The American Outsider: Character Analysis

First of all, there are many different types of outsiders in society based on various reasons. According to dictionary.com, an outsider is “a person not belonging to a particular group, set,

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the sleepy, southern Maycomb, Alabama. A small town in the grips of 1930’s depression, To Kill a Mockingbird spans a period of three years following young Scout Finch and her family through their experiences with racism and prejudice. Jim Crow laws were a series of ordinances the prevented equal treatment of African-Americans. Beginning with the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and remaining in effect until the Civil rights movement of the 1950s, Jim Crow laws governed where colored people could live, work, eat, enter and exit a building, and use public services. “Jim Crow laws grew from theories of white supremacy and were a reaction to Reconstruction,” explained Andrew Costly of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, “In the depression-racked 1890s, racism appealed to whites who feared losing their jobs to blacks.” Ensuring that freed slaves remained weak and inferior, Jim Crow laws revoked black freedom’s and crippled their rights. And while not explicitly stated, evidence of Jim Crow Laws appears methodically throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Strongly influenced by elements of racism, the story paints a vivid picture of life in the era of Jim Crow, for both colored and white.

In 1931, the Scottsboro case was the news in the South. The case is about how nine African American boys were falsely accused of raping two White women on a train. All nine boys, except for the younger twelve year old, were sent to court and sentenced to death. In Harper Lee’s depiction, Tom Robinson, who was a black man, was falsely accused of raping a white woman. Thus, he was sent to court, which also had a white jury, and was sentenced to death. Unfortunately, he never made his death sentence because he tried to escape, and got shot by the prison guard. Everyone realized, in both real life and in the novel, that blacks were being treated poorly. The case influenced new laws called, the Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws influenced the idea of “Separate but Equal.” Jim Crow laws never did fix hate on African Americans, because it still exists today.

The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws perpetuated segregation. The Jim Crow laws were appalling. It was a racial system that had many terrible anti-Black laws (“Jim Crow laws”). These laws were huge in the south and border states. People treated and acted horrible towards the Blacks. Some examples of these laws were how Blacks and Whites could not eat together and how African Americans had to sit in the back of a White person's car(“Jim Crow laws”). These laws were basically cutting off almost all communication and action with any Black. Jim Crow had separate bathrooms, schools, churches, cemeteries and public accommodations for each race(Pilgrim). There were many reasons for the laws. For example, a black male could not offer or shake hands with a white woman because he would be accused of rape(“Jim Crow laws”) A Black could also never offer to light a white females' cigarette or show public affection toward another in public because it showed intimacy and offended Whites(“Jim Crow laws”). Boating implied social equality(“Jim Crow laws”). These examples just showed how disrespected African Americans were treated. Pilgrim points out that the Jim Crow laws were trying to keep Blacks and Whites separated. With these laws and reasons came punishments. Punishments were done if a Black broke a law and used as intimidation(“Jim Crow laws”). When a group of black males tried sitting in the White section of a bus they were arrested(“Jim Crow laws”). Blacks could get physically beat by a White if they drank out of the Whites water fountain or tried to vote(“Jim Crow laws”). The most extreme punishments were lynchings and occurred for demanding civil rights riots and violating laws(“Jim Crow laws”). Lynchings were public and most

The Jim Crow laws had a very strong influence on the way of life of many people in the late 1800's up to the mid-1900's. Segregation was heavily enforced and accomplished the intended effect of people discriminating against each other, deeply affecting the southern region of the US. In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, many traces of the influence of the Jim Crow laws can be found, for her story is based on life in the 1930's, taking place in Maycomb County, Alabama. The traces of the laws are mostly seen through the characters in her novel and in the ways they interact with each other. Atticus Finch's character is the strongest force against the Jim Crow laws found in the novel, as a father, a brother and a lawyer.

Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, takes place in the 1930’s, segregated Alabama. The novel is about the main character, Scout’s, experiences and learning about her community and world around her. Scout lives in a town where prejudice is very prominent and there are a lot of differing clashing opinions. The town is also going through the Depression, which affects different families throughout the story. In the novel, an African American man, Tom Robinson, is accused of taking advantage of a white woman. Throughout the novel, Scout learns about different people and how they act in certain situations. A theme in the novel is the coexistence of good and bad in a person gives them depth and complex motives that may be hard to understand.

