Mr Cunningham Prejudice Against Tom example essay topic

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD In To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee suggests that prejudice is wrong. Prejudice is a word that we use to describe people who put other people in a class simply because those people are different from them or the majority. Prejudice is wrong because it separates people. It is wrong because it creates hatred and because it can hurt all people, whether that hurt is physically or mentally.

If a person is pre-judging another person, they do not stop to weigh if the person they are pre-judging really has certain characteristics or if they just think they might have those characteristics. Jem and Scout Finch, and Dill Harris heard rumors that Boo Radley was crazy, had cut up his Dad with a pair of scissors, and was generally a scary person that could hurt them. Because of these rumors they had prejudices of the Radley family and Boo. They were curious about Boo and wanted to know more about him but they were afraid of him and did not want to approach him directly. It was only after Scout and Jem started finding things in the tree did they think he might want to be their friend. After he saved their life, they found out what they thought was not true.

They found out Boo Radley was an okay guy. They and the people of the town had pre-judged him wrongly. When Calpurnia invites Scout to her house Scout learns that Calpurnia exits in two different worlds. She has an existence in their house and her own home. When she takes them to her church they discover that some Negroes might resent their presence because they are white. They do find out though most of the Negroes are very kindly towards them.

This separation emphasizes the differences between the Negro and the white world. Mrs. Dubose is an old lady that screams at the children as they go by. Her screaming keeps them from getting to know her. It keeps them separated from her.

They get to know Miss M audie because she is very nice to them so they are not separated from her. It is only after Jem is forced to read to Mrs. Dubose and Atticus explains that she was fighting a medical battle, do they realize positive things about her. Prejudice is wrong because it causes hate. Hate is something that is may be caused by miss communication. Someone may have pre-judged some one and automatically assumed that the other is wrong or bad.

Some examples of hate that have taken place in the novel is when Scout and Jem observed hatred between Mr. Walter Cunningham and Tom Robinson. Mr. Cunningham had this hate in him about Negroes because he had pre- judged black people. Mr. Cunningham pre-judgment was based on the thought that black people were inferior to white people and were of a lower social class because many had undesirable jobs and were poor. He felt his daughter could not have any thing to do with them.

He was very angry and hated Tom because his daughter had acted like she like him in their house. Another example of hate is what some of the kids that Jem and Scout went to school with said about their Dad because of of his job defending Tom in court. They said Atticus was a "nigger lover" and gave Scout and Jem a hard time. The kids had developed hate for the Finch family because they said they associated with blacks people. Prejudice is wrong because it hurts all people A person feels hurt by someone emotionally or physically. This happens by having a prejudice feeling and taking it out on that person verbally and making a comment that hurts their feelings.

It may also mean hurting someone physically or threatening to hurt them. An example of physical prejudice is when Mr. Cunningham had picked a fight with Tom Robinson. Mr. Cunningham prejudice against Tom was so great that he wanted to hurt him physically. An example of verbal prejudice is when Mrs. Dubose made negative comments about Scout and how she was dressed when Scout passed Mrs. Dob oses house.

Scout was verbally abused by Mrs. Dubose because Mrs. Dubose had thought that Scout was not a good little girl and was a trouble maker. Mrs. Dubose had pre- judged Scout and thought that she was very disrespectful although Scout had made some comments about Mrs. Dubose that Scout always said under her breath so as no to provoke Mrs. Dubose more. Prejudice has a lot to do with how you grow up and how you are influenced by the people around you. You are influenced by your parents, TV, and radio and friends. Your parents in particular have a great deal to do with your prejudices because they affect how you think about many things. My parents taught me that black people are not different because their skin is black.

For many years my best friend at the YMCA has been my friend Terry. Terry is black. As the author had Atticus tell Scout and Jem, Negroes are people like everyone else.