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In modern-day society, there are still many ways people use racism and prejudice towards others and this novel shows how it was used more frequently back then. Harper Lee reveals the sad truth about racism and prejudice in her book To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout and Jem’s life is easy as a white family in the 1930s, living in a good home, and having a caring father, Atticus. This story shows that not all people, especially the black community, have the same privileges as the white community. To Kill a Mockingbird is both a strong and flawed book in regards to teaching the dangers of prejudice and racism.
In regards to how To Kill a Mockingbird is a strong book for teaching students about the dangers of prejudice and racism, it shows classism and racism to the readers. As Scout complains about Walter’s behavior, Calpurnia teaches her a lesson on how to treat others equally, “Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty! Yo’ folks might be better’n the Cunninghams but it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re dasgracin’ ‘em.—if you can’t act fit to eat at the table you can just set here and eat in the kitchen!” (Lee, 33). In the way Calpurnia teaches Scout a lesson, it can be seen that Calpurnia is a nice woman and does not have any problem with classism. Here, it shows that she doesn’t care how poor Walter is and instead understands his suffering and lets him enjoy his meal. It does a good job teaching students about classism and how, especially back then, it was a big problem. It does it by showing how Scout gets punished when calling Walter out because he is poor which can teach students to be less judgemental. Scout and Jem get invited to go to Calpurnia’s church which was for the black community when there was already a church for whites. Knowing this, Lula [one of the church residents] exclaims, ‘You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here—they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?’ (Lee, 158). In Lula’s eyes, Scout and Jem were forgeries and did not belong in a black church. This act shows that anyone can be racist towards others, even a black person. Usually, it’s the whites that are throwing racial slurs at the black community but in this case, Lula, a black person, is being racist towards white children.
Through this, it can be taught that there will always be racism everywhere from any race. It gives students a good perspective on a different side of racism from a black to a white. As seen in these two quotes, Harper Lee does a good job of educating students about the dangers of prejudice through the portrayal of classism and racism.
Although it seems that Harper Lee does a good job teaching students about the dangers of prejudice and racism, it also has many flaws with sexism and racism. As Atticus is interrogating Mayella for the trial, he asks about how Bob treats her at home and she says, “He does tollable, ‘cept when—“” Except when?” “Except when nothin‘,” said Mayella. “I said he does tollable.” (Lee, 245). At the Ewells’ home, Mayella is the eldest of the children but still, this quote shows that she still gets abused. This shows prejudice in the form of sexism because Mayella is a woman and it implies that she gets mistreated by Bob who is a grown man. Since she is a woman, nobody seems to notice or care at all about the way Bob treats her which is a clear sign of sexism. But Harper Lee does a bad job of explaining her situation which leaves the reader with many questions. For example, a student who is reading this part would not know the full details about Mayella’s situation, preventing them from understanding the dangers of sexism.
After a long time on the trail, Atticus walks down the aisle and Reverend Sykes said to Scout, “I looked around. They were standing. All around us and in the balcony on the opposite wall, the Negroes were getting to their feet. Reverend Sykes’s voice was as distant as Judge Taylor’s: “Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin‘.” (Lee, 283). Everyone in the black community, who were on the balcony, stood up to give their thanks to Atticus because they knew how hard he tried to prove Tom Robinson’s innocence in this case. But deep down they knew there was little hope of winning, but they still believed in Atticus. This is an example of Atticus being the “White Savior” of the story which is very typical for a normal book. But Harper Lee does a bad job because, for a book about the dangers of racism, the hero of the story is a white man. This makes it seem that the innocent white protagonist is doing good deeds while any black person is pushed aside and not included. To Kill a Mockingbird is not only a strong book but also a flawed one in regards to teaching students about the dangers of sexism and racism.
In my opinion, I believe it is a good book for teaching students about the dangers of prejudice and racism. I say this because it taught me quite a lot about this topic and I think it does a good job at it. I also believe it to be a good piece of literature as well. But for it to be read in a classroom is a different story because I think it should not be taught to all ages. I read this book in the ninth grade, and I think it is the perfect age level to start learning about racism and prejudice. This also includes anybody at a higher grade level which I think is a perfectly fine grade to read it. At the ninth grade level, I think most people would have noticed or learned about some form of prejudice and racism. But for them to read this book about hard-hitting topics, I think they would gain much more knowledge than whatever they learned before. For most grades below ninth, I don’t think To Kill a Mockingbird is a good book to teach. I assume students at that young age would not fully understand the portrayal of prejudice and racism which may lead them into thinking wrongly of race. For example, To Kill a Mockingbird has many times where it says the n-word which is used to describe the black community. I think most young students would not see the meaning behind this word and they might just go around saying the word like it means nothing. Nevertheless, I still believe To Kill a Mockingbird is a strong book for teaching students, like myself, about the dangers of prejudice and racism.
Work Cited
- Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Grand Central Publishing, 1960.
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