadowed the racism within the people of Maycomb. During one of her rants towards Scout and Jem, she rasps “Not only a Finch waiting on tables but one in the courthouse lawing for niggers! .Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for! (Lee, 135).
Because of her elderly nature at the time, Mrs. Dubose’s perception towards blacks was formed by being a white Southerner during the time of slavery, living in the South during the civil war, and hating the North for what they did to her home over slaves. From these things, she formed her biased opinion towards blacks and stuck to that belief. Other examples of racist include Aunt Alexandra’s disapproval of Atticus’ participation in Tom Robinson’s case, Cecil Jacobs and Cousin Francis calling Atticus a “nigger-lover” to Scout for defending Tom Robinson, and the Cunningham’s attempt to lynch Tom Robinson.
The haracters in To Kill A Mockingbird represents this racist way of thinking and expresses this in how they are developed as characters and by their actions and spoken words. obvious example of prejudice in To Kill A Mockingbird is the socioeconomic classes of Maycomb’s people and families. As pointed out by a pondering Jem, “There are four kinds of folks in [Maycomb]. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes. (Lee, 302).
The difference between these groups of people is based on their ocial class, their wealth, as well as their connection to the Finch Another family (as per Aunt Alexandra). This four tier system begins with the Finches and the townspeople at the top. These are the upper to middle class working people of Maycomb that contribute the most to the town. The second tier below that is the Cunninghams. The Cunninghams are poor farmers with an inbred, incestuous family tree and Aunt Alexandra refers to them as “trash” because of this.
The third tier is the Ewells, who can also be referred to as “white trash” by their lifestyle and them literally living nearby to Maycomb’s dump. The fourth tier are the Negroes, which are despised by all because of typical Southern racism. These people are connected together by Jem’s explanation: “The thing about it is, our kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the colored folks. ” (Lee, 303). The natural hierarchy that this creates is due to prejudice, since the majority of every layer dislikes the layers below them and so on.
They form assumptions in their head based off of the limited information they receive on the topic, leading to the ideology reated by this demographic ranking system. This is how prejudice divides people in Maycomb’s society. In a world where there are societal norms of how girls should act, dress, and do in Southern society, Scout faced prejudice from the women in her life. Scout’s lack of a mother during her upbringing resulted in her learning the manners and developing the character of men, since she was essentially being raised by her father and her brother. Her tomboyish nature was against the norms of society and characters such as Mrs.
Dubose and Aunt Alexandra felt that she was being disgraceful toward the Finch family name because of this. As a result, about a quarter through the novel, Aunt Alexandra moves in to live with the Finches because she felt that Scout needed a more “feminine influence” in her life (Lee, 170). Prior to this, at their annual Christmas party, Scout describes Aunt Alexandra’s criticism of her as: “Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my [behavior] involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life. (Lee, 108).
In reality, Scout should be allowed to do whatever she wanted to instead of being forced into the norm of women in Southern society. The prejudice she faced from her aunt was unjustified and led to unnecessary conflict between them. Throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, many of the characters face prejudice from others based on the color of their skin, to those willing to help others that have different skin color, to families based off of how much money they make and their blood relations to the rest of the town, and by what people perceive how people of different genders and ages should act.
Mrs. Dubose highlights the racism within the townspeople by being one of the first people to expose it to Scout and Jem on her way to her deathbed. The people within Maycomb itself have their own prejudices toward each other by the levels in the hierarchy of Maycomb’s socioeconomic classes, established by Jem. Scout faces prejudice to how the people around her think she should act, instead of letting her grow up and develop herself instead of following the societal norms of being a woman in the South. These are the many ways that the theme of prejudice is conveyed throughout To Kill A Mockingbird.
