Prejudice And Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

“Scout, I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time…” (227). Prejudice and discrimination are major issues that are present in the town of Maycomb; Scout and her brother Jem are young children who learn about the disturbing existence of the bigotry that they were previously unaware of in their familiar southern hometown throughout the trial of Tom Robinson, an innocent African American who is accused of rape by a white woman. To Kill a Mockingbird introduces a world that harbors prejudice against some of its very citizens and describes how discrimination was a major flaw in society and still is a flaw present day society. The author, Harper Lee develops

Scout is taunted by “ Cecil say you defended niggers? He made it sound like you were runnin‘ a still” and “drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away...it was the first time I had walked away from a fight”. Scout has trouble coming to terms with the violence that she is experiencing from other kids her age because of how racist, they are against African Americans that they target Scout even though it is her father not her defending Tom Robinson in the case. Nevertheless, the consequences of racism play out accordingly in this scene, proving the theme that the effects of bigotry can even affect innocent kids who are taught to hate others simply because of their parents’ beliefs, this bigotry then leads to violence against others who may not even be directly involved in the case. Scout notices “a familiar face, and at the center of the semi-circle, I found one” (153) in Mr. Cunningham. A disgusted Scout is surprised to see Mr. Cunningham, who she thought was one of the Finches’ friends at the mob and soon realizes that he was only there to harm her father, Atticus as his motive was solely driven by prejudice without the consideration that the Finches had done nothing wrong to the Cunninghams. Moreover, the theme is present throughout this experience when Scout witnesses

Within the dialogue between characters, thoughts from the narrator's perspective, and descriptions of scenes throughout the book, the author advances the major theme of people should not discriminate against others solely due to prejudice on the basis of differences for it leads to consequences. The prejudice in Maycomb brought repercussions that most people were oblivious to as a veil of racism often clouded their judgement, a warning that Lee believed society must understand even if “this is the 21st century, and we would all like to think racism is dead in America. Actually, that's not the case: still there are some racial issues that are out across this nation, and so we have a responsibility as compassionate citizens of America, no matter what our ethnic group happens to be, to confront these issues when they arise” (Alveda