Racial Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Over the course of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the three main characters (Scout, Jem, and Dill) learn important lessons like courage, justice, and forgiveness, from characters like Atticus, Heck Tate, and Mrs. Maudie. However, the most important lesson that the kids learn over the course of the book is that of empathy. Empathy is demonstrated as well as taught to our main characters through the trial of Tom Robinson. The conviction of Tom indirectly and directly leads both Scout and Jem to empathize with Boo Radley, as well as teach all three characters that empathy goes beyond race and class.

“It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered…” (Lee 284). The realistic fiction novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and the historical fiction novel, Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe, both share many characteristics. Both novels take place in the Civil Rights Era American south and revolve around the unjust trial of an African American character. By the events that take place in the two novels, a universal theme is revealed: “Changing Attitudes Through Knowledge”. Through common experiences in Southern towns, both Jem and Hiram exhibit similar views on the treatment of African Americans, experience comparable changes in the way they view their role model, and are forced to surrender their optimistic attitudes towards justice and individual integrity.

He takes the case solely because of his belief that “...whenever a white man [cheats] a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash”(295). Atticus’s quote highlights his views that all people no matter what race, no matter how wealthy should be treated equally. Atticus’ dealing with Tom Robinson, who Scout seems to think of as less is very important to Scout learning empathy. Atticus shows that if he had thought of Tom as inferior and not worthy of his time, Atticus would have never shaken the racism that the Maycomb community and white men of his time attempt to engrave in him. By seeing Atticus take the case and fighting his “heart out” for Tom, Scout learns that she should never just follow the “crowd” and not be racist. When Atticus first takes the case Scout is curious as to why he would defend a man that the whole town thinks of as inferior. Scout asks: “If you shouldn’t be defendin him, then why are you doin’ it?...The main [reason] is, if I didn’t I couldn't hold my head up in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again(100). Atticus’ quote is a great demonstration of his strong morals and character. Atticus seems to believe that his whole town knows that it was Bob Ewell who raped Mayella Ewell, and that deep, deep down they think that it is the right

Have you ever understood the true value of empathy? Well, in Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" Scout and Jem go through an important lesson about the significance of empathy. Throughout the book, they are exposed to multiple instances of injustice, discrimination, and prejudice in their small town of Maycomb, Alabama. The lesson of empathy is successfully taught to them by their father, Atticus Finch, as well as their interactions with Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. One of the most important moments in the novel that teaches Scout and Jem about empathy is when Atticus explains to them the significance of learning about others before judging them.

Imagine a place where the verdict of a rape trial stems from racial prejudice rather than the proper evaluation of proven evidence. This is Maycomb, Alabama, the strange, Southern town where Scout and Jem Finch grow up during the 1930s in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. In short, the novel travels a thin line between a light-hearted narrative of the siblings’ childhood with their single father, a defense attorney named Atticus Finch, and the injustices that arise within their close-knit community. The complexities include extreme racism, a peculiar social hierarchy, and general misunderstandings of certain people within the small town. These are all seen as “Maycomb ways”, almost as if they are considered facts. Through her writing, Lee conveys an important message that an essential part of a child’s education often takes place in a home or community rather than a classroom by utilizing the characters, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape whom Atticus is defending.

Atticus teaches Jem and scout a number of important lessons which will help them in life. However tolerance is one of the most important, because if people tolerate one another then things like war or racism will not exist, and they are two of the biggest areas of conflict in the world. Atticus models tolerance for his children by taking the case of and accused rapist. He defends a black man even though most of the town is against it and treat him discourteously because of it. Scout went against her father’s wishes by not

In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout proves empathy is an important characteristic. In the book, Scout demonstrates the consideration and understanding for others when she helps Boo Radley. Later, Scout learns empathy from her father Atticus, who in an unjust, racist environment takes on the strenuous task of defending Tom Robinson, a colored man accused of sexual assaulting a white woman. Ultimately,as scout matures and her empathy begins to develop, she becomes a courageous , mature person.

Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is set in a small, southern town, Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The story is told through the eyes of a girl named Scout about her father, Atticus, an attorney who strives to prove the innocence of a black man named Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape and Boo Radley, an enigmatic neighbor who saves Scout and her brother Jem from being killed. Atticus does his job in proving there was no way that Tom Robinson was guilty during his trial, but despite Tom Robinson’s obvious innocence, he is convicted of rape as it is his word against a white woman’s. Believing a “black man’s word” seemed absurd as segregation was a very integrated part of life in the south. The social hierarchy must be maintained at all costs and if something in the system should testify the innocence of a black man against a white woman’s word and win then what might happen next? Along with the prejudice amongst blacks and whites, the story also showed how people could be misunderstood for who they truly are such as Boo Radley. Without ever seeing Boo, Jem and the townsfolk made wild assumptions on what Boo does or looks like. Even so, while “To Kill a Mockingbird” shows the ugliness that can come from judging others, its ultimate message is that great good can result when one defers judgement until considering things from another person’s view. Walter Cunningham, Mrs. Dubose, and Boo Radley are all examples of how looking at things

This leads to Scout having a better understanding of the verdict in Tom Robinson’s case later in the story: “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson” (240). Furthermore, Scout reacts to the verdict far more calmly than Jem, who cries after hearing it. The conflict causes Scout to become mature and wise for her age, which leads to her being able to handle an injustice

In addition, Scout's experience with racial prejudice during the Tom Robinson trial serves as a somber reminder of the injustices marginalized people face in the world. Scout watches the trial and observes the hatred and discrimination directed at Tom. Scout battles her preconceptions and begins to question the fairness and integrity of the legal system. Her father's steadfast dedication to justice and his defence of Tom: “The one thing that does abide by majority rule is a person's conscience, said Atticus to Scout”

Past experiences shape nature and disposition.When someone goes through a dramatic event, they change for the better or worse. The novel Mississippi Trial, 1955, concerns Hiram’s experience with witnessing the murder of an African American and figuring out how to respond to it. It soon becomes clear that Hiram’s past experiences with his father have affected his viewpoint on life. For example, Hiram states, “It made me sick, and all I wanted to do was get out of there, out of Mississippi, and back home where things and people weren’t so crazy.” (Crowe 192) This shows significant character development for him, which contributes to identity. Hiram’s experience in witnessing a failed justice system for African Americans also caused a change in his personality. In the beginning of the book, he loved Greenwood, his grandfather’s home, and thought it was incredible. In the beginning, he states, “It was the best place on Earth” and that he, “loved [his] grandparents.” (Crowe 3) This demonstrates that there is a change in Hiram’s thought process and that this will change his personality and self-identification. Clearly, the murder of Emmett Till affected how Hiram viewed himself and others. Before, Hiram could be described as a young boy who had a blind, immense love for his grandfather and the South. However, his experience with Emmett Till and observing a murder that his grandfather was part of reformed Hiram, who came to

Firstly, Atticus shows empathy throughout the whole story to everyone. Atticus told scout you have to stand in someone's shoes to understand them, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb in their skin, and walk around in it,” said Atticus (39). Atticus gives the advice to scout, so Scout can show more empathy to everyone, and so she can try to understand what a person is going through in their life, and Atticus taught her how to do that. It took courage and empathy for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson. It was not normal for a person in the 1930’s to try to defend an African American, much less care about him and the case, that is real empathy. Atticus really tried his hardest to defend him, and prove Tom’s innocence, but the jury still had the prejudice of racism against Tom. Atticus is the same person everywhere, on the streets, and at home. He treats everyone one with great respect, and shows empathy for everyone, even if

Empathy is the theme which connects the reader with the characters in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird; the experiences of the characters in this novel show us the significance of empathy as a theme. Harper Lee writes about the experiences which Scout and Jem undergo in learning to be empathetic, while Atticus and Tom Robinson are two of the key characters who, at the time of the novel already possessed the ability to be empathetic.

Today’s society is damaged with the results of people doing terrible things to each other. Peoples actions can make or break lives.The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, is about a little girl, her Brother, their Dad, and the negro they all fight to defend. The main character scout and her older brother Jem, get into all sorts of dilemmas in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. As they learn new valuable lessons about life, they also pick up that the small town they grow up in is not as clean and safe as it seems. The father, Atticus Finch is a kind hearted soul who was given the case of Tom Robinson, a negro accused of Raping a white woman. As soon as Atticus was given the case he aimed to defend Tom but a faulty jury made sure it did not happen.To

Inasmuch as the main plot point in the novel is Tom Robinson’s trial, it’s evident that his verdict would be exceedingly crucial to the story and character’s development as well as the things that Scout takes away from it. Atticus, her father, has an impenetrable defense and seems to negate all positions the prosecution takes, yet it still is not enough