Prejudice, the act of judging someone based on outward appearance or social standing. In the 1960’s Harper Lee wrote a book called To Kill a Mockingbird, about prejudice and how hard the times were. In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many examples of prejudice showing how morally wrong it was. There are several examples of prejudice in the book: Tom Robinson because he is African American, Boo Radley because of his standing in their society, and the Cunningham Family because of how poor they were. The following paragraphs will discuss these examples.
Tom Robinson was one example of prejudice because he was African American. “‘You felt sorry for her? You felt sorry for her?’ Mr. Gilmer was ready to rise to the ceiling” (Lee, 197). This is when Tom Robinson is on trial for being falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell. The people thought it was not right for Tom Robinson to feel sorry for Mayella because he was black and she was white. “Tom, did you rape Mayella Ewell?” (Lee, 196) The fact that Tom was even brought on trial was an act of prejudice. In courts today the case wouldn’t even had made it to court and here they are accusing him anyways. Tom Robinson being convicted was the biggest act of prejudice in his case. There was no evidence against him to convict him with. The only reason he was convicted was because it was a white jury and he was African American. These were examples of racial prejudice which was very prevalent in those times; also common was social prejudice, as in the Cunningham’s case.
The Cunningham family was an example of social prejudice because they were poor. “Miss Caroline, he’s a Cunningham” (Lee, 20). This is when they are in class and Miss Caroline is trying to give him lunch money. Scout tells her he is poor and won’t be able to pay her back and is too proud to take it. “He ain’t company, Cal, he’s just a Cunningham” (Lee, 25). They invited Walter back to the house for lunch and he poured syrup all over his food and Scout gets on his case about it. Cal tells her she shouldn’t do that and she implies that it doesn’t matter what they say to him he is just a Cunningham, she is being prejudiced because she knows he is poor. Another reason people are prejudiced to the Cunninghams is because they have to pay with crops.
Prejudice is where you judge someone without knowing who the person is, or what they are like. In Maycomb some people were prejudiced especially towards black people who were called niggas, negroes. Maycomb was prejudiced against Boo Radley because he was different. He never went outside during the day, but people knew he went out at night. Bob Ewell was prejudiced against Atticus because he was defending a negro, also because Atticus had power and Bob Ewell didn’t.
Racial prejudice is shown greatly in this novel in Maycomb County. In the court scene in To Kill a Mockingbird there is a black section and a white section, which are segregated. The colored balcony ran along three walls of the courtroom like a second story veranda, and from it we could see everything (Lee 219). That shows an unfair segregation for the blacks because they have to sit in the balcony but the whites don’t. If a white man had committed the crime that Tom Robinson was accused of, the investigation would’ve been much more thorough. “Did you call a doctor, Sheriff?” asked Atticus. “No Sir,” said Mr. Tate (Lee 224). Just because he was a black man, they accused Tom of being guilty just because people said that he was. Although it isn’t directly related to the court scene, it is shown that there is racial prejudice when Tom runs from Mayella Ewell instead of staying so they thought him guilty for that. He would not have dared strike a white woman under any circumstances and expect to l...
Prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling, formed beforehand (e.g., before even meeting a person) based on non-personal characteristics (e.g., skin color, religious, gender). One form of prejudice is racism. Racism is negative attitudes and values held by people about other people based on their race. It is this attitude which causes one to discriminate against another. Discrimination is treating people unfavorably on the basis of race, color or sex. Prejudice and discrimination were prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s. This era was a time of hatred, a time of violence, a time when black people were colonized by the white colonizer, and it was a time of white-on-black racial violence. Because of this hatred, the whites discriminated against the blacks.
Another form of prejudice that is found in To Kill a Mockingbird is religious prejudice. This form is first shown when the children are with Miss Maudie while she was tending to her garden. Jem, Scout and Dill kept asking questions about Mr. Radley. Miss Maudie tells them about Mr. Radley’s religious beliefs, calling him one of the “foot washing Baptists”, believers
Different types of prejudice are evident in this chapter. For instance, Scout refers to Walter as a “Cunningham”, and this automatically places him in the poor class (Lee 20). Miss Caroline displays prejudice towards Scout because she can read. Scout is singled out after she reads to the class, and Miss Caroline accuses her of her father teaching her how to read (Lee 17). It seems as though more serious types and instances of prejudice will develop as the story progresses.
...judice towards blacks and other minorities was nothing odd during the 1930's. The protagonist of the story, Cassie, first experiences an example of racial tension when she notices a drinking fountain and cannot drink from it because it is "White Only". Another example of prejudice occurs when Suzella, who looks white but is actually half white and half black, gets attention from many white boys. However, when the boys find out that Suzella is partially black, they stay away from her. Lastly, society's hatred towards blacks displays itself when a young boy named T.J. Avery is falsely accused of robbing a store. T.J.'s imminent conviction shows us that the judicial system, the one thing that should defend people's rights can be warped according to the way society wants it to be it to be. Therefore, we can conclude that prejudice is yet another manifestation of hatred.
The second character who is discriminated against is Walter Cunningham because of his low socioeconomic status. Scout makes a rude remark when Walter is over for dinner because he put a lot of syrup on his vegetables and meat with a “generous hand.” Calpurnia explains to Scout that Walter is their company and that not everyone eats like them.
him or kicking him. One guy was kicking at his spine. Another guy hitting on
"Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones"- Charlotte Brontë. Nearly every problem and unfortunate mishap in Harper Lee's, To Kill A Mockingbird, has been somehow revolved around prejudice or discrimination. Many different forms of prejudice are found throughout the novel, with racism, sexism, and classicism the most common. The residents of Maycomb have discrimination running through their veins and were raised to be racist and sexist, without realizing. They see nothing wrong with judging other people and treating people that they find inferior harshly. Prejudice is a destructive force because it separates the people of Maycomb, both physically and mentally.
Prejudice: Prejudice is harm or injury that results in judgement. In “To Kill A Mockingbird’’ Tom Robinson was named guilty for rape. Atticus prove that Tom was innocent, but Tom was named guilty simply because of his colour.
In the book West Side Story by Arthur Laurents there were many prejudices. Prejudice is a favoring or dislike of something without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge. There were prejudices in West Side Story that had to do with the types of people, their races and sex. Sometimes prejudice can be in small doses and can be meaningless, other times prejudice can be very serious and cause death.
Prejudice meaning pre-judging someone and having an unwarranted bias occurs often in today’s society and has been around since the beginning of time. Prejudice can effect people’s decisions and have an unfair impact on society. The text ‘To kill a mocking-bird’ written by Harper Lee and the movie ‘Philadelphia’ directed by Jonathon Demme explore this idea thoroughly.
Stereotyping, discrimination and prejudice are phenomena that motivate animated debate amid the scholars as well as the public. Many ponder on which acts should be deemed discriminatory, when they can come to a conclusion that a decision or a social guideline preference is actually founded on prejudice and the role played by prejudice in creating gender and racial disparities. Also of immense interest are queries regarding how the society should react to these problems and whether they have been dealt with in a pleasing manner. Social psychologists lunge into this dispute equipped with scientific method, hoping to gather evidence that can shed the much needed light on these continuing worries. In particular, this paper seeks to shed some light as to why stereotypes and prejudices occur in the mind of perceivers, as well as the manner and under which circumstances they are most likely to manipulate perceivers’ explicit behavior.
Racism and prejudice has been present in almost every civilization and society throughout history. Even though the world has progressed greatly in the last couple of decades, both socially and technologically, racism, hatred and prejudice still exists today, deeply embedded in old-fashioned, narrow-minded traditions and values.