To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderfully written book by Harper Lee. It takes place in the 1930's which was a time that was known for its racism. The following essay will explain how racism effected certain characters in the book.

Racism was a big issue in this book. One of the people who was most affected by it was Atticus Finch. It was him who had to defend a black man in a town where whites had certainly put the black population in their places. He was ridiculed throughout the book for defending a black man who had almost no chance of being acquitted because of the strong influence of racism.

The person who was definitely impacted the most was Tom Robinson, an innocent man wrongly accused by a racist farmer. He was not only convicted in what was a trial where anyone could see that there was definitely a reasonable doubt to his guilt. But was also mysteriously shot seventeen times when he apparently attempted to escape from jail.

The maid, Calpurnia was also affected by racism on a smaller scale she was not harassed as much by whites as she was by blacks by bringing white children to her church. Mr. Ewell was also affected by racism, but in the opposite way. He was on the giving end as opposed to the receiving end of it. He attacked his daughter, Mayella, for coming on to a black man and nearly beat her to death. He then tried to blame it on Tom, who was not at fault in any way.

As you can see in this report, the community in the book is deeply torn by racism. What is in a race anyway? One persons skin is a different color than someone else's. That is sad. These are only a fraction of the people who are impacted by the cold hands of racism in this book. To talk about every different way each person was influenced would take much too long. This book is the perfect example of how racism can destroy people and society at large.