The Road to Prejudicial Acceptance Scout's perception of prejudice is evolved through countless experiences in Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird. Written in the nineteen thirties, To Kill a Mockingbird promotes the understanding of self-discovery through Scout, an intelligent and outspoken child living with respectable family in Maycomb County, Alabama. Throughout various encounters in the novel, Harper Lee causes Scout's perspective to change and develop from innocence to awareness and eventually towards understanding. Harper Lee introduces Scout as an insensible tomboy caught in the midst of contrite prejudicial conception. She has not yet discovered what is right and wrong due to various misconceptions that the people of Maycomb influence her with. ?Don?t say nigger, Scout. That?s common? (75). This particular quote is said by Atticus, Scout?s father, while referring to Scout?s racial ignorance towards African Americans. This quote portrays her social standing at the beginning of the novel as she tends to act ignorant by speaking with rude racial terms. ?Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don't pretend to understand? I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town. I hope they trust me enough?? (92). This quote expressed by Atticus describes Scout?s mental and emotional state near the dawning of the novel. Scout is given influential lessons through the form of words on what to think therefore she is misguided by false pretenses. These ?pretenses? may be misleading, consequently Scout is basing her beliefs about prejudice on the conceptions of others instead of what Scout truly believes. Although Scout?s ... ... middle of paper ... ...finally learned everyone is equal regardless of their skin color. Scout?s perspective towards the conclusion of the novel is emotionally, mentally and socially altered to determine Scout?s final position. Scout?s hindmost position taken is clearly that of racial acceptance and equality. Scout?s journey towards racial acceptance and understanding is a treacherous one barricaded by influence. Disguised by innocence Scout is influenced easily at the beginning of the novel. Eventually, Scout learns to reveal her awareness and understanding of prejudicial conception by developing her own perspective on the issue. She discovers that race has no importance when determining someone?s status or personal well-being. Harper Lee develops Scout mentally, emotionally, and socially throughout the novel contributing to a perspective based on racial balance and admission.
This highlight's how prevalent and ordinary racist discrimination was. The way Scout felt it was wrong to be talking to Mr Raymond also indicates how he was omitted from the community. Racial prejudice divides the town and allows people to be excluded and discriminated against. When Miss Maudie says, "You are too young to understand it." she is discriminating against Scout's age. The use of this cliché illustrates how common it was for adults to not explain things to children because they assumed they would not understand. It also displays how age discrimination was something that happened regularly. Scout often has different views on topics and if she was included in more conversations people within the community could see things from a different vantage point. In this way To Kill A Mockingbird outlines how gender, age and racial prejudice impacts individuals and communities in a damaging
Childhood is a continuous time of learning, and of seeing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone no matter what they might look like on the outside. To Kill A Mockingbird tells a story about two young kids named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch growing up in their small, racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the years go by they learn how their town and a lot of the people in it aren’t as perfect as they may have seemed before. When Jem and Scout’s father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town’s imperfections begin to show. A sour, little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout all because of the help Atticus gave to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their appearance on the outside, or belittle someone because they are different.
One of the first lessons taught in Mockingbird is the power of understanding other people’s perspectives. Initially, Scout has trouble empathizing with other people, especially her first Grade Teacher, Miss Caroline, whom Scout becomes frustrated at for not understanding Maycomb’s complex social structure. After hearing his daughter complain, Atticus tells Scout that she'll “get along a lot better with all kinds of folks [if she] considers things from [their] point of view” (39). After ‘standing in the shoes of another person’, it is much harder to be prejudiced towards that person. Indeed, this may be because a key tenet of prejudice is disregarding the views of whoever is being judged. Nevertheless, it proves difficult for Scout to grasp this relatively simple concept, who begins to hear rumors of Boo Radley, an enigma who has not been seen outside his home for over 30 years. Thus begins Jem and Scout’s quest to make Boo Radley come outs...
“We see the town of Maycomb in its worst light, willing to execute an innocent man for a crime he did not commit rather than question their belief in black inferiority and their social taboos about interracial relationships” (Felty 299). This quote may seem extreme, but it is completely accurate in Scout’s hometown Maycomb, Alabama. In the town of Maycomb, prejudices and discriminations are a common idea in the life of its citizens. This is shown in various ways. For example, African Americans are treated as lower class citizens because they are discriminated by white people. Scout perceives these prejudices and discriminations in different ways throughout the book. Scout’s views on the prejudices and discriminations in her society evolve
Harper Lee’s only book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the stereotypical tale of childhood and innocence, yet it successfully incorporates mature themes, like the racism in the South at the time, to create a masterpiece of a work that has enraptured people’s minds and hearts for generations. According to esteemed novelist Wally Lamb, “It was the first time in my life that a book had sort of captured me. That was exciting; I didn’t realize that literature could do that” (111). Scout’s witty narration and brash actions make her the kind of heroine you can’t help but root for, and the events that take place in Maycomb County are small-scale versions of the dilemmas that face our world today. Mockingbird is a fantastically written novel that belongs on the shelves for classic literature that everyone should take the time to read and appreciate for their execution of style and the importance of their content.
