How Does Harper Lee Use Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

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“Racism can ‘destroy the personality and scar the soul.” - Martin Luther King One widespread for of prejudice based on socially significant physical distinction is racism. In today’s world, racism is not as common as it was in the 1900s; it is now frowned upon and not very common at all. But in the mean time, the persistence of racism in the twenty-first century is due to the invention and diffusion of the concept of race, as an addition to the exploitive relations that Europeans established with non-white peoples. Stereotypical thinking and displacement help explain prejudice and discrimination through psychological mechanisms. Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is very common, and it is an important theme in the story. Looking more into the life of the author, Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in the city of Monroeville, Alabama. Harper Lee wrote To Kill a…show more content…
The main characters - Scout, Jem and Atticus - are victimized because Atticus is defending a black man, accused of raping a white girl, in court. Racism is, at first, harassment and discriminative on an essential level. The force of racism was not just troubling Scout, but was also touching many individuals in Maycomb. Furthermore, racism is life changing and causes some people to develop into outsiders, as in Mr. Dolphus Raymond's case who decided to live with the colored society. Racism is the main theme of this story and at this time integrity cannot overcome this prejudice. Considering the historical time in which the book takes place as compared to our world today, there are several quotes that could be considered (by to today's standards) "racist". The use of the “negro” word is prevalent throughout the book and this word holds an immediate "racist" and demeaning connotation. Though it was certainly more commonly used in the 1930s than it is now, even then it was considered

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