Essay, Research Paper
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
In To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee suggests that prejudice is wrong.
Prejudice is a word that we use to describe people who put other people in a class
simply because those people are different from them or the majority.
Prejudice is wrong because it separates people. It is wrong because it creates hatred
and because it can hurt all people, whether that hurt is physically or mentally.
Prejudice is wrong because it separates people.
If a person is pre-judging another person, they do not stop to weigh if the person
they are pre-judging really has certain characteristics or if they just think they might
have those characteristics. Jem and Scout Finch, and Dill Harris heard rumors that
Boo Radley was crazy, had cut up his Dad with a pair of scissors, and was generally
a scary person that could hurt them. Because of these rumors they had prejudices
of the Radley family and Boo. They were curious about Boo and wanted to know
more about him but they were afraid of him and did not want to approach him
directly. It was only after Scout and Jem started finding things in the tree did they
think he might want to be their friend. After he saved their life, they found out
what they thought was not true. They found out Boo Radly was an okay guy. They
and the people of the town had pre-judged him wrongly.
When Calpurnia invites Scout to her house Scout learns that Calpurnia exits in two
different worlds. She has an existence in their house and her own home. When she
takes them to her church they discover that some Negroes might resent their
presence because they are white. They do find out though most of the Negroes are
very kindly towards them. This separation emphasizes the differences between the
Negro and the white world.
Mrs. Dubose is an old lady that screams at the children as they go by. Her
screaming keeps them from getting to know her. It keeps them separated from her.
They get to know Miss Maudie because she is very nice to them so they are not
separated from her. It is only after Jem is forced to read to Mrs. Dubose and
Atticus explains that she was fighting a medical battle, do they realize positive
things about her.
Prejudice is wrong because it causes hate.
Hate is something that is may be caused by miss communication. Someone may
have pre-judged some one and automatically assumed that the other is wrong or
bad . Some examples o
Scout and Jem observed hatred between Mr.Walter Cunningham and Tom
Robinson. Mr. Cunningham had this hate in him about Negroes because he had pre-
judged black people. Mr. Cunningham pre-judgment was based on the thought that
black people were inferior to white people and were of a lower social class
because many had undesirable jobs and were poor. He felt his daughter
could not have any thing to do with them. He was very angry and hated Tom
because his daughter had acted like she like him in their house.
Another example of hate is what some of the kids that Jem and Scout went to
school with said about their Dad because of of his job defending Tom in court.
They said Atticus was a “nigger lover” and gave Scout and Jem a hard time. The
kids had developed hate for the Finch family because they said they associated with
blacks people.
Prejudice is wrong because it hurts all people
A person feels hurt by someone emotionally or physically. This happens by having a
prejudice feeling and taking it out on that person verbally and making a comment
that hurts their feelings. It may also mean hurting someone physically or
threatening to hurt them. An example of physical prejudice is when Mr.
Cunningham had picked a fight with Tom Robinson. Mr. Cunninghams prejudice
against Tom was so great that he wanted to hurt him physically.
An example of verbal prejudice is when Mrs. Dubose made negative comments
about Scout and how she was dressed when Scout passed Mrs. Dobose?s house.
Scout was verbally abused by Mrs. Dubose because Mrs. Dubose had thought that
Scout was not a good little girl and was a trouble maker. Mrs. Dubose had pre-
judged Scout and thought that she was very disrespectful although Scout had
made some comments about Mrs. Dubose that Scout always said under her breath
so as no to provoke Mrs. Dubose more.
Prejudice has a lot to do with how you grow up and how you are influenced by the
people around you. You are influenced by your parents, TV, and radio and friends.
Your parents in particular have a great deal to do with your prejudices because they
affect how you think about many things. My parents taught me that black people
are not different because their skin is black. For many years my best friend at the
YMCA has been my friend Terry. Terry is black. As the author had Atticus tell
Scout and Jem, Negroes are people like everyone else.