To Kill a Mockingbird Prejudice Essay Example

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” (Lincoln). Abraham Lincoln once famously stated these powerful words to a crowd of thousands of people. However, while many people remembered those famous words decades after they were spoken, in the early 1900s, not many of them actually took heed of Lincoln’s advice. In 1960, Harper Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird. This novel addresses everyday life in the 30’s, and it focuses around a rape trial, where a black man is unjustly accused. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, prejudice is shown through the events of the trial, Aurthur (Boo) Radley’s character, and the curiously worded title itself. 

The rape trial in question was brought to the court by Mayella Ewell, who supposedly was the victim of Tom Robinson. While testifying in the court, Mayella claims that, Tom raped her while he was in her house doing a chore for her. However, her story is full of holes and incomplete evidence. When Tom goes to testify for himself, his story is completely different. He claims that while he was doing a chore for her, she came up to him and started inappropriately interacting with him. Judge Taylor seemed to be leaning towards Tom’s story, however in the end he believed Mayella’s story. The Ewell family, especially Bob Ewell, is a family that shows extreme prejudice towards all people of African decent. Bob Ewell had clearly abused Mayella because of her actions, and he decided to cover up his sin by blaming Tom. Bob knew all along that he would win the case because of Tom’s skin color, and in the end, he was right. 

While this title’s meaning is not made clear in the beginning of the novel, Aunt Maudie explains more in chapter 10. “Mockingbirds don’t do the one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). I believe that this title could have related to two characters. First, there was Tom Robinson. Tom was unfairly accused in court of rape by Mayella Ewell. Tom was an innocent black man who did nothing to upset Mayella, however she blamed him for raping her as an effort to cover up her own mistakes. Unfortunately, deep down Atticus knew all along that Tom was going to loose the case because most of the people of Maycomb county did not want him to win. 

Secondly, there was Aurther (Boo) Radley. In the town of Maycomb, the Radley family is associated with many mysterious rumors. According to the townspeople, Boo stayed inside and only ever came out at night. Scout, Jem, and Dill believed many of these rumors at the beginning of the novel. Later on; however, the children discover that Boo Radley was not the evil man that the entire town of Maycomb believed him to be. as a child, Boo Radley was abused and locked up inside by his father. Because of his childhood trauma and how afraid the people were of him, Boo was forced to stay inside. At the end of the novel, he comes outside and saves Scout and Jem’s lives by protecting them from drunk and angry Bob Ewell. Scout later talks to him and realizes that Boo was not the evil, dangerous man that Maycomb County made him out to be.