To Kill a Mocking Bird - Research Paper Example

 Racism refers to the belief that there are differences in the ethnic groups on the basis of people’s characters, abilities and status. Racism, hence, classifies people in different groups and considers some races as superior to the others. The concept of racism is losing its colour. It is, however, not justifiable to believe that racism has been eliminated completely from the society. The literature is full of such works which identify the instances of racism in the society from the 20’s till now. Throughout history there have been many forms of racism against different groups of people. One way we can really know is by the writers word in literature or school books. One way has been exposed is in "To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee in which she depicts the racial problems of the Deep South in 1930 (Thernstrom 1997; Claudia 1994; Lee 1960). In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses many characters in the book, including Atticus, Jem, Scout and Tom to convey the major themes of the story regarding courage, racism and stereotyping to the reader. The story clearly describes the issue of racism as it was in the 1920s and 1930s in America. It is a story which revolves around a black named Tom Robinson who is accused of raping a girl which he has not even done. Racism can be seen in the very core of the theme of the story. The story shows that blacks have always been treated inferior to other races and because of their ethnicity and colour they have always been blamed for things that they have not even done (Lee 1960). The story shows how a town gets one sided when it comes to the issue of rape of a girl by a black. The black named Tom Robinson provides with enough evidence that he is not committed the crime but no one believes him because of his colour. The treatment of Tom Robinson in the story can clearly tell that the jury was being biased only because he was a black. Not only this but racism is also showed in the words of the characters in the story. As at one instance Scout clearly states that “He’s just a nigger’ (Lee 1960). Racism as practiced in the society against blacks is seen in the courtroom as told by Lee. This can be clearly seen in the character of Mr Gilmer when he cross examines Tom Robinson. It is seen how Mr Gilmer makes a mockery out Tom’s story. It is seen that even the judge is not objecting to Tom Robinson’s treatment by Mr Gilmer. These racist comments passed by the lawyer against Tom Robinson clearly depict the theme of racism as being practiced in the society against the blacks. Similarly Stereotyping also can be witnessed here as the judges in the courtroom were not paying any particular heed to Tom Robinson’s plea as blacks automatically are considered to be criminals. Therefore it can be said that Chapter 19 is the amalgamation of all these themes together to give out a masterpiece which co-relates the judgment and the main theme of the whole story (Lee 1960; Thernstrom 1997). The story tells as to how stereotyping against the blacks or inferior class is being done in the society and how it is actually affecting the lives of many individuals living in this world. An example of stereotyping is the way people think about Dolphus Raymond without even knowing him. For example in chapter 20 Scout says “somehow, I didn’t think Atticus would like it if we became friendly with Mr. Raymond, and I knew Aunt Alexandra wouldn’t.” (Lee 200) Scout is referring to what other people would have said about Dolphus Raymond as generally people had a negative view of Dolphus Raymond. Everyone in the town thought wrong about Dolphus Raymond as he had a black wife and was a drunkard too. Here it can be clearly seen that stereotyping regarding different individuals was also practiced back then. It can also be seen in the story that Tom Robinson is trying to tell about the stereotyping done against the blacks as according to him no matter if the blacks commit a crime or not they are convicted and because of this Tom was scared as he was a black. Another scene can be quoted here in which Tom states that he used to help Mayella because he felt sorry for her. And in reply to this statement of Tom, Mr Gilmer replies “'You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?' Mr. Gilmer seemed ready to rise to the ceiling."(Lee 197) Through this it can be clearly seen that blacks are stereotyped to be an inferior community who can never want good for the whites. The theme of Stereotyping and the decisions affected by it can be clearly witnessed in the whole story and especially in scenes of Chapter 19 when the pleas of Tom are not entertained in the court by the judge (Lee 1960). The story also puts forward different events in which it can be seen that blacks are being treated unfairly. It is seen that because of this racist point of view the Tom Robinson was not given a fully fair trial and was enforced with a sentence. The main example of this is the language used throughout the trial when it comes to Tom Robinson. An example of the language is “what’d the nigger look like when you got through with him.”(Lee 196) This is from Chapter 19 when Mr. Gilmer was asking Tom Robinson questions during the trial. Another example is when Francis says “I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a niggerlover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family.” (Lee 83) This is a family member of the Finch’s and he is calling his own uncle a niggerlover. Many others have called Atticus a niggerlover throughout the book. It can be seen that through these quotes Lee is trying to tell that the gender and races are considered as important aspects in the daily lives and people take decisions and pass remarks on individuals keeping these two factors in mind. Nigger is a derogatory term used for the blacks which differs these blacks from other individuals of the society. In today’s society the word nigger is considered a slang word but as you can tell it is commonly used in the world for blacks. Racism in the story proves to be dangerous for Tom as he is convicted for the crime he has not committed by the judges just because he is a black. As Lee is trying to tell through her story that these racist perspectives are the ones which are solely to be blamed when it comes to the unjust decision of the jury. The story itself revolves around racism if viewed from one perspective. It can be seen that because of colour only people are not seeing the real Tom Robinson. Atticus is fighting the case for Tom Robinson but it is of no use as no one is ready to stand up for a black. The character of Tom Robinson himself shows that he is a victim of racism in the society and he cannot do anything about it but rather live with the truth. This aligns to the situation as it is being faced by many blacks in the world. It is seen even now at many instances that blacks and other ethnicities are faced with bias and discrimination. At one instance in the story Tom Robinson states “Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you’d be scared too.” (Lee 195) This was after Tom explained how Mayella Ewell kissed him on the cheek, and she wanted to have intercourse with him but he said no and pushed her off. After Tom was sighted by Bob Ewell he became scared and ran off from the scene. Tom by saying this was trying to portray that he was even scared at that moment when Mayella was forcing him to have intercourse with her. This whole scene was quoted in the court by Tom but everyone laughed at his story. Here again it can be seen that because he was a black he was not even trusted by people. In this scene it can be seen that Tom is emphasizing on the fact that he is a black and if anyone is a black then he would naturally be afraid. In other words it is impossible for a black to lead a pious and simple life without being scared. It can be concluded from here that every black has to be afraid if he has to live in the society (Lee 1960; Claudia 1994). Racism and bias is perfectly portrayed in the story as it shows the different realities of life. It shows as to people are making bias decisions when it comes to certain races. People have already developed judgements about certain races and because of this the individuals of these certain races are being punished for things that they have not even committed. The story is urging all the people out there to adopt a non-stereotyping behaviour so that injustice is removed from the society (Thernstrom 1997). Works Cited Lee Harper, To Kill A Mocking Bird, New York:1960,Popular Lirbrary  Thernstrom,Stephen;Thernstrom Abigail, American In Black and White One Nation, Indivisible, New York, Simon& Schuster,1997  Johnson Claudia, Durst.To Kill A Mockingbird Threatening Boundaries, New York, Twayne Publishers,1994  Read More