Discrimination and Stereotypes in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a coming of age story of a young girl growing up in rural Alabama in the 1930s. The novel discusses the contradictions in life. Scout, the main character, learns that things are not always as they should be and is confronted with the ugly reality of prejudice and stereotyping. Scout is struggles with understanding the prejudice she witnesses, the prejudice she endures, and her own prejudice against others. Atticus Finch, Scout's father, "with his strongly held convictions, wisdom, and empathy, Atticus functions as the novel's moral backbone." (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mocking/characters.html). He strives to raise his children to be fair and nonjudgmental. It is through the guidance of Atticus and Scout's experiences with discrimination that the reader gains insight and enlightenment on the evils of prejudice.

Prejudice is portrayed in many forms in the novel. Characters in the book suffer discrimination due to race, age, social status, and sex. This racism appears to be as natural to the people of Maycomb as breathing. Early in the novel, Scout along with her brother Jem and their neighbor Dill decide to peek into the window of the home of Boo Radley, the neighborhood "boogey-man". Their antics alert Nathan Radley, Boo's older brother, who fires a rifle to scare off the unknown intruder. When the neighbors gather to find the source of the commotion, they automatically assume the prowler is black. When asked if the prowler had been shot, Miss Stephanie gives the following reply. "Shot in the air. Scared him pale, though. Says if anybody sees a white nigger around, that's the one." (Lee 54). The racial slur is spoken as casually as if she were speaking about the weather. Contemporary readers may be shocked by this blatant racism, but Lee's use of the language illustrates how socially acceptable this behavior was in the 1930s.

Although Scout does not appear to be racist, she is also guilty of using racial slurs. When Jem attempts to build a snowman by first making a base of mud she comments "Jem, I ain't ever heard of a nigger snowman" (Lee 66). It is well documented that children learn racism at home. "Our children learn their attitudes from us -- the adults around them. We all have ways of thinking and acting that may seem natural to us but aren't necessarily what we want to pass along to our children. In fact, if we don't examine these attitudes carefully, they can be harmful to our children's understanding of their world" (http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,1-1530,00.html). Scout's casual use of the term is a reminder of how comments made by adults can poison the minds of children.

The injustice of racism becomes apparent when Tom Robinson is convicted of raping Mayella Ewell. Despite the lack of evidence, the jury and town is reluctant to take the word of a black man over two white accusers. Atticus passionately implores the jury to look past race and stereotype and serve true blind justice:
"They were confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption- the evil assumption- that all Negro's lie, and that all Negros are basically immoral beings. […] I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty" (Lee 204-205)

Through this speech "Lee urges her audience to examine the past and learn from the mistakes so future generations can live in a more peaceful world" (Stiltner 62).
Scout not only witnesses prejudice, she becomes the victim of it in several instances in the book. When Scout arrives for her first day at school, she encounters Miss Caroline, a teacher from the north. Miss Caroline has preconceived notions as to how the class should be taught and the children should learn. When Scout proudly claims she can read and write she is scolded and told she should not engage in these activities because a child of her age should not be reading or writing. Scout's aggravation with Miss Caroline's refusal to accept any other method of teaching but her own provides the reader with insight as to how it must feel to face ethnocentricity.

When Scout is verbally attacked because her father is defending Tom Robinson, she becomes enraged, resorting to physical violence. This may be the beginning of her understanding of how frustrating it must be to be judged and hated for something you can not control. Scout could no more mandate who her father defended than a person could choose their race. Scout begins to recognize the pain of name calling as she suffers taunts such as "nigger lover."

The most blatant form of prejudice appears when Scout and Jem accompany Calpurnia to church. The children are faced with reverse discrimination by a member of the congregation who tells Calpurnia "You ain't got no business bringin' white chillum here- they got their church, we got our'n" (Lee 119). The children are intimidated by this hatred and wish to go home, but are soon embraced and welcomed by other members of the church who show the children kindness and respect. The congregation welcomes the children in part because of their father. The Reverend Sykes explains to the children "This church has no better friend than your father" (Lee 123).

