Examples Of Social Issues In To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” is set in a small Southern United States community called Maycomb during the Great Depression era. The whole book primarily revolves around segregation and racism and how it relates to Maycomb’s history. It eventually leads to the trial of Tom Robinson where he is accused of beating up and raping Mayella Ewell. Even though it was clear that Tom Robinson did not do anything wrong he was convicted by an all white jury simply because he was black. The trial of Tom Robinson and its verdict shows an example of how segregation in the court system prevents fair trials from occurring.

> Maycomb, Alabama has a very divided society. Half of Maycomb were fellow colored people and the whites that wanted Maycomb to have equally. Thought many Maycomb citizens were not racist, many were. After Tom Robinson was accused of raping, Mayella, the young white woman the colored community tried to help Tom's family by raising money and trying to help as much as possible. On the other side of Maycomb the word of what Tom was being accused of was spread and Tom was being shamed for something he didn’t do. The ratio of the supporters of Tom and those against were very drastic. Regardless of what Tom and those who wanted to help him find the outcome that was correct for his case the racist white community of Maycomb would overthrow them.

Everyone in their town of Maycomb expects Atticus to blow off the case and not try because Tom is a black man fighting against a white man. Atticus goes against the norm by using the case to work towards ending racial bias and change. Atticus understands and works very hard to prove that people should be treated equally despite their race, especially in court. The community sees this and recognizes that “[Atticus] fought for him all the way” (Lee 276). Atticus knew it would be difficult to defend Tom as innocent and move toward justice and equality in Maycomb.

Maycomb, Alabama was a town of racism and discrimination against everyone. They discriminated everyone from being black, white, poor, and even just for being a bit strange. But what they didn’t realize is “…there's just one kind of folks. Folks."(Lee 259) The courtroom in Maycomb was still separated by the color of skin, the economic structure and even by gender. This was considered a normal thing in Alabama; everyone knew that the only people with power were the white men. They were the only ones who could do anything and led to much hatred all around just because of the supremacy of certain

Racism is evidence of prejudice in all aspects of Maycomb’s society. Racism was huge during this time. Racism is still a problem in this world today but it is much better than it used to be. People used to be much worse, for example, Tom pretty much lost the trial because he was a black person. A quote I have is, “Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty... “ (Lee 215). This quote shows that they really had no doubt he was going to be proven guilty because he was black. If he was white he would have won the trial. Also to add on, there were no blacks on jury. Obviously there is racism there. Another example of racism in this book is, that during the trial, the blacks were not allowed to sit downstairs. They all had to sit upstairs and cram up there to watch the trial.

The characters in, To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, often use prejudice against people of controversial issues. Many of the townspeople of Maycomb use prejudice on the families who are on the less wealthy end of the spectrum. Issues are still displayed because of the racial prejudice used against African Americans and those of other races. Lastly, gender is a clear issue in Maycomb because of women’s and girl’s rights and lack of respect towards them because they are female. All of the types of prejudice show that Maycomb has many problems all throughout the town between other families and townspeople.

“As I often say, we have come a long way from the days of slavery, but in 2014, discrimination and inequality still saturate our society in modern ways. Though racism may be less blatant now in many cases, its existence is undeniable.” When describing inequality Al Sharpton said it best when he said, “it’s existence is undeniable”. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, written in the mid-1950’s by Harper Lee, focuses on the existence of social inequality. The people of Maycomb target outsiders, poor people, and African Americans, or basically anyone who doesn’t follow into “Maycomb’s Ways”.

Racism was a big issue in the town of maycomb. One big way racism represents itself is with Tom Robinson, a maycomb black man. He was convicted of raping a young female. She had proclaimed that Tom had went into her house, raped her, and beat her. Her dad states he heard screaming, ran to the house and tom was running away while his daughter was on the floor. Everyone believes her because well, he's black. No one cared about his side of the story, except for Atticus. He

One of the many Maycomb citizens that were affected by racism was Dolphus Raymond. Firstly, "They don't belong anywhere. Colored folks won't have 'em because they're half white, white folks won't have 'em 'cause they're colored, so they're just in-betweens, don't belong anywhere" (Lee 163). This is significant because, Dolphus get's misjudged everyday because of his past and his preference to

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird racism was a problem in Maycomb. Atticus quoted, “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.” “Lee #224)

names’s Tom Robinson”. Discuss the effects of racism on Maycomb citizens such as Tom and Helen Robinson,

In the book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, racism and social inequality are two central themes. Many different forms of social inequality coexist in the society depicted in the book, as the people of Maycomb are very rigid in their ways. This is because the book takes place in a time at which there was much racism and social inequality. In Maycomb, firstly there is discrimination between rich and poor white people, who do not often interact with each other. There is also racism against blacks by all white people in society, both rich and poor. Black people are denied basic rights and discriminated against in this town. Lastly, there is racism between the lowest classes of the community: poor white people and

In the book to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, set in 1930s Alabama; was a racist town in the Deep South called Maycomb who did not care for the African American race. But, Atticus a secondary main character believes everyone is born equal, leaving him to try innovative ideas to save Tom Robinson an African American man who is being prosecuted in the court of law on a false claim made on him. Throughout, evidence will be shown that life is difficult and unfair for the Blacks; showing us that there is an apparent theme of uncertainty and injustice at this time period. At the beginning of the story not much-involving race occurs it's more about this mysterious Boo Radley who no one really accepts. Later on, around chapter 9 is when things

One crucial event that took place to battle against racism in Maycomb was Tom Robinson’s trial. While it was a completely racist jury and case, what took place within it proved relevant. This begins with the fact that the trial was even happening. Whether the town realized it or not, this trial was based merely on race, and everyone was aware that there was no true evidence to prove Tom guilty even though no one really mentioned it. So many people in Maycomb attended the trial to see what the outcome would be, as described on page 216, but what they didn’t notice was that racism brought them together. Also, Atticus’ speech regarding the ignorance of this county’s racism truly shed some light on anyone who came to the jury. “ ‘You know the truth, and the

thing during and following slavery. In the novel, a man named Bob Ewell despises black people and calls out Atticus by saying, “too proud to fight, you nigger lovin bastard?” (Lee, 291). What that quote is saying is how Bob is getting upset with atticus just because he is Tom Robinson's lawyer and Bob Ewell doesn’t like black people. Another example of racism occurs in chapter 11. This happens when the kids are walking by Mrs.Dubose’s home, and she starts yelling out racist comments about Atticus. She yells out to Jem and says, “your father is no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” (Lee, 105) She attacks their father for doing his job, but even more so attacks Jem and Scout by Yelling furiously about their father. These two ways are clearly shown in To Kill A Mockingbird and there are many other ways throughout the novel.