Social Inequalities In the novel to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee shows a theme of social inequalities throughout the book. Social Inequalities is one of many things that is still present till this day in age. Proves to you that your inequality and relevance can be determined by anything from the people around you daily. To Kill a Mockingbird, the town of Maycomb is an excellent example of the discriminatory practices in place during the 1930s.

To Kill a Mockingbird was a novel that pushed emphasis on the caste system set in place to segregate the characters by race, ethnicity, gender, and class. These societal boundaries were the main cause for all conflicts in the book by making consequences if one were to decide that they did not want to fit into the stereotypes. Although the district the story was set in was fictional, Maycomb County’s issues are very real and are reflected in real life throughout the past. Racism in court has occurred in past cases where an African American is wrongly convicted or excessively punished for a crime. Gender roles have been changing throughout the course of history, resulting in people being forced to act a certain way or being treated wrongfully

In the story To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, There are various forms of discrimination. The Harper Lee novel shows an interesting viewpoint of 1930’s discrimination in Maycomb, Alabama. It really captures how different things were then compared to now. It’s somewhat shocking the way things happened in that time period.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows the exaggerated tension between races was unjustified through the reveal of the Finch’s unbiased perspective towards African Americans and segregation. Before the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, a large portion of the southern community judged based on skin color, but the Finch’s showed that there was a chance of a world where everyone was equal and isn’t discriminated on a daily basis.

Millions of humans have suffered at the hands of racism and discriminatory events throughout history. The majority of these racial and discriminatory events are the basis of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel references Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, as well as the issues of racism and discrimination in that period of time.

Racism, classism, and ageism have been around since humans realized there are people of different skin color; Since wealth had begun to carve your importance; Since age held back your physical capabilities. To Kill a Mockingbird was based on the Scottsboro Boys Case and even the childhood of the author Harper Lee. The unfairness and racism of the trial influenced Lee to write a book based upon the Scottsboro Boys. To Kill a Mockingbird was considered “a simple love story” by the author Harper Lee herself, but contains real world problems such as racism, classism, ageism, stereotyping and many others.

The 1960’s was the height of racial issues during the 20th century. Even under these circumstances, Harper Lee, a white, female author, wrote her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Not only does To Kill a Mockingbird go against society’s opinions at that time, but it addresses themes that apply to everyday life. One main theme is ‘People tend to take risks for the people they care for’. To Kill a Mockingbird is about a girl named Scout and the problems her family faces. Her dad, Atticus, is lawyer who is currently defending a black man in court. Tom Robinson, the black man, was accused of raping a white girl. The story illustrates how society treats people who are different from them and how those people stick together. One example that supports

1. Racist and historical events that occurred in the late 1950s strongly influenced the author, Harper Lee, to write the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. One of the historical events that prompted the author to write the novel was that of Emmett Till. The author connects Till’s case to Tom Robinson’s case, by showing that both boys were accused of a “crime” that they did not commit and were killed in response because of their race. Patrick Chura states, “Central issues of Harper Lee’s fictional Tom Robinson case, along with cultural tensions ascendant in the aftermath of the May 17, 1954 Brown V. Board of Education decision, are located in the story of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy from Chicago who was brutally murdered by two white men in Mississippi Delta on August 28, 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman in a store in Money, Mississippi” (Chura 1.) In other words, the author based the writings on the past historical event of Till which has similar relations to the Robinson case that prompted the author to write the novel. Segregation in the early to mid 1900s was also a main source of inspiration for the author’s writing of the novel. Exploring Novels elaborates on this more deeply by stating, “Other ways black people were demeaned by society included the segregation of public restrooms and drinking fountains, as well as the practice of forcing blacks to ride in their buses” (Exploring 1.) Both Till and the societal segregation played a role in the inspiration and

If you regularly watch the news, get updates on current events, or even if you check social media often, then you probably know about today’s current events. On the news recently, there have been many situations about how people view racism cases. There are also many protests about cases involving the incommensurate treatment of people. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, it takes place in a town called Maycomb in the 1930s. The story follows Scout Finch, as her father Atticus Finch, takes on a case that changes how Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill see their town. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows a society that is fixed on one social viewpoint how it can change with one person who is willing to challenge the rest of society -- to teach others, and their children -- about other’s perspectives. Harper Lee uses her characters Atticus, Calpurnia, and the children to exhibit her thoughts on society.