To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel that offers a view of life through a young girl’s eyes. This novel focuses on two main themes being racism and discrimination.
Racism is undoubtedly the most prominent theme of the novel. It comes in an open and subtle manner that is displayed through speech and actions. The racism in Maycomb takes mainly the form of having white people against black people. There are many people in Maycomb that are racist because they think of Negroes as an inferior race and are often less reliable and trustworthy. Speech and actions are the most common forms of racism however the layout of the town is of racial discrimination as well. The Negroes are situated in a small camp quite out of the town “past the dump…five hundred yards beyond the Ewells (pg188)” which shows that they are somewhat less valued than the local dump. An example of a character who is severely racist is Mrs Dubose who lives next door to the Finches. Her intolerance of white and black people has become her characteristic. She insults people in many ways but becomes most vicious when it comes to matters of race. She once insulted Jem by saying that his father was “no better than the niggers and trash he works for! (pg113)” causing Jem to explode in a rampage through her garden. Eventually, the reader learns that Mrs Dubose suffers a life-threatening disease that explains some of her rages.
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This can excuse some of her judgement and intolerance but not all of her racial discrimination against Negroes. Although these issues are serious, the main racial conflict originates from the Tom Robinson court case. Some of the minor discrimination includes the absence of Negroes in the jury and the requirement of Negroes having to sit in the gallery of the court room. The more serious issues involve the injustice that Tom Robinson suffered in the case. Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell with weak evidence from her father but still won the case because the townspeople only believed Ewell’s story and since there were no Negroes in the jury, the case was immediately one-sided. Despite the similarities, racism is slightly different to discrimination which will be the next theme discussed.
Discrimination is the main focus of this novel. Racism may seem like the only form of discrimination present but there are many other varieties such as being outcast and ostracized. The Maycomb society in To Kill a Mockingbird finds it hard to accept people that are different from the average standard of the community. The people that do not fit in with the society are often cast out and demonized over time. The prime example of this in the novel is Arthur Radley. Arthur had an unfortunate history. He was “aquainted with some of the Cunninghams (pg 10)” in his teens and eventually ended up in court charged with disorderly conduct. He could not be locked up with Negroes because the Negroes could not cope with him so he ended up in the court-house basement for a period of time. He was eventually released but remained locked up by being “chained to the bed most of the time (pg12)” back at home by Mr Radley. Since Arthur was absent from the Maycomb community, he was eventually demonized and known as the “malevolent phantom (pg9)” who “went out at night when the moon was high and peeped in windows (pg)” of the Maycomb people. “When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he breathed on them.
Any stealthy crimes committed in Maycomb were his work (pg9).” His rumours spread all over Maycomb like a plague and even Jem was able to give “a reasonable description of Boo: six-and-a-half feet tall…dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch…long jagged scar across his face…teeth were yellow and rotten…eyes popped, and drooled most of the time. (pg14)” Arthur was discriminated against and was unable to defend his reputation because he tends to keep to himself by staying at home. However, this discrimination of Boo was quite ironic because he was quite the opposite of this demonized character. In one of the most climatic parts in the novel, it was Arthur who managed to save the Finch children from Bob Ewell’s murderous acts after the school play. The reader realises that Boo was not the monster people thought he was but in fact a strong saviour who was able to overcome the heaped amount of discrimination he suffered and still turn out to be a rightful person.
The Term Paper on Equal Protection And Supreme Court Cases
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) stands as a turning point in Supreme Court decision making as it erased segregation in schools and set a new standard for civil rights cases. Using stricter notions of scrutiny the Court was able to revitalize the Fourteenth Amendment. However, while this case set new standards in civil rights, the Court has since had a difficult time defining their role in cases ...
In conclusion, To Kill a Mockingbird displays the themes racism and discrimination very clearly. Racism is developed through Mrs Dubose’s comments towards the Finch family and the conflict between the whites and the Negroes during the court case. Discrimination is emphasised through the transformation of Arthur Radley from a monster to a saviour in the novel.
