Mockingbird

7 Pages 1688 Words

To kill a Mocking Bird could be considered a reliable and unexaggerated portrait of southern American´s prejudice because the author Harper Lee based Maycomb the setting for the book and the character Atticus. On the real place and people. Monroeville and Harper Lee´s farther who was a lawyer. Monroeville was also Harper Lee´s hometown and this gave her reasons to know the socity as deeply as she does. The people of Monroeville and other places in the South America recognised themselves and the part that they played in the society in the book, this illustrates the connection between the society in the 1930 and the fictional narrative.
Having the book so accurate, the author can then hit the reader with more impact and can express her views on prejudice and discrimination with stronger force and more focus.
The book investigates many types of prejudice. One is the hatred and fear towards the blacks and the violence between them that could break out at any time, for example the lynch mob. The lynch mob were a group of men that threatened to take the law in their own hands and got together to kill Tom Robinson before his trial. It shows the underground violence that surfaces before the rape case starts. It also shows how the lynch mob feel powerful in a group, because they are able to hide behind someone else. Scout doesn´t understand what their intentions are and sees a face in the crowd and names him. 'Hey, Mr Cunningham´ she says singling him out from the group. Mr Cunningham realises this and is put in the spotlight and can´t hide behind anyone. He also realises that an innocent little girl has caught him in action. This puts pressure on Mr Cunningham and makes in take in to account for his actions. This is an effective way to combat this type of prejudice, Scout manages to disarm Mr Cunningham, and he has to rethink his actions.
There are many types of prejudice and they all subtly revolve around the Tom Robinson rape case. F...