Scout is also faced with sexual discrimination and stereotyping. Her Aunt Alexandra is quick to point out that Scout's behavior is unladylike. Because Scout chooses to engage in tomboy activities and wear overalls, she could never be a lady. Alexandra's observations become hurtful and cruel. "I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said […] that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year" (Lee 81). Scout also experiences discrimination at the hands of her own beloved brother. Jem is pulling away from his younger sister, at 12 he has decided that he is too old to be bothered by his younger sister. A vicious argument ensues after Jem tells Scout "It's time you started bein'a girl and acting right!" (Lee 115) This is extremely painful for Scout to hear since she fought hard to earn her brother's respect by acting less like a girl. "Knowing that being called a girl is an insult and that being female is valued less than being male in her small Southern town" (Shackelford). This therefore is one of the greatest insults Jem could inflict.
Scout is confronted with her own prejudices in the novel. As she grows and learns, she begins to regret her actions. When she accompanies Calpurnia to church, she is surprised to learn that Cal speaks in the vernacular of the blacks when in their company. "The idea that she had a separate existence outside our household was a novel one, to say nothing of her having command of two languages." (Lee 124). In her book To Kill a Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries, Claudia Durst Johnson explains this realization. "And in that moment when Scout senses Calpurnia's Otherness, she is attracted to her and wants to more about her" (86). When Jem shuns Scout, it is with Calpurnia that Scout seeks condolence. Calpurnia helps Scout bear the loneliness and Scout begins to regret her intolerance of Calpurnia, "I had felt her tyrannical presence as long as I could remember" (Lee 6) and begins to understand that Calpurnia's actions were out of love, not tyranny.
Scout is not above stereotyping and discriminating against her own father. Scout describes her father as feeble because of his age. The children question his "abilities and manliness" (Lee 10). Scout believed that her father's occupation as an attorney was an embarrassment. "Atticus did not drive a dump-truck […] he was not the sheriff […] or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone. Besides that he wore glasses" (89). Scout is unable to look beyond her father's physical attributes to find his inner strength and wisdom. She does not realize that Atticus is a hero because "he stands as a supreme example of the moral life, and he communicates that morality to his children and, ultimately, to the community by his actions" (Jones 100).

Scout admits to her neighbor Miss Maudie, that she is embarrassed by her father's age and the fact that "Atticus can't no nothing" (Lee 91). Even after Miss Maudie chastises her and tells her that he is an exceptional lawyer, checker player and can play the Jew's harp and "it seems with all that you'd be proud of him" (91) Scout is not convinced until it is revealed that Atticus is the best shot in Maycomb county and was once called Ol' One Shot. Scout begins to understand her father's value, is embarrassed by her prejudiced against his age and lack of physical ability. "Perhaps this is Lee's way of suggesting that individuals must be allowed to develop their own sense of self without regard to rigid definitions of gender and social roles" (Shackelford).

Scout's most obvious prejudice is against Boo Radley, her recluse neighbor. Scout calls Boo a "malevolent phantom" and blames him for several evils. "People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people's azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. […] once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people's chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie […] people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicion" (Lee 9) Boo is even given the ability to enchant pecans from his tree which would kill a child if touched. "And when Scout thinks she hears laughter from inside the Radley house, she finds this sinister - but the reader comes to see that this is the innocent laughter of Boo Radley, who is amused by the children at play" (http://www.universalteacher.org.). Although Lee provides the reader with insight as to Boo's intelligence; he leaves a spelling bee medal as a gift in the tree for the children. Scout overlooks this and believes Boo to be a mentally deranged monster. It is not until Boo places a blanket around Scouts shoulders on the night of Miss Maudie's fire that Scout "begins to know fully who has been communicating with them in the tree, and who gave her the blanket, and she is enlightened by Jem's changed view of their strange neighbor" (Johnson 84). Although Scout does not encounter Boo again for several months, he remains on her mind and her curiosity about him turns from morbid to a genuine desire for neighborly interaction.

