Preview

To Kill A Mockingbird Is Still Relevant Today

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
517 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To Kill A Mockingbird Is Still Relevant Today
Question 8
Alexis Austin
To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

All we have to do is look around us and we can see that these things do still exist. Even though we are not as racist as before prejudice events still happen. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about all different kinds of stereotypes. It uses a young girl’s perspective to show how these stereotypes were so abundant, and how terrible they were. To Kill a Mockingbird is very much still relevant today. Society does not take everyone in for who they are but they judge people if they don't live up to certain expectations. Think about your environment and how others around you feel. Issues that happened a long time ago still happen today. People grow up with different beliefs, and moral education. For Instance, Walter Cunningham was poor and was isolated from all the other kids in school. He got bullied, labeled, and in trouble for the wrong reasons. A lot of kids looked down upon him because he was different. There are kids that still struggle with not fitting in and having little money. They don't live up to people's expectations, and get bullied for it. Events such as the ones in Jena, Louisiana seem to become more common each day. Recently, a black professor at Columbia
…show more content…
First, racism is still occurring today, and just like in the novel we will have to work against it. We need heroes like Boo Radley to come out of the dark and help us grow our society. Tolerance is still something we have a large issue with today, just as in the novel. This book is filled with good examples of stereotypes, and what must be done to counter them. To Kill a Mockingbird should be read by all and used as a guidebook to stereotypes even in our world today. Even though inequality is not as popular back then it still is just as bad. Our world and society today still treat people unequally it can be for their color, morals or

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, continues to be taught today and should continue, as the characterization of the story, although fictional, has a high resemblance to real life cases and issues of the time. It captures critical lessons and teachings that are imperative to modern-day schools and present-day society. To Kill A Mockingbird depicts the inequality between blacks and whites in the 1930s by telling a captivating story including the issues of rape and racism. Although the fictional novel To Kill A Mockingbird was set in the 1930s, it references Civil Rights cases involving discrimination, racism, and segregation that were part of the Civil Rights movement throughout the whole century.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The book To Kill A Mockingbird can be about many things, all depending on how you understand it. The main theme is prejudice because no matter where you look in the book you are sure to find some sort of prejudice. Everybody looks down on the blacks and automatically looks down on the white people who talk to or try to help them. Just like how they all look down on and make fun of Atticus because he is helping Tom Robinson and his family. Another big form of prejudice is between men and woman.…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Almost every human that has gone through a high school English class has read the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This highly acclaimed novel tells the story of Scout Finch, an ambitious, intelligent tomboy living with her older brother, Jem, and her attorney father, Atticus in the midst of the Great Depression. Scout has a strong sense of knowledge of the good and evil in people. Especially when the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of the rape of Mayella Ewell, a young, white woman, brings a bought of racial prejudices even a seven year old can’t ignore. When Tom Robinson, represented by Atticus himself, is found guilty of the accusation, he is sent to jail, and later, killed, presenting the children with the true evils of people that they didn’t previously recognize.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    As of today, we still have problem with prejudice and racism towards blacks. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel illustrating the struggles of a racist town in Alabama. Characters are at a struggle to comprehend the way people act. Knowing this, they have to learn what is right and act accordingly. Throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, characters discover and begin to emphasize each other’s lives in large portions and in doing so, many characters develop and mature to understand the world they live in.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Harper Lee’s, full name Nelle Lee’s, novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, published in 1960, there are many instances where characters challenge stereotypes or work to help defy them. Jem, for instance, is a character who does not act how a typical boy is supposed to, challenge the stereotypes of males. Another example is Atticus, a lawyer and the father of the narrator. Lastly, Boo Radley, a man prejudged by the entire town, ends up being the biggest hero in Harper Lee’s book. In summary, Jem, Atticus, and Boo Radley are all people who contribute to the novel’s theme of challenge stereotypes and prejudice.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is well known for being on the list of banned books. This is because it is centered around racism and does use profanity, however it is still more than relevant. In the 1930’s, when this book takes place, the great depression is happening and there is still heavy racism. However there are good people like Atticus Finch that are accepting of everyone regardless of the color of their skin. To Kill A Mockingbird is still relevant in schools today because the book gives many events for learning: the coming of age journey from diverse, intriguing characters, the lesson of accepting others aside from differences and the difficult road of American racism.…

