Prejudice in To Kill A Mockingbird
Prejudice in To Kill A Mockingbird
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, there are three types of prejudice shown. The three I will be dealing with in this essay are gender prejudice, racial prejudice, and social class prejudice.
Firstly, gender prejudice was shown throughout the book by most folk of Maycomb County. For example, the book shows Scout was ridiculed by the Finch family because of her lack of being lady-like, and because she was a girl she was expected to act and wear lady-like clothing. (79) For further proof, in To Kill a Mockingbird the men of Maycomb talk of how women should not participate in the court system because this may cause a confrontation with some crazy convict. (221) I think that gender prejudice is a important topic of the book because the girls in the examples above are being restricted from things that society doesn’t want them to do and they cant do anything about it.
Secondly, in the book racial prejudice is dealt with on a daily basis, and is distinctly brought upon Negros. To illustrate, in the book people of Maycomb show racial prejudice when they take the word of a smelly, no good, dirty whit woman over a sweet, good, wholesome Negro. (186) To further illustrate, in the book the blacks are sat in the upper balcony so the whites can have a clear view of the courtroom. (164) To clear things up, in Maycomb County, it was hell being a Negro.
Lastly, the third prejudice talked about in the book is social class prejudice. For instance, in the book the people of Maycomb frown upon the Ewell family because of their lack of taking baths and brushing of teeth. (226) For a further instance, social class prejudice was brought to my attention when I saw that the Negros of Maycomb county were forced to pay for their own church because they were not allowed in the white man’s church. (120) To clear it up, being at low social status results in being looked at different and suffering harsh treatment.
Thus, because Maycomb County shows social class, racial, and gender prejudices, that is one reason you should be glad you didn’t grow up in the 1930’s. To end on that note in To Kill a Mockingbird there are three types of prejudices shown.