"But I still looked for him each time I went by. Maybe someday we would see him. I imagined how it would be: when it happened, he'd just be sitting in the swing when I came along. �Hidy do, Mr. Arthur,' I would say, as if I had said it every afternoon of my life. �Evening, Jean Louise,' he would say, as if he had said it every afternoon of my life, �right pretty spell we're having, isn't it?' "Yes sir, I would say and go on. It was only a fantasy […] He would never gaze at us." (Lee 242).
When Scout does encounter Boo after he saves the children from Bob Ewell, she is in awe. As only a child can, she embraces Boo as if she has known him her whole life. She learns the lesson her father had been trying to teach her "Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them." (Lee 279). Scout stands on the porch of the Radley house and realizes that it hasn't been a monster watching them grow up, it has been a kind and gentle man. It is at this time Scout learns that prejudice hurts everyone, it is painful for those experiencing it, and those that are prejudice are robbing themselves of wonderful experiences.

Harper Lee presents the reader with not only literal examples of discrimination, but uses symbolic examples as well. Atticus tells the children "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit �em, but remember it is a sin to kill a mockingbird" (Lee 90). "Bluejays are viewed as the bullies of the bird world. They are very loud, territorial, and aggressive. The bluejays represent the prejudiced �bullies' of Maycomb County" (Symkowski). Miss Maudie explains to Scout why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. She tells Scout that the birds are innocent, they simply sing. Mitzi-Ann Stiltner makes the following anaylsis: "the symbolic representation of the mockingbird as a peaceful and protective creature that generally gets along with other bird species." The mockingbird is a symbol of the innocent that have done nothing wrong, such as Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. The innocence can also apply to the innocence of childhood, which can be destroyed by prejudice.
When Atticus shoots the mad dog, this is symbolic of Atticus's battle against prejudice. Just as rabies is contagious, racism also taints everything it touches. A mad dog wandering the streets of Maycomb is a symbol if the prejudice that is poisoning the town. When Atticus tells Jem the dog is "far from dead, he hasn't got started yet." (Lee 95) he is telling Jem that the damage seen so far from prejudice is just the tip of the iceberg. Mr. Tate insists that Atticus be the one to shoot the dog, since this is a "one shot job" (Lee 95). Atticus is appointed as the defense attorney for Tom Robinson, because he is the one man who could fight the injustice of the trial and bring reason back to Maycomb (Jones). The relationship is further explained in Ethical Reflections on To Kill a Mockingbird:
"The mad dog is a threat to the entire community because the disease he carries can be contracted by anyone who comes into contact with the animal. In the same way, the disease of prejudice seems to afflict anyone who is exposed to it. Both are destructive and painful diseases which kill their victims from the inside out. Rabies attacks the central nervous system, while prejudice attacks one's heart and soul." (Zuercher)

The fact that Atticus shoots the dog, before it can wander into the Radley yard is a symbolic foreshadow of how Atticus will protect Boo from further bias by agreeing to conceal that it was Boo killed Bob Ewell
The children's snowman is another symbol of prejudice in Maycomb. The mud man created by Jem is covered up in white snow. "Blacks aren't judged on their own merits, but on their relationships with the white folks in town, just as the mudman isn't something to be admired until he is a white snowman" (Castleman). Adam Smykiwski argues that the mudman was essentially the same once he was covered in snow except for color Therefore the snowman is an analogy "showing […] that all human beings are virtually the same." The fire that melts the snowman is representative of the prejudice of the town. When the white snow of the snowman is removed, all that is left is an ugly clump of mud that is easily removed with a shovel. This reflects the attitude of the town that Negros are nothing but unsightly and nothing without whites.
Through Scout's encounters, Lee allows the reader to experience the pain and regret of prejudice. The lessons learned through Scout's experiences and the gentle guidance of Atticus are timeless messages. As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "The mind of the bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you shed upon it, the more it contracts." Just as bright light may be painful to the eye, confronting your own bias may also be painful. Lee implores the reader to move past this pain and receives the gifts light and open-mindedness can bring. Almost 50 years after writing To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee's message is still being heard loud and clear. "The haunting story encourages us to overcome the impulse to push away those who aren't just like us or those we don't understand, and instead to accept them as fellow human beings." (http://www.planetout.com/news/feature.html?sernum=585)

Works Cited:
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Johnson, Claudia Durst. To Kill a Mockingbird Threatening Boundries. Twanye Publishers: New York. 1994.
Martinac, Paula. "To Queer A Mockingbird." 23 June, 2003. Planet Out.com. 21 July, 2005. < http://www.planetout.com/news/feature.html?sernum=585>.
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