In To Kill a Mockingbird, people suffered discrimination based on their race, age, gender, unknown identity and social class during the 1930s. There are many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird that are victims of stereotyping.
First and foremost, the narrator or the nine-year-old main character, Scout Finch, is a victim of being stereotyped because of her gender. She wears clothes that makes her look like a tomboy and hangs out with boys. According to the passage, Mrs. Dubose, the neighbor, states “ ’…what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You’ll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn’t change your ways- a Finch waiting on tables at the O.K. Café-hah!’” She receives these types comments from her brother Jem and even Aunt Alexandra and tell her to look more ladylike. As the Scout grows and evolves through the novel, she becomes aware of her femininity and changes the way she dresses. She learns how to control her actions and act like a lady.
In addition, Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, is a victim of being stereotyped as a “nigger lover”. He was a lawyer defending a black man named Tom Robinson. A black man was always looked down upon and someone who was defending a black man was also looked down upon and criticized. While Atticus was just trying to do the right thing, the consequences from the society for that were being threatened, being called names, and his children to be treated differently.
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Additionally, Tom Robinson is a victim of being stereotyped because of his race. He is a black man that faces racism and prejudice just because of his skin color. He is accused of raping a white girl named Mayella Ewell. All the evidence gathered prove that Tom is an innocent man, but since all the jury members are white, they still declared Tom to be guilty for raping the girl to show that white people are superior no matter what. During that time period, this judgement wouldn’t have surprised anyone because black people were racially profiled. Whether they were guilty or not, they would have to pay the consequences and Tom would have to go to jail.
References
- Encyclopedia.com: To Kill a Mockingbird
- Shmoop: To Kill a Mockingbird
- The New York Times: Race and Ethnicity
- BBC Bitesize: Stereotyping and Discrimination
- Google Books: To Kill a Mockingbird
- CNN Style: The History of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
- Duke University Press: Gender, Race, and the Politics of Shame: Reisele’s Inevitable Woman
