During the 1930’s and the 1960’s discrimination against blacks was popular. There is discrimination everywhere for almost everything, even today, but not as much as there used to be. In To Kill A Mockingbird and The Help both Scout and Skeeter see and experience discrimination. Scout sees discrimination during the Tom Robinson case, and she experiences it when she is told to act like a girl. Skeeter experiences discrimination when people are shocked she finished college and got a job, instead of getting married. She sees it when her friends treat their maids like they’re nothing. Skeeters reaction to discrimination is active, when Scouts reaction is passive. Skeeter understands that the way her friends act towards the maids is rude and wrong. Scout doesn’t understand but she …show more content…
Scout and Skeeter have a similar reaction when they are discriminated by others. Scout doesn't completely understand what is going on with Tom Robinson, but she knows what they are doing to Tom is wrong. Also Scout doesn’t understand why she needs to act like a girl, which upsets her. Scout's Aunt is in town to help her grow up to be a proper lady. Scout doesn’t like to wear dresses, she prefers overalls and hanging out with boys. Aunt Alexandra tells Scout why she is visiting, she says, “ we decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence. It won’t be many years, Jean Louise, before you become interested in clothes and boys…” (Lee 170). Even though Scout likes hanging out with boys, she remarks that it will be a while before she is interested in boys. Scout also mentions how it will be a long time before she is interested in clothes. Jem, Dill, and
From the way scout reacts to discrimination, she disapproves of it and views it as nonessential . She always gets angry and bewildered when she sees discrimination because she thinks it is wrong and unnecessary to discriminate someone based on their beliefs, religion, gender, or color. An example of Scout 's reaction to
Despite the high racial tensions both characters Scout and Skeeter experience in their home areas, thy both develop their own views on racism. To start off, Scout has witnessed many immoral and racial actions and is unsure of
Scout is considered a tomboy because she does not wear dresses because she can “do nothing in a dress” (Lee 92) so instead she wears overalls or pants. She also goes to Finch’s Landing and starts to cuss around her Uncle Jack; when he asks her does she want to “ Grow up and be a lady,” (Lee 90) she tells him “ Not particularly.”(Lee 90) When she does wear a dress for Aunt Alexandra and the missionary circle; she gets ridiculed because she tells them she wants to grow up
Throughout the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, one of the main characters, Scout, is impacted by sexism from her family, peers, and community. The book is set in the 1930’s when women were definitely not thought of as equal. There were certain social rules that girls should follow and the ways that society told them to act. The scout is a character that is impacted by sexism throughout the story. She is a young girl that changes because of the oppression that is placed on her by her family and peers. The character Scout is affected by sexism, which Harper Lee uses to develop the reader’s perception of Scout from indecisive and confined to determined, criticized, and conflicted and finally to confident, conflicted, and decisive.
Aunt Alexandra tells Scout to act more ladylike since she is always wearing boyish clothes and hanging out with Jem and Dill (Lee 12-23). Scout usually hangs out with Jem and Dill and does not wear much feminine clothes, so Aunt Alexandra tells her to act more ladylike. Miss Maudie and the other females make fun of Scout for the way she dresses (Lee 262-263). Miss Maudie asked Scout where her britches were. When Scout realizes her mistake, all of the girls, including Miss Maudie, start to laugh at
If I had to define prejudice, I would say a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. There are many examples of prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM) is about Scout Jem and Dill who learn valuable life lessons. They watch a trial of a black man accused of raping white women unfold.Throughout TKAM you can see Harper Lee is saying that nobody is born prejudice but throughout their childhood, it is learned. Throughout TKAM we can see how the kids learn prejudice through race, class, and gender.
