Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay, Research Paper

To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human

behavior (Lee). It portrays how unkind people of Maycomb County

could be. It shows a time when being different made life more difficult

than it had to be. It was a time when people did not accept differences. It

especially shows cruelty against blacks, lawyers, and the poor.

Discrimination against blacks is shown a lot all throughout the

novel. Maycomb County didn t exactly welcome blacks as well as the

whites were welcomed. The white people had more priveleges than the

black people had. The blacks wouldn t enter the courtroom until all of

the whites had entered (Lee 166). Racial discrimination still goes on

today. Because of racism in the criminal justice system, blacks are more

likely to be arrested, convicted, and given stiffer sentences (Horne 135).

When slavery had ended, the so-called freedom lands held nothing but

disappointment for most black people (McCague 119). To Kill A

Mockingbird tells of a black man being accused of raping a white woman

and in the courtroom, the white man s word is taken over the black man s

word (Lee 172). The white woman s father said that some nigger d

raped his girl (Lee 169). The black man is punished for a crime that he

did not commit because of his race. In the novel, racial words are used

often. Words such as nigger and negroe . It wasn t known for white

folks and black folks to be together unless it was work associated. If it

was seen, people would say, why s he sittin with the colored folks?

(Lee 163).

To Kill A Mockingbird also shows discrimination against lawyers.

Lawyers have always been deeply discriminated against. They are

discriminated for what they believe, stand for, and everything that they

represent. It shows that Atticus Finch was hated for defending Niggers

(Lee 79). Many people hated him for his tricking ways (Lee 180). His

children were made fun of and picked at about the person that their father

was defending. Scout Finch knew that she was different because of her

father. I saw something only a lawyer s child could be expected to

see (Lee 213) is one example of how she knew that she was known as

different. People would ask if they were ashamed of him (Lee 102).

The children of the Finch family didn t like the way that they were treated

because of their father. They thought that Atticus should have said

something to defend them when people were talking about them (Lee

166). Jim Finch, Scout s brother, asked Atticus if he defended niggers?

(Lee 79).

To Kill A Mockingbird also show the cruelty and discrimination

against the poor people of Maycomb County. These people were put into

a category of their own. Of coarse, they were talked about and made fun of

because they were different. There were many children who didn t know

where their next meal was coming from (Lee 30). Some poor people

were called dirty (Lee 110). Some people weren t spoken to in the book

because of their social status. A lot of the poor were known by their last

name. These people were the people such as the Cunningham s and the

Ewell s. They weren t very popular and lived off of what they could.

People said, they re not out kind of folks (Lee 226).

In conclusion, To Kill A Mockingbird portrays how awful and

cruel people can be to one another and how discrimination and hatred can

feel the lives of people because of differences. It can all turn out much

worse than expected (Marney 110). This novel proves that.