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the greatest works of literature which displays how the morals of a human being can be influenced and change over time. The narrator, Scout Finch, recounts her childhood from an older perspective, and tells the reader about her experiences starting from age six. At the beginning of the novel, Scout is a rebellious, hot-tempered girl who will listen to her father, but will also get provoked and start fighting very easily. She goes along with society and treats everyone based on how society judges them, causing her to treat poor people with disrespect and call black people by another common name besides Negro. By the end, she has changed more than any character,
The themes of prejudice and tolerance are conveyed strongly through the characters and their dilemmas. Jem and Scout learn of the prejudice of the town Maycomb to Atticus defending a black man, Tom Robinson. However, Miss Maudie, Calpurnia and several others show that not everyone in Maycomb are so judgemental. Jem and Scout also learn how to deal with situations sensibly from their father, they learn how to be tolerant. Thus, the novel?s characters demonstrate both prejudice and tolerance.
Scout’s young traits, life in Maycomb, and new perception proves how humans lose their purity while they grow up in a world of evil as shown in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This story’s discovery illustrates an eye-opener to those who lose hope in humanity. Although shown through the claims, Scout finally acknowledges while growing up how heroes balance villains, love balances loss, and goodness forever balances
Scout is introduced to the racist views of her neighbors multiple times but is too young to fully understand their implications. After she gets into a fight with Cecil Jacobs about Atticus, she asks Atticus “Do all lawyers defend n-Negroes, Atticus?” “Of course they do, Scout.” “Then why did Cecil say you defended niggers? He made it sound like you were runnin‘ a still.” Atticus sighed. “I’m simply defending a Negro—his name’s Tom Robinson….Scout, you aren’t old enough to understand some things yet, but there’s been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn’t do much about defending this man. “(Lee 77). She doesn’t understand why people are so biased against African Americans or why defending one is different from defending a white man. Atticus himself states that she is too young to understand how unconventional his actions are. Scout’s innocence appears again at the trial of Tom Robinson. “Until my father explained it to me later, I did not understand the subtlety of Tom’s predicament: he would not have dared strike a white woman under any circumstances and expect to live long, so he took the first opportunity to run—a sure sign of guilt.” (Lee 198). She does not understand why Tom runs instead of fighting because she is too innocent to know that a black man fighting a white person is taboo in Maycomb. She feels that Tom ran because he was guilty not because he was trying to be nice and abide by the unwritten rules placed by society. Atticus’ explanations finally clear the doubt up and help Scout mature ethically. Her ethical growth is evident when she notices she starts to notice other people 's prejudices. After Miss Gates gives a vilifying speech about Hitler’s prejudice toward the Jews, Scout questions her hypocritical views. Scout tells Jem,”Well, she went on today about how bad it was him treatin‘ the Jews like that. Jem, it’s not right to persecute
Scout is one of the most innocent people in this book. During the course of this book, she goes through events and experiences, that no child should ever witness at a young age. On one hand, her father Atticus, is trying to teach her to live moral life and make the right decisions. On the other hand however, she is open to influences of a town filled with racism and prejudice.
This shows that scout has heard the word used at school and assumed that because other people use it, it is not wrong. This demonstrates how racism can be spread across generations. People with racist ideas might not realise that their beliefs are offensive because it is what they have been brought up with. The most obvious example of racism in the book is the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl. After hearing the evidence from both sides it is quite obvious that Tom Robinson is not guilty of th... ...
Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout Finch, the main character and narrator, has gone through many moral growths to help create her path. Throughout the novel, Scout and her brother Jem are both growing up with each other's mistakes. Scout has to deal with different obstacles, like witnessing first grade students, negros, and manslaughter, all of this right in front of her face. Atticus Scout’s father teaches Scout about blacks like Maggot Stern's Mother did with her. Scout’s intellectual growth expanded from pivotal moments in her life, to help shape her moral decisions throughout the novel.
Scout lives in Maycomb County where she has to discover the unfair realities of society alongside prejudice people and some honest, accepting, and compassionate people. Her father, Atticus, is a lawyer who teaches her life lessons to help her understand different perspectives. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how people’s ignorance results in prejudice against others and can only be stopped through understanding and compassion. Lee exemplifies the ignorant people in a society and their effect on others using the people in Maycomb County.
First of all, Scout allows the reader to focus more on the exterior of situations. Children tend to experience things differently from others. Events that take place in society may be of great importance to adults and mean nothing to children. Things of importance differ between children and adults. But sometimes, a child’s perspective may be the best way to look at things. In To Kill A Mockingbird, the whole town was talking about Tom Robinson’s trial, especially since he was African American and Atticus, a white man, was to be his lawyer. According to reviewer Edwin Bruell in Racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, “[To Kill A] Mockingbird, he tells us, is about the townspeople, not about Robinson” (Mancini 101)....
The novel’s narrator, Scout, gives the reader insight into the point of view of a child contrasted by adult perspectives, as well as Jem and Scout giving the reader a view of male against female, and finally the case of Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell shows us the white and black perspectives. The contrasting perspectives allow the reader to see the reasons for the characters acting out in certain ways, allowing for the ability to relate to characters. Harper Lee raises the question, What is the right way to raise our children in America?, as she discusses the morals that children are given in the