To Kill A Mockingbird Racism Quotes

Words: 714
Pages: 3
Open Document
“‘One more thing, gentlemen, before I quit. Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are equal, a phrase that the Yankees and the distaff side of the the Executive branch in Washington are fond of hurling at us.’” (Lee 273-274). Atticus says this in order to circumvent the possible racism on the jury. In a small town, called Maycomb, racism, poverty and domestic violence is the unfortunate result of the Great Depression. Families suffered because of the lack In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee gives many examples of how the depression created conflict.
Racism in to Kill a Mockingbird, is shown by the character Lula, when she asks Calpurnia why she brought white children to a black church. The character says, “‘--they got their church, we got ours’” (Lee 158). This quote demonstrates Lula’s racist thoughts towards white children, …show more content…
Those families are the Ewells and Cunningham's, because they don’t have very good clothes to wear and are sometimes extremely dirty, and they are very poor. According to Atticus, “the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day’s work in his recollection.” (Lee 40). As for the Cunninghams, they aren’t as wild as the Ewells, and they don’t like to take things from others that they aren’t able to repay. In the first few days of school, in the beginning of the book, Mrs. Caroline tries to hand Walter Cunningham quarters to buy some lunch. Although Walter refused, Mrs. Caroline kept insisting that he take the money. Since she was new to Maycomb, she didn’t understand that their families were raised in poverty. So Scout tried to explain to her why Walter didn’t take the coins. She said, “‘The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back-no church baskets and no script stamps. They never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what they have. They don’t have much, but they get along on it.’” (Lee
Show More

Related Documents: To Kill A Mockingbird Racism Quotes

Darkness Cannot Drive Out Darkness Quotes

said this quote and it relates to To Kill A Mockingbird in more ways than one. Harper Lee portrays the town of Maycomb, Alabama in her Southern American Literature book, To Kill A Mockingbird, for she utilizes her characters to open the eyes of her readers to the discrimination and diversity of a small town in the 1960’s. The understanding of To Kill A Mockingbird examines the society and culture of racism through the lens of Maycomb. To start off with, To Kill A Mockingbird portrays racism during…

Words 986 - Pages 4

Similarities Between the Scottsboro Boys and Tom Robinson Essay

similarities between the Scottsboro trial and the trial of Tom Robinson in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. “No crime in American history—let alone a crime that never occurred—produced as many trials, convictions, reversals, and retrials as did an alleged gang rape of two white girls by nine black teenagers on a Southern railroad freight run on March 25, 1931” (Linder 1). The author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, was a young girl during the Scottsboro trial and based the trial of Tom Robinson…

Words 941 - Pages 4

Similarities Between Death Of Emmett Till And To Kill A Mockingbird

In the works To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and “The Death of Emmett Till” by Bob Dylan, there are several similarities and differences. First, the two passages are similar because of the mood communicated. The mood is communicated in this quote by Bob Dylan “This boy’s fateful tragedy, you all should remember well” (Dylan). Dylan creates the mood by using the words “fateful” and “tragedy”. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson’s problem has a similar dark mood due to the way Harper Lee describes…

Words 250 - Pages 1

How Does Harper Lee Use Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill A Mockingbird is arguably one of the most classic books ever written. Little does everyone know that it is actually based off of a true story. Lee wrote TKM and never really had a major hit besides this book, but that is fine with everyone that has read the book because the book touches many hearts along the way. The book is still relevant and will always be relevant in our corrupt country. Harper Lee wants her readers to understand that problems that were…

Words 754 - Pages 4

Does Racism Still Occur In To Kill A Mockingbird

English Editorial Draft - Mackenzi Wray 10.3 - Why are we Racist? Is racism still occurring in today’s society? Introduction: What comes to your head when you hear the word Racist? That it’s okay? Is it acceptable? We are all equal no matter our race, beliefs or the colour of our skin. In Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ it shows racial discrimination against Tom Robinson because of the colour of his skin. In Maycomb, Alabama around the 1930’s a person who was ‘black’ was considered…

Words 608 - Pages 3

Similarities Between To Kill A Mockingbird And The Help

Killing Racism By Using Courage and Understanding Are indifference and fear major factors of racism, courage, and understanding? The novel To Kill a Mockingbird and the film The Help both illustrate how fear and indifference fuel racism while killing courage and understanding. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, an African-American man named Tom Robinson is put on trial for the rape of a 19 year old girl named Mayella Ewell. The narrator’s father is the lawyer for Tom, and during this time our…

Words 1490 - Pages 6

How Does Racism Occur In To Kill A Mockingbird

In both of these scenarios the biggest theme that comes into question is racism. It will be shown how racism occurs throughout the novel and the shooting by comparing what happened in the shooting of Michael Brown and quotes from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, how the racism impacted others in the novel similarly in the shooting of Michael Brown, and how racism should not be as big of an issue as it is today. Before the comparison of the shooting and the novel a brief…

Words 1965 - Pages 8

Examples Of Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Injustice and Innocence “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.... That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (119). This quote from To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, perfectly demonstrates an act of injustice. It would be quite the atrocity if someone killed a defenseless bird that lived to entertain those who listened. The mockingbird symbolizes many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as Tom Robinson, Jem, Scout, and Arthur Radley. These characters appear…

Words 833 - Pages 4

To Kill A Mockingbird Society Quotes

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay A wise woman Banksy once said, “We were all humans until race disconnected us, religion seperated us, politics divided us, and wealth classified us.” This quote really relates to the book To Kill a Mockingbird because Banksy states that we are all born the same but until race, religion, politics and wealth “separates” and “defines us”. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, this book is in the time period of the 1930’s and racism was very prevalent. In the…

Words 466 - Pages 2

What Does Arthur Radley Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

The Mockingbirds To Kill a Mockingbird is based in the 1930’s, and during the Great Depression era. The plot of this novel takes place in Maycomb Alabama, where it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Mockingbirds are innocent little creatures, that do nothing but sing songs for others to enjoy. However, in this novel, mockingbirds always seem to get hurt. More specifically, the character representations of a mockingbird. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses Arthur “Boo” Radley, Tom Robinson…

Words 842 - Pages 4