Common Human Experiences In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay, Research Paper

Common Human Experiences in To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill A Mockingbird there are three common human experiences. All of

these common human experiences act as learning experiences for the narrator of

the story, Scout.

The main common human experience of the novel is prejudice. Scout has many

confrontations with prejudice throughtout the novel. There are many levels and

divisions in the characters such as race, sex, and social status. With all of

these levels and divisions there is alot of prejudice in the novel.

The first prejudice in the story occurs at the Tom Robinson trial. Tom

Robinson does not recieve a fair trial because he is black and Mayella Ewell,

the woman Tom is accused of raping, is white. Atticus proves without a doubt

that Tom is innocent. But in a all white jury guilt or innocence is not

important to them the only thing that is important to them is that Tom Robinson

is black. Even if the jurors wanted to say that they beleived Tom was innocent

they would have to face the people of Maycomb and then they would be shunned

for letting a black man go free.

Boo Radley was also the victim of prejudice. The people of Maycomb county

did not understand Boo, he was not seen outside of his house and people did not

know what to think. They made up their own ideas of what he was like and made

him out to be some sort of monster. They pre-judged him because he was

different than they were. Scout later met Boo and discovered that there

judgements of him were false.

The second common human experience is courage. Atticus displays two different

types of courage in the novel. the first is a mental courage when he defends

Tom Robinson even though the chances of winning are almost hopeless. This act

is also couragous because he knows by defending Tom he will shunned by his

peers and people will see him as a traitor. The second type of courage is a

more physical act of courage when he shoots a charging mad dog.

The third common human experience of the story is a right of passage. Scout

goes through a right of passage and becomes more mature through a number of

learning experiences throughout the novel. She learns to look at situations

through other peoples eyes and Atticus taught her to respect all people

regardless of their color, sex or social status. These and many other

experiences help scout to achieve a better understanding of the enviroment

around her.