Examples Of Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” (U.S. Constitution) This provides freedom for every person in the United States not to be discriminated. However, in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird in the 1930s, discrimination neglected the constitution in the southern town of Maycomb, Alabama. The young narrator in the novel, Scout Finch, experiences the extreme prejudices in her hometown with the help of her brother, Jem, and her father, Atticus Finch. I illustrate these events from multiple perspectives by synthesizing through the lenses of Maycomb’s victims. To emphasize,…show more content…
In Chapter 5, Jem asks for Atticus’s reinsurance to explain to him about the injustice of the court. He wonders why there is not women on the stand, “For one thing, Miss Maudie can’t serve on a jury because she’s a woman… I guess it’s to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom’s… I doubt if we’d ever get a complete case tried-the ladies’d be interrupting to ask questions.” (43-46) From this quote, it shows that women need protection because they are not strong enough to make their own choices; therefore, society portrays women as chatty and weak. Even though Atticus is a supporter in stopping prejudice, he cannot help himself by showing discrimination towards a person’s gender. Having the characteristics of being chatty and weak is one thing, but having a person not being accepted because of their gender is another thing. In Chapter 12, Jem points out to Scout how inappropriate she is being for acting tomboyish. He overreacts and picked on Scout’s individuality, "It's time you start bein' a girl and actin' right!" (154) Jem tries to make her feel bad for the kind of person she is when judging on her appearance; nevertheless, he continues to discriminate against her own gender for being a person he will not accept. For not having the capability to change Scout, he does his best by making her feel guilty for being herself. To summarize, Jem will not accept Scout's personality because it contradicts how he thinks a girl should act or behave; therefore, he lashes out towards her for being a
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