Prejudice In Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

To Kill a Mockingbird Explanatory Essay

Maycomb, an old town that is quiet and small, is suffering through the hardships of the Great Depression. It hits the poor the hardest. People in Maycomb soon have problems that involve the impact of the Great Depression. During the Great Depression the rich families soon have a problem like the poor do, which of course is poverty. Poverty soon makes its way down the caste system. In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, she vividly describes the domestic violence that the town Maycomb has and how “Maycomb’s disease” soon burst into disputes that involve Atticus Finch and his family; Jem and Scout. One of the most important topics that Harper Lee discusses in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism. It

People in Maycomb don’t like the fact that Atticus is going to defend Tom Robinson and try to prove his innocence. Mr. Cunningham and other men went to the Maycomb jail where Atticus was, they wanted Atticus to give them Tom Robinson and if he didn’t they were going to hurt him. Until Scout came along and talked to Mr. Cunningham who soon changed his mind and left with the other men.‘“He in there, Mr. Finch?” a man said. “He is,” we heard Atticus answer, “and he's asleep. Don't wake him up.” In obedience to my father, there followed what I later realized was a sickeningly comic aspect of an unfunny situation: the men talked in near-whispers. “You know what we want,” another man said. “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch”’ (Lee 202). The men and Mr.Cunningham wanted to hurt Tom Robinson because of his color, and if Atticus didn’t move out of the way they’ll hurt him too. If Scout never reminded Mr.Cunningham about how they invited his son, Walter Cunningham to eat dinner with them, he would have never come to sense that what they were doing was wrong. Mr. Bob Ewell who also shows domestic violence in To Kill a Mockingbird accused Tom Robinson of raping and hurting Mayella Ewell, his daughter, but during the trial Atticus believes that the bruises and the black eye Mayella has were from Mr. Bob Ewell. ‘“Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father?” No answer. “What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it? Why don’t you tell the truth, child, didn’t Bob Ewell beat you up?”’ (Lee 251). Atticus knows that Bob Ewell was the one that hurt Mayella, and is trying to get Mayella to admit that her father beat her and not Tom Robinson. Mayella is scared of her father and doesn't know what will happen if she did tell the truth. Therefore, Maycomb had a lot of problems that included racism, poverty, and