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A STUDY ON THE VARIOUS FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION IN HARPER LEE’S “TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD”
Everyone has their own prejudice that leads to differentiate certain set of people in the society and they are subjugated in the name of race, class, colour, ecomonic condition and so on. This discrimination leads to societal imbalance and creates a void in human relationship. This dissertation focuses on various kinds of discrimination in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The work analyses the discrimination faced by Black community in the White American society. It also analyses the class struggle prevailing within the White community and the societal prejudices upon poor Whites. The novel breaks the colour stereotypes of White people, that Blacks are bad. The research focuses on the psychological depression and the traumatic journey of certain characters.
Acts of Anti-Racism Reflected in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird (1960
IJMRAP, 2022
This research aims to identify and analyze acts of antiracism as reflected in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird (1960). The method used in this study is a descriptive qualitative method to elaborate the acts of anti-racism occurred in the novel. The results showed the acts against racism in the novel can be encountered in Atticus Finch character which served as a lawyer to defend a black man which has been accused as a white woman rapist. Another act against racism found is how Atticus Finch taught his children about equality.
Veda's Journal of English Language and Literature (JOELL), 2024
https://www.joell.in/vol-11-issue-3-2024/ https://www.joell.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/78-82-THE-EXPERIENCE-OF-OTHERING-ANALYSIS-OF-HARPER-LEES-TO-KILL-A-MOCKINGBIRD.pdf Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), written at the height of Civil Rights Movement in America, occupies an iconic status in the American cultural imaginary. Thematically revolving around the adventures of the nine-year old Scout, Jem, and Dill in their hometown, the racially-segregated Maycomb, and Atticus Finch's defense of a Black man named Tom Robinson who is falsely accused of raping a White woman, the novel deals with the perennial questions of identity, its intersections with race, class and gender, and its implications on the individuals' right to freedom and life. While the events of the novel are firmly rooted in the context of specific time and place, this paper argues that it profoundly resonates with the contemporary experience of racial, gender and class-based "othering". The paper explores the ways in which the process of "othering" and marginalization manifests in the novel by delving into specific instances from the lives of characters like Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Amidst these difficult experiences, the novel probes into the possibility of social justice that the power of law can uphold. This paper examines how Atticus Finch, both as a lawyer and a father, upholds law as a means of delivering social justice as well as advocates his belief in each individual's judicious sensibility that allows him/her to be generous, tolerant and humane towards fellow beings. The proposed paper makes a case for To Kill a Mockingbird as a text of enduring value that exemplifies the futility of legal change if not accompanied by fundamental shift in prejudiced mindsets that sow the seeds of institutionalized "othering" and oppression of those different or opposite to oneselves.
Segregation in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird Hamza Koudri Reviewed
SEGREGATION IN HARPER LEE’S TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: A CASE OF RACE, CLASS AND GENDER, 2017
This dissertation constructs a comprehensive reading of race, class and gender as portrayed in Harper Lee’s 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and attempts to separate those forms of segregation in order to better understand their interaction. This work aims to investigate to what extent To Kill a Mockingbird is an anti-racism novel. While race is at the heart of the novel, Lee strives to denounce different forms of bigotry such as class and gender. This dissertation also explores the extent to which Harper Lee’s novel can be considered to be a progressive novel by analyzing the author’s use of narration techniques and critiquing the solutions she suggests for social ailments. A question that is often brought up in this context is how well can a white author write black stories? The dissertation uses two main literary theories to reach the said objectives. The first one is Stephen Greenblatt’s New Historicism, a theory that explains a literary work reconnecting it with the time period in which it is produced and identify it with the cultural and political movements of the time. The second approach used in this work is Kenneth Burke’s Sociological Criticism, which aims at placing literature within its economic, political and, especially social context, and seeks to find social flaws by looking into the structure of society. Following the guidelines of these two theories, this works revolves around four main axes. The first chapter compares between the representations of black and white characters in the novel. Lee deals with blacks mostly in terms of masses, with little emphasis on individual agents, whereas whites receive much more developed characterization, raising intriguing questions regarding her ambivalent attitude towards race. The second chapter aims at determining the extent to which the author succeeds in highlighting the individuality of blacks, and their role as individual agents of change. Third, the dissertation highlights the author’s view on a decaying old South that clings to old perceptions of class, and her vision for a more progressive society. The fourth and final section of this thesis looks at gender as another basis for segregation, underlining the intersection of gender, race, class and religion and emphasizing the role of women in negotiating their roles in an oppressively prejudiced society. While Lee follows her progressive precedents, Mark Twain and Ralph Emerson, both in their dependence on the individual agents and their call to give up old traditions and follow human ethics and principles in order to bring about salvation for the Old South, it so happens that Lee’s individual agents are white male elite.
The power of stereotypes in the construction of meaning in to kill a mockingbird by harper lee
Peer Reviewed Article, 2024
Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" serves as a compelling exploration of the profound influence of stereotypes on the construction of meaning within the narrative. This study explores the complex dynamics of racial and societal stereotypes predominant in the fictional town of Maycomb, illuminating their persistent impact on character development, plot progression, and the broader thematic significance of the novel. Through a comprehensive analysis of the characters' interactions, societal power dynamics, and the overarching narrative themes, this research highlights the ways in which stereotypes shape readers' understanding and perception of the story. Additionally, the study examines the author's nuanced message regarding the dangers of stereotypical thinking and the transformative potential of empathy and critical reflection in challenging societal prejudices. By digging into the complexities of stereotypical representations and their implications for contemporary society, this article contributes to a deeper understanding of the intricate interplay between literature, stereotypes, and the construction of societal meaning.
RACIAL ENTAILMENT IN BESSIE HEAD'S WHEN RAIN CLOUDS GATHER AND HARPER LEE'S TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Shalom Kasim, 2022
Bessie Head’s When Rain Clouds Gather and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbirdhave been the subject of scholarship from as far back as the late 60’s. Though from two regions entirely different, both works have treated issues that relate to racial relationship. However, their works, like other works, have focused on the negatives or racial relationship, often ignoring the significance of racial entailment – a sub-strand of racial relationship – that has existed between the characters of different races in Bessie Head’s When Rain Clouds Gather and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. This research therefore analyses both texts from a sociological perspective by providing sociological bases for racial entailment in the both texts. The entailments of the various major characters defy social expectations and social structures that set aside boundaries for relationships. This entailment amongstcharacters opens up an alternative to the social impediments which, from its beginning, posed various faltering obstacles on the path en route racial integration.