Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

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Emily Sengstock Mr. Marquardt Survey English 06 March 2011 Prejudice as Told by Harper Lee In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows a lot of ways the characters use prejudice. You see examples of it every day. Prejudice really means an opinion made about someone or something based on rumors or untrue background information. The concept of prejudice really shows a lot about someone. Prejudice can be disguised as stereotyping, discrimination, misjudgment, and the biggest, which is shown in the book, is racism. Examples are shown through the eyes of the Maycomb citizens Scout and Jem, Atticus, the Radleys, and Aunt Alexandra. The characters in To Kill a Mockingbird show prejudice in many ways. When a citizen of Maycomb meets…show more content…
He is understanding, accepting, and he’s very fair. When he decided to defend Tom Robinson because he found it morally correct, it showed that he was very open-minded. He listened to both sides in the court and found a way to make people believe what he believed. He always treated people with respect. Calpurnia is also a great example of an approving person. Whenever meeting someone she would show courtesy to whoever it may be. From the small comments and actions that the characters make you can tell a lot about that person. Prejudice is a strong opinion backed up by no information. It’s similar to racism and has the same effects. Harper Lee has great examples from Tom Robinson’s court case and the Radley situation that show this. Characters like Aunt Alexandra show prejudice, yet Atticus does not. Prejudice is a strong point in To Kill a Mockingbird and it has strong effects on people. Works Cited MacAskill, Ewen. "Obama Campaign Finds Prejudice Lingers in Blue-collar Heartlands | World News | The Guardian." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. 14 Oct. 2008. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.
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