The themes of racism and prejudice in 'to kill a mockingbird' by Harper Lee.
A novel I have read recently and thoroughly enjoyed is 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. It portrays a life and the role of racism in the 1930's. In this essay I will talk about the themes of racism and predjudice. I will also look at the characterisation to show the contrast of how it affects all of the characters and the use of symbolism of the mockingbird representing different characters. The theme of prejudice in "To Kill A Mockingbird" is much more than just a case of black and white. The entire novel is about prejudice in it's many forms, the most prominent case of prejudice is the racism and hate between the blacks and whites.The book is set in a small town in Alabama called "Maycomb", like most small southern towns in that time, has a problem with widespread racism toward blacks. The novel focuses on one family, the Finches. In the family there are three charecters, Scout, Jem and Atticus. Atticus (the father) is a lawyer and is defending a black man in court (Tom Robinson), something that was not often done in the south due to racism. Many people feel threatened by this and feel very resentful towards Atticus. Thro

Other people that are affected by predjudice are Calpurnia and Boo Radley. Calpurnia is treated unfairly when Aunt Alexandra tried to get Atticus to fire Calpurnia, because in her eyes "Calpurnia wasn't a good enough female role model" This is a prejudice action, because Calpurnia is as good as a role model as Aunt Alexandra, if not better. Aunt Alexandra is a bigot and doesn't see the character of Calpurnia, just the color of her skin. Boo Radley another symbol of a mocking bird because he never harmed anyone was also affected by prejudice. He was locked up by his parents, for doing one wrong thing, and only let out at night. He was very "secretive". This gave others a wrong impression of him and people were scared of his ways. He would leave presents for Scout and Jem in a tree. He was very kind and kept a careful eye over Jem and Scout. He came out with a blanket after the fire at Miss Maudie’s house. He saved their lives by stopping Bob Ewell stab Jem and Scout after Bob had lynched them.

In conclusion throughout the story, people that are unlike the majority like Negros and Boo Radley, get hurt. They are given obstacles that they have to overcome in order to survive. Some people in the world can survive these obstacles, and there are some that just give up. By fighting for your rights, people start to realise that character is the important attribute to a person just like Atticus defending Tom Robinson. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee showed me that the people with differences are not always doing things the wrong way. It is the majority that may be going at it all wrong.

Throughout the novel all the members of the Finches and many others display courage in their attempts to stand up for what they believe in