Racism, sexism, ageism, classism, homophobia, nationalism, religious prejudice, and xenophobia are all types of prejudice. A theme is the overall subject of a topic. The theme can change the actions and characters in the story. It helps the characters develop throughout the story and teaches them what is right. The author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is Harper Lee. In her book, the people of the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, are against black people. The plot beings when Mayella’s dad, Bob Ewell, accuses Tom Robinson of raping his daughter. He brought him to court and Tom ends up losing because he is a black man and Mayella is a white woman. Tom was sent to jail but got caught trying to escape. He was shot seventeen times and he died. Even though Bob won the case against Atticus, who was Tom’s lawyer, he tries to kill Atticus’ kids to get back at him for taking the case. As Bob attempts to kill the kids, Boo Radley comes in and saves them from being killed. In my opinion, the most effective theme in this novel is prejudice because it is relevant throughout the whole book.
Many characters are depicted in the town of Maycomb as being narrow-minded and intolerant of someone who does not meet their standards. Boo Radley is being persecuted and gossiped about because he has not been seen outside his home since he was a boy. Several of his neighbors assume he is a mysterious character who leaves his house just after dark, and neighborhood gossip has culminated in Jem describing Boo as a demon. “Boo was about 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” (Lee, 13). This quote suggests that instead of listening to idle gossip, which is often vastly inflated in Boo Radley’s case, Miss Maudie prefers to draw her own conclusions about people based on fact. Boo Radley is seen by many residents of Maycomb as a danger to their well-being and as an object of gossip. A few of them know that he’s living at his place. Just Atticus and Miss Maudie agree that in peace he should be left alone and feel that he should no longer be a figure of rumor and speculation.
Tom Robinson is believed to be accused of sexually assaulting Mayella Ewell solely because he is a black male and she is a white woman, even though evidence shows he was clearly innocent. It’s clear throughout the book that the final result of the trial will have Tom being innocent. “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life” (Lee, 244). The words of Atticus reveal that the courts were often racist against black citizens. No matter how much evidence proved their innocence, they would still be found guilty if a white person had convicted them of a crime. Many people in the courtroom were surprised that Tom felt sorry for Mayella. Because she was white, his trial was already over.
Dolphus Raymond pretends to be continually drunk in order to avoid questions about the choices he has made in life. He is in a relationship with a black woman and has several children with her, but he knows this would be severely frowned upon by others. He and his family are treated as outcasts. “They don’t belong anywhere. Colored folks won’t have ‘em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ’em ’cause they’re colored” (Lee, 163). During Tom Robinson’s court action, Dolphus reveals that he only drinks cola when he is interacting with Scout, Jem, and Dill. If the people of Maycomb think he’s drunk, Dolphus thinks they’re going to leave him alone to lead his own life, no matter how bad they say it is. Even if the town does not believe him, he is living his own life and he does not want anyone to bother him.
In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, prejudice plays a huge role in the theme. It impacted the whole story. The entire town is prejudiced against each other. This is the cause of the climax. The author was trying to teach the reader about prejudice by showing what bad things could happen if you are prejudiced toward others. Sometimes being judgmental towards other people can lead to something you never intended or didn’t mean to cause. An example from the book would be Tom getting shot seventeen times while trying to escape from prison. Prejudice is quite common in the world today. Even in our own town, some people are prejudiced toward black people. They see what happens on the news and they decide to base all black people off of a select few. They are scared of what could happen just because of their race. What about all the while people who do bad things? Why are they not scared of them too? People should not be in fear over the color of someone’s skin color. This book greatly explains what could possibly happen in real life.
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