Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

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“One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.”(Franklin Thomas) This shows us how prejudices are unreasonable, because they are all in our heads. But no matter what we do, we cannot escape them. Including the characters in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. In the small town of Maycomb county, Harper Lee portrays that prejudice promotes inequality in society. She shows us how prejudice is conceived, how it can affect people, and how it can be potentially overcome. In the novel, prejudice arises due to preconceptions and stereotypes that develop into…show more content…
Jem describes him as “six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” (Pg.13) The children are being prejudiced towards Boo radley because they have never seen him before in their lives. Jem makes assumptions based off of what he hears, and judges Boo radley, making him seem like a monster, before he even meets him. A similar incidence happens later in the book, a woman named Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose is introduced. Mrs. Dubose is an elderly, bad tempered woman who lives near the Finch’s house. One Saturday, when Jem and Scout are walking past her house, she is sitting on the porch, in her usual spot. Knowing that they are atticus’s children, she mutters out "Yes indeed, what has this world come to when a Finch goes against his raising? I'll tell you!" She put her hand to her mouth. When she drew it away, it trailed a long silver thread of saliva. "Your father's no better than the niggers and trash…show more content…
In the book, Scout’s Aunt Alexandra comes to live with the Finches, because she believes that Scout needs a female role model in her life. One day, Scout asks for her permission to play with her classmate Walter Cunningham. When Alexandria refuses, she explains to Scout "I'll tell you why," she said. "Because- he- is- trash, that's why you can't play with him. I'll not have you around him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows-what. You're enough of a problem to your father as it is." (chapter 23) Although this is a minor example, this shows us how prejudices can have an affect other people. Aunt Alexandria’s opinion on the Cunninghams, and how they have little money, is affecting Scout because she is being prevented from seeing him. She also talks about how Walter has bad habits that scout should not “pick up on”, yet she barely even knows Walter. Her views on the Cunninghams are affecting Scouts life. Another, more serious example of this is when Tom Robinson is being defended for the rape of Mayella Ewell. Scout makes a realization that "Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed." (25.28). The heavy social prejudice against blacks in their community has clearly had an effect on Tom’s life. The court had rules him as
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