No matter how old or how young a person may be, there always exists a small opinion on someone before even meeting them. This is based on the other person’s different aspects. For example, their gender, looks, or race. This is called prejudice. In the novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee demonstrates the different uses of prejudice when a black man loses a court case mainly because of his skin colour. Although people are slowly stopping to prejudge others, Lee demonstrates how prejudice can lead to making people have less respect for another person through the use of racism, mental and/or physical illness, or social class.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird prejudice is interwoven throughout the entire novel. There is black/white prejudice, prejudice against individuals in the town and even inside the Finch family. To Kill a Mockingbird was set in the 1930’s in a small town in Alabama called Maycomb County. The community as a whole is very racist. The novel is seen through the eyes of a young girl, which enhances the themes of developing prejudice.
Discrimination has definitely been a problem in the world, and sadly, is still lingering in some people today. This is something clearly shown throughout the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Three characters who are victims of discrimination is Dolphus Raymond, Tom
The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is set in the late 1930’s during the Great depression in Alabama. During those years racism was a big issue and may still be. A theme that develops throughout the novel is how we’re discriminated by our skin color, or who we are. In the story both communities are racist to each other. It may not appear obvious, but Calpurnia, the housemaid is one example of discrimination.
Even though defending a black man made him vulnerable to insults and violence of the town people, such as Bob Ewell and the mob in chapter fifteen. He still defends Tom and gives him the best he can since Atticus knows that it is the right thing to do and skin colour is just a colour. Atticus even gets personal gain through the food the black community gave him after the trial and also setting himself as a leading role model for his kids Scout and Jem. Likewise, Skeeter from The Help is a young white woman that sees past the fact the maids of Mississippi are coloured and tried to do something about the harsh way they were treated. Skeeter did much like Atticus did and looks past the colour of people 's skin since she knew it would be wrong to sit and do nothing about the coloured people’s treatment, even if it put herself in danger in any way. She realized the racism she was contributing in such as the Jackson Junior League where white ladies congregate to tell their racist initiatives and she stood up against them by refusing to spread these racist ideals in her writing in the newspaper. She even lost some of her best friends such as Hilly and Elizabeth when they found out about her contributions to prevent racism. The last major contributing factor this innovative mind had against racism was her idea of writing a book by the coloured maids perspective. Not only was this for personal gain of accomplishing her dream of being a
Discrimination can be exhibited in many forms. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, we see numerous examples of prejudice that have a large impact on society. We come to realize that no form stands alone. In the novel, there are three main forms of discrimination, racism, sexism, and classism.
Discrimination: a noun that is defined as, “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex”. There are many types of discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story that is taken place during the Great Depression . Scout is the main character and her father Atticus is defending a man named Tom Robinson, who is a Negro. There are three main topics that are discriminated in To Kill a Mockingbird. The three main topics that are discriminated are socioeconomics, gender, and most importantly, racism.
Racism, as in a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial difference produce an inherent superiority of a particular race as well as racial prejudice or discrimination is prevalent in our country . Racism in America is a societal monster of our past that is still haunting us in our modern society as revealed in media, societal stereotypes, societal misconceptions, and the legal system. “With the election of Barack Obama as President many believed we were entering into a post-racial America, a color-blind society where racism could begin to be healed if not totally dismissed. However, a recent Associated Press poll has shown that this is not the case (AP, 2012). In fact, racial prejudice has increased slightly since 2008”, (Ponds 3), Many Americans think that we as a whole are past racial prejudice however it is not the truth.
Her knowledge of the extent of injustices grows from a very small understanding to a large understanding left unparallelled by any character throughout the novel. As Skeeters understanding of justice or rather injustice changes it leads her to share the stories of the black maids through a book, putting herself, her family, and the black maids at risk in an attempt to change the views of society and spark change because her understanding of the sevatite of the injustice increases. In the beginning Skeeter is really kept in the dark and doesn't understand how dangerous sharing the stories of these maids could be for not only her but also people that help her. When Skeeter first talks to the maid Abilene in the beginning she doesn't really understand how dangerous this could be for Abilene, until she says to Sketer in reference to helping her with the book, “ This scares me Ms.Skeeter, scares me even more than Jim Crow.” After this Skeeter begins to open her eyes and see all the real injustices that these people face on a daily basis based ever so vaguely on the color of their skin .