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the beginning of human existence, people have always been discriminative towards one another solely based on race. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee in the 1960’s, though the setting is based in the 1930’s.The novel challenges the false idea of the stereotypical African-American human being, as was typical in the 1930’s. It has been said that this novel portrays African-Americans as submissive, simple, and ignorant folk who need whites to protect them. To Kill a Mockingbird contains several black characters who are the complete opposite of these qualities. Tom Robinson is very polite and gentle, not docile, and Calpurnia is not simple minded, she is well educated. Considering these characters display a change in their stereotype, this novel is a powerful statement against racism.…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hatred always causes harm. In to Kill a Mockingbird, racism is reoccurring because it takes places in many of the events. Racism affects always in a negative way, and to everyone that lived in Maycomb County. It eventually hurt Scout, Jem, and Mr. Raymond but it eventually killed Tom Robinson. Racism is going to continue, but so sad how people can’t stop themselves from judging…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racism in To Kill A Mockingbird was very common, and it is an important part of the story. Racism is shown by the Caucasians in Maycomb against the African-Americans in many different ways. The only reason Tom was killed was because he was colored and he didn't have the freedom the caucasian have. The white society was racist against Africans-Americans call them by a different word. The judge was very racist even after Atticus giving so many proofs that Tom was not the one who did it, the judge already made his mind because the jury was black he had done it. They have not trusted blacks in jails or any other job. In the end, the one main focus of the author was how racism affected black lives, and how it was present at all…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine how hard life was for colored people back then. How one couldn’t even receive a fair trial because of someone’s color or ethnicity. How is was virtually impossible for them to receive a fair trial without people using stereotypes to structure their judgment. To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates many conflicts, one being the beating and rape of a white woman by a black man, which back then was punishable by death. With this case, a man by the name of Atticus accepts to defend the man who is accused : Tom Robinson. Atticus has to endure what the society throws at him, along with his two children : Jem and Scout. To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee reveals, by using characters and characters’ actions and choices, it is morally correct to stand up and do the right thing. Without someone pointing out what is wrong with the society, things will never change for the better.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Surely, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird has many examples of different themes. This novel has changed the view of many people in now. Even though this went of the 50 years ago it still plays a prominent part in our lives today. Although, racism isn’t big of a problem as it was back then, it is still an issue. The relationship of family, perspective, and race were a big part in the novel, they showed the true character of different people and how they look at life. Harper Lee has gotten a great deal of praise for her type of writing and how great of a writer she…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Society has evolved over hundreds of years to be where it is now. Throughout that time, people have created thoughts and opinions about many topics such as how one should live, the way people should act, and how to treat others. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is set during the Great Depression in the 1930s. During this time, whites were superior to blacks. Lee uses the case against Tom Robinson to depict the impact slavery has had on racial views towards blacks. Tradition, being the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, is an example of how previous ways of life effect the present. Through the experiences of the Finch family during the time of the Tom Robinson case, it is evident that tradition affects the lives of individuals in a negative way because it shapes the way a society thinks, leaving long lasting views of racism, sexism, and classism.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    History just repeats itself, so the same problems America had in the 1960’s are still going on today. The problems of not fitting in or isolating a group because of their differences is still going on today. There is still racism, but also discrimination against religions, especially Muslim right not, but also gender and sexuality with the LGBTQ+ community coming more into the news.Even though, today because of the rich and diverse cultures and differences in our world we should be more accepting of others’ uniqueness. To Kill A Mockingbird would open people’s mind and allow them to break down the walls between differences. As it says on the cover of the book, “ The Timeless Classic of Growing Up and the Human Dignity That Unites Us All.” We are all different, but we as a people have one big similarity. We are all…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many empowering themes in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, one of the most evident is racial inequality and its effects. In the novel, the author suggests that racial inequality can bring out the worst in some and the best in others through characters like Mayella Ewell, Atticus Finch and the Black community.…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the mid-twentieth century, at a time when America was undergoing huge social change, authors used literature as a tool to inspire equality for all people. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, a black man is put on trial and convicted for a crime he obviously did not commit. Throughout the entire novel, Lee uses the racist nature of Maycomb, Alabama in order to change the way that our own society treats others. Without authors like her supporting social change, we would be living if a very different place today.…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays