TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

In To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee suggests that prejudice is wrong.

Prejudice is a word that we use to describe people who put other people in a class

simply because those people are different from them or the majority.

Prejudice is wrong because it separates people. It is wrong because it creates hatred

and because it can hurt all people, whether that hurt is physically or mentally.

Prejudice is wrong because it separates people.

If a person is pre-judging another person, they do not stop to weigh if the person

they are pre-judging really has certain characteristics or if they just think they might

have those characteristics. Jem and Scout Finch, and Dill Harris heard rumors that

Boo Radley was crazy, had cut up his Dad with a pair of scissors, and was generally

a scary person that could hurt them. Because of these rumors they had prejudices

of the Radley family and Boo. They were curious about Boo and wanted to know

more about him but they were afraid of him and did not want to approach him

directly. It was only after Scout and Jem started finding things in the tree did they

think he might want to be their friend. After he saved their life, they found out

what they thought was not true. They found out Boo Radly was an okay guy. They

and the people of the town had pre-judged him wrongly.

When Calpurnia invites Scout to her house Scout learns that Calpurnia exits in two

different worlds. She has an existence in their house and her own home. When she

takes them to her church they discover that some Negroes might resent their

presence because they are white. They do find out though most of the Negroes are

very kindly towards them. This separation emphasizes the differences between the

Negro and the white world.

Mrs. Dubose is an old lady that screams at the children as they go by. Her

screaming keeps them from getting to know her. It keeps them separated from her.

They get to know Miss Maudie because she is very nice to them so they are not

separated from her. It is only after Jem is forced to read to Mrs. Dubose and

Atticus explains that she was fighting a medical battle, do they realize positive

things about her.

Prejudice is wrong because it causes hate.

Hate is something that is may be caused by miss communication. Someone may

have pre-judged some one and automatically assumed that the other is wrong or

bad . Some examples of hate that have taken place in the novel is when

Scout and Jem observed hatred between Mr.Walter Cunningham and Tom

Robinson. Mr. Cunningham had this hate in him about Negroes because he had pre-

judged black people. Mr. Cunningham pre-judgment was based on the thought that

black people were inferior to white people and were of a lower social class

because many had undesirable jobs and were poor. He felt his daughter

could not have any thing to do with them. He was very angry and hated Tom

because his daughter had acted like she like him in their house.

Another example of hate is what some of the kids that Jem and Scout went to

school with said about their Dad because of of his job defending Tom in court.

They said Atticus was a "nigger lover" and gave Scout and Jem a hard time. The

kids had developed hate for the Finch family because they said they associated with

blacks people.

Prejudice is wrong because it hurts all people

A person feels hurt by someone emotionally or physically. This happens by having a

prejudice feeling and taking it out on that person verbally and making a comment

that hurts their feelings. It may also mean hurting someone physically or

threatening to hurt them. An example of physical prejudice is when Mr.

Cunningham had picked a fight with Tom Robinson. Mr. Cunninghams prejudice

against Tom was so great that he wanted to hurt him physically.

An example of verbal prejudice is when Mrs. Dubose made negative comments

about Scout and how she was dressed when Scout passed Mrs. Dobose's house.

Scout was verbally abused by Mrs. Dubose because Mrs. Dubose had thought that

Scout was not a good little girl and was a trouble maker. Mrs. Dubose had pre-

judged Scout and thought that she was very disrespectful although Scout had

made some comments about Mrs. Dubose that Scout always said under her breath

so as no to provoke Mrs. Dubose more.

Prejudice has a lot to do with how you grow up and how you are influenced by the

people around you. You are influenced by your parents, TV, and radio and friends.

Your parents in particular have a great deal to do with your prejudices because they

affect how you think about many things. My parents taught me that black people

are not different because their skin is black. For many years my best friend at the

YMCA has been my friend Terry. Terry is black. As the author had Atticus tell

Scout and Jem, Negroes are people like everyone else.