Innocence and Prejudice in to Kill a Mockingbird Essay

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To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a beautiful story depicting a family living in the South of the 1930’s, and their struggle against the prejudice which was common to that time. The book centers on Atticus Finch, the father of the family as well as a lawyer, and his fight against prejudice. We see the story unfold through the innocent eyes of his young daughter, Scout, who is free from prejudice and not yet jaded. By viewing events as Scout sees them, the author shows us how to overcome prejudices, and gain tolerance. By seeing the mob scene outside of the jail house through Scouts innocent eyes, we see how to gain understanding for others, instead of having everything be black or white. By talking to Mr. Cunningham the way she …show more content…
They don’t look any different, and they don’t really act any different, and she can’t even tell that their mixed. This made us think, why were they so disliked? As with the Ewell’s, neither the white people nor the black people wanted anything to do with them. Scout couldn’t understand this. It really doesn’t make any sense, and Scout helps us to see this. Why should his children be any worse off then any other child? They never did anything wrong. It’s the same as when Scout and Jem are talking to Mr. Dolphus during the trial (200), Scout doesn’t understand why he should have to pretend to be drunk, just so people won’t talk about the way he acts. So what if he wants to live with black people, he’s not causing anyone harm. She can’t understand why he should have to lie. Scout’s inability to understand helps us see that it’s unfair, and doesn’t make sense. Prejudice is not just against a certain race. It can be towards a culture, a group of people, or even a class, like the Ewell’s. It exists everywhere, and it is human nature to fear what is different. However, it often takes the innocence of a child, or some other like source to make us see how ugly and senseless our actions sometimes are. That’s the role that Scout plays in To Kill a Mockingbird, the innocent bystander, that opens our
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