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  • Essay / Harper Lee's depiction of the theme of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird

    Published in 1960 and written by critically acclaimed author Harper Lee, "To Kill a Mockingbird" observes the life of Scout Finch, a child Innocent American subject to the horrors and merciless segregation that existed in the American South. The novel itself addresses multiple universal themes, including the concepts of racism and injustice. These ideologies are particularly evident through the various characters Lee introduces and demonstrate the impact these notions would have on the functioning of society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In particular, racism in To Kill a Mockingbird refers to bias, referring to either a person, an entire race, or a group. of people belonging to different ethnic groups. The novel presents bigotry in Maycomb society where most individuals belong to different races. Harper Lee defies prejudice and highlights how social betrayal, partisanship and the lessons of discrimination destroy social cohesion. Despite the fact that the entire content depicts racism, some notable incidents of racism in Harper Lee's novel will be discussed in this essay. The first quote that highlights the theme of racism is when Mr. Raymond acts as if he is drunk. so he can explain why he married a woman of another race and why he even lives with her. From the novel we understand that Mr. Raymond is frequently drunk and in this scenario he pretends to be disconcerted to explain to Scout, Jem and Dill why he does this: "Secretly, Miss Finch, I am not a heavy drinker. , but you see, they will never, ever be able to understand that I live the way I do because that's the way I want to live. The quote clarifies the reality that a man would pretend to be drunk just so he could live with the woman he loves and has children with, perhaps an idealized illustration of the racism prevalent in Maycomb. Furthermore, the use of comparison and irony highlights the fact that there was obvious racism in society and that it is unacceptable to live with a person of another race and, even better, to marry him. On top of that, the personal pronoun "I" makes the reader feel like the story is being told to them and the emotional connection with the readers proves how shameful society was in the late 1900s. The second quote that Obviously illustrating the major theme of racism in the book is when Atticus mocks his uncle by stating, "She was white and she tempted a nigger." She did something that is unspeakable in our society: she kissed a black man. Not an old uncle, but a strong young black man. No code mattered to her before she cracked it, but it fell to her afterward. The derogatory term "nigger" is used here to show the lack of respect given to black people, because from what we know today in society, it is an ethnic insult that only black people have the right to say. 'to use. The constant repetition of the singular personal pronoun "she" emphasizes that she has indeed done something unethically wrong, once again demonstrating the theme of racism as it should be acceptable to kiss a person of a different race . Likewise, as an audience, we understand that Atticus is hoping that we, the readers, will be caught in the paradox technique, since in this case Mayella actually broke the law, but Tom, a watchful black man, was following them and obeyed the whites. marry. Finally, the alliteration of “cam crashing” helps attract.