Many of our society’s issues are rooted in ignorance. Those that are not open to the uniqueness of others fear people who are different from them or disagree with their opinions, as “Fear always springs from ignorance”. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a story about a town that is extremely prejudiced. Most people of the town believe that black people are not to be trusted, or are bad people, often because racism is taught in their town. The people's fear of others destroys some of the true “mockingbirds” in the story, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. To Kill a Mockingbird is a great example of how ignorance and mystery create fear. The “Help”, directed by Tate Taylor, is a movie about the struggles of the …show more content…
In chapter 23, after the Tom Robinson trial, Jem asks Atticus why the people of Maycomb never serve on a jury. Atticus tells him, “Serving on a jury forces a man to make up his mind and declare himself about something. Men don’t like to do that. Sometimes it’s unpleasant.” (Lee, 297) This supports the idea that fear drives people’s actions. The jury in the Tom Robinson trial was afraid to say they thought he was innocent because they knew that much of the town would strongly disagree with that verdict. Everyone knew the truth deep down, but many were ignorant and chose to believe that Tom Robinson was guilty, just because he was black. The jury was afraid of being hurt by the rest of the people in Maycomb. Another example of fear in To Kill a Mockingbird is when Jem describes Boo Radley to Scout. He tells her that Boo is, “about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained-- if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” (Lee, 16) This quote demonstrates that Jem and the kids fear Boo. When describing him, they turn him into a monster, just because they’ve never seen him, and so …show more content…
They live in an town in South Africa where white people live in a separate community from black people. Since they do not live among each other, the white people may not know much about those that live outside their community, and they fear them, as they don’t know them. They family has a sign on their gate, “a plaque for their gates lettered YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED over the silhouette of a would-be intruder.” (Gordimer) The fact that they feel the need for this kind of sign shows that they live in fear of the black people in their area. By isolating themselves from the black people, the mystery surrounding them causes fear. Since they are ignorant as to who these people really are, they fear what they don’t know. Later in the story, the housemaid asks that the family install some defence mechanisms to protect her from any intruders. She, “implored her employers to have burglar bars attached to the doors and windows of the house, and an alarm system installed.” They do it for her, because even though the “riots were suppressed”, there were still burglaries by the black people in the area. What they are too ignorant to realize is that one of the possible reasons for the riots could be the racism against those people. They seem to fear the black people for reasons that they created on their own. “Once Upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer shows how
Harper Lee’s novel Go Set a Watchman is a sequel of her previous To Kill a Mockingbird, in which the author portrays the story of a girl Scout, who is now twenty-six years old and visiting her home town for very short period of time, though Maycomb is her hometown but nothing remains the same. Moreover, the author uses her disappointment as a theme which she feels for her home which is now become an ice cream shop as well as she feels great disenchantment with her father as Mr. Atticus completely changes her personality even her childhood friend Henry, changed a lot. Thus, when she comes back from the New York which is her new residency, she only faces grief and unexpected personalities of her beloved ones. Hence, author Lee brilliantly uses
Reinforcement of racial stereotypes in literature and films can be a difficult topic for many individuals. There have been a great deal of works throughout the history of our country that have encouraged and promoted racial stereotypes among the African American race, such as the sambo; the buck; the mammy and the magical negro. All of these racial stereotypes have desensitized the American culture and created the view that racism in literature and films is acceptable. In the movies and novels The Help, The Whipping Man, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the rude and offensive ways in which African Americans were seen and treated, only worked to promote the horrible, racial stereotypes that many people are still trying to challenge to this day. The Help, is a film based on the lives of a young woman named Skeeter and two African American women named Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson.
“Agape means understanding, redeeming good will for all men… Therefore, agape makes no distinction between friends and enemy.” Martin Luther King Jr.’s “An Experiment in Love” emphasizes the importance of understanding and compassion, and the equality of all men on earth, for “all men are brothers.” To Kill a Mockingbird, set in the 1930’s, similarly examines these ideas during the time of the Great Depression, when many families were unable to find work and therefore became impoverished. It was also a time when racism was largely present. In many situations, racism was taught to one’s children, and then to the next generation. When ignorance is taught to children by their own parents, it is not uncommon that those children will continue
First, the trial of Tom Robinson is an eye-opening experience for Jem and Scout; there they discover hatred, child abuse, and lying. Seeing pure hate is new and strange for Jem and Scout. They know that prejudice does exist, but listening to and watching Bob Ewell during the trial is astounding to them because Bob Ewell abhors all blacks, especially Tom Robinson. Bob’s daughter, Mayella, makes an advance on Tom, which is absolutely unspeakable and shameful at that time. In addition, Bob Ewell’s hate grows (especially for Atticus) because after the trial his reputation and respect is ruined, even though he does not have a high degree of integrity to begin with. Also, through the
In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the movie show two themes from social inequality; race, class and gender. Tom Robinson, the man who was accused of raping a young woman, was only convicted base on his skin color. The matter of the subject wasn’t if he did it or not, but of he did it no matter what. The inequality of class was shown multiple time throughout the
As the American people’s standards and principles has evolved over time, it’s easy to forget the pain we’ve caused. However, this growth doesn’t excuse the racism and violence that thrived within our young country not even a century previous. This discrimination, based solely on an ideology that one’s race is superior to another, is what put many people of color in miserable places and situations we couldn’t even imagine today. It allowed many Caucasian individuals to inflict pain, through both physical and verbal attacks, and even take away African Americans ' God given rights. In an effort to expose upcoming generations to these mass amounts of prejudice and wrongdoing, Harper Lee 's classic novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, tells the story of
Fear in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Fear is an important force in the novel because it is the cause of most people's actions. The main theme in the book is a result of fear. such as the Tom Robinson case and Boo Radley. Ignorance breeds fear which in turn breeds prejudice. Fear is infectious, and each character.
Symbolism. Why is it important in a novel? Why do authors incorporate symbols into their writing? Symbolism aids the reader in understanding what the author wants to portray. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, she writes about the racism in a small town in Alabama named Maycomb set in the 1930’s and about two children growing up and learning that their town is not as perfect as they thought. The theme topic appearance versus reality helps to get a better understanding of the symbols used in the novel and that you should not judge something by their appearance, you should judge by the reality of what it is. “As Atticus once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it.” (Scout page 77) In her novel, there are many symbols throughout the narrative that relate to the theme topic appearance versus reality. Harper Lee writes symbols into her novel, such as the snowman, Mrs. Dubose’s Camellia flower and Dolphus Raymond’s Coca-Cola bottle to help reinforce the theme topic of appearance versus reality throughout the novel.
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest” Ellie Wiesel. Readers may find the amount of injustice in Harper lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird a little shocking. This could be why it’s such a popular book. People like the suspense of knowing someone’s right, but still being found guilty for something they did not do. There are many times throughout the book when people are powerless to prevent injustice but they still protest it. This shows that even when people unjustly punish there should always be someone to protest it. The theme of injustice is a common one in harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, whether it be through racism, misinformation, or Arrogance.
What is ignorance? Ignorance is defined as, “the state of being ignorant; lack of knowledge, learning, information, etc” (Dictonary.com). When ignorance is in a novel, it gives the readers a chance to see some insight on who the characters are and the families they come from. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a reoccurring theme of ignorance, the theme of ignorance is shown between a series of racial ignorance, situational ignorance, and gender ignorance. Ignorance in the story causes many conflicts between the characters or themselves in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
The story “To kill a Mockingbird” takes place in an old tired town in Alabama during the Great Depression. In the story the main conflict involves a black crippled man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of Bob Ewell. The Ewells were the lowest of the low in Maycomb; they lived in the town dump and had no education. The Accusation of Tom Robinson was caused by the Ewell’s in an effort to better their lifestyle and increase their rank in the town. Although the story is told from Scout’s eyes, the whole story revolves around this questionable trial and shows that being vulnerable and innocent is a dangerous characteristic to have and can easily be taken advantage of.
There are many different types of prejudices and racism to this day. Some examples are blacks are discriminated for many things, there is still problems with how colored people are treated, and how bad the Jim Crow laws were against the blacks and how some of the acts were brought to today showing dislike towards the colored man. Even though many of these prejudices and racism acts began many many years ago, they still continue to this present day.
It all took place in the quiet Alabama town of Maycomb, which was also during the Great Depression. Scout Finch lives with her brother, Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus. Atticus is an honest lawyer, so they are doing quite well compared to everyone else during those tough times. Jem and Scout befriended a boy named Dill one summer who came to live in the neighborhood close to them. Later on, Dill become curious about a weird yet spooky house in their street called the Radley place. Mr. Nathan Radley is the owner of the house, whose brother, Arthur (nicknamed Boo), has lived there for years without adventuring outside. That fall, Scout goes to school for the first time and ended up loathing it. In the knothole of a tree on the Radley property, Scout and her brother find gifts. That summer, Dill is back and the three of them try to figure out Boo Radleys story. But their father puts a stop to it, trying to explain to them to try to see life from another person’s perspective before judging or thinking anything bad about them. The three sneak onto t...
"Any ordinary favour we do for someone or any compassionate reaching out may seem to be going nowhere at first, but may be planting a seed we can 't see right now. Sometimes we need to just do the best we can and then trust in an unfolding we can 't design or ordain." - Sharon Salzberg. To Kill A Mockingbird embodies those very words in every aspect and exemplifies them through its three main characters: Atticus, Scout, Jem. Yet, with racism and discrimination seemingly making its way back into the twenty first century with increased shootings of African American males and Donald trump making an effort to export all Muslims out of America etc..., the
The film To Kill a Mockingbird includes both political and social issues that are still relevant in todays modern society. The film, originally a book, addresses problems that lie within society. The main character is a man named Atticus who is a father and a respected lawyer in the community. He has two small children, named Jem and Scout, that he tries to teach issues that some people may consider are too difficult for them to understand fully. The film takes place in a small community where there is a struggle to see and treat one another like equal human beings; this can usually be interpreted as racism.