preview

To Kill A Mockingbird Prejudice Quotes

Decent Essays

Prejudice will always be apart of human nature. Prejudice is when one has a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Many citizens in the world do not realize they demonstrate prejudice in their life. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates prejudice through racism, social class, and sexism through certain characters, to emphasize not to judge a person before being placed in their shoes.
Racism is represented to strengthen Harper Lee’s theme of prejudice. Mrs. Dubose yells at Jem and Scout across the street, “‘Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!”’ (Lee 117). Mrs. Dubose showed quite the character of racism. She is upset and angry that Atticus is helping Tom in …show more content…

In Maycomb County, Jem and Scout have certain beliefs about the different families in the county. Jem states, “There’s four types of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, and a kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes” (Lee 258). This quote is showing what Jem believes, and what he has taught himself from what he has seen. Jem is “ranking” the families in Maycomb County. He has put himself, and his family at the top, and black people at the bottom. Throughout the book, Harper Lee there introduces the Cunninghams, who are more poor than Finch’s, and then the Ewells, who are the poorest, living behind the dump. On the other hand, Miss Caroline, an outsider from northern Alabama, does not understand the social ranks in Maycomb. Scout tries to explain to her, ‘“That’s okay, ma’am, you'll get to know all the county folks after a while”’ (Lee 22). A couple paragraphs before this, Ms. Caroline was trying to offer Walter Cunningham some money for his lunch and he could pay her back later. He would not take the money, and Scout, the only one in class who was brave enough, told Miss Caroline that the Cunninghams can not pay back the money they are given. Ms. Caroline, how oblivious she is, punishes Scout for telling her such a thing. Miss Caroline then finds out more about the social class, like the

Get Access