What is Prejudice?

Irrational doubt or dislike of a specific social group, like a race or the believers of a religion.
The word comes from the Latin "pre" and "judge". The word is regularly utilized for a
judgement on an individual or a group of individuals. Such biases can prompt segregation,
contempt or even war.
Examples of prejudice are:
 Being biased towards a certain group of people
 Judging someone without knowing them
 Xenophobia

Prejudice in TKAM
The idea of prejudice is shown through the subplot of Boo Radley. Atticus tells his kids that
we never truly know a man until we view from his perspective. This topic is addressed
through Boo Radley, a man encompassed by secrets, bits of gossip and rumours hence,
prejudice. This prejudice at first burns-through Scout toward the start of To Kill a
Mockingbird as she envisions Boo to be some sort of beast. Nonetheless, Boo's
consideration towards the youngsters at last wins and he even ends up saving their lives
towards the end of the novel. Eventually, Scout even comes to acknowledge Boo as a
companion in spite of her unique bias.

To Kill a Mockingbird doesn't simply show the racial bias of the 1930s, yet it likewise shows
numerous different kinds of prejudice that were normal among individuals in little, sluggish
towns like Maycomb in the USA, which is the place where the book was set. With a child-like
blamelessness, the author retells the account of her youth through the eyes of Scout, a six-
year-old young lady without a mother, and a lawyer for a dad. Scout's dad, Atticus Finch, is
an also an amazing dad. He shows his kids, Jem and Scout, strong and upstanding ethics, and
regularly says that "You never truly comprehend an individual... until you move into his skin
and stroll around in it.”

Prejudice has also been appeared in the novel through the personality of characters just as
the whole Maycomb. It has been proved through the articulations of witnesses that Tom is
innocent, yet the jury arrives at the decision of detaining him only because of the inborn
prejudice. Auntie Alexandra's idea of showing kids the meaning of class is the most
noticeably awful kind of prejudice appeared in the novel.

More examples of Prejudice in TKAM

 In TKAM, some citizens look down on the poorer citizens who live on the outskirts of
town.
 Tom Robinson becomes a scapegoat because he is black.
 Boo Radley kept to himself because of prejudice towards him since he had a
troubled past. He was only timid and turned out to be nothing like people’s
perceptions.

A text that is similar to TKAM is the movie ‘Hidden Figures’. ‘Hidden figures’ is a movie that
recounts the tale of these three African American mathematicians, Katherine G. Johnson,
Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. During the Cold War, the trio worked at Nasa's Langley
Research Centre in Hampton as the US dashed against the USSR to place a man into space.
In Hidden Figures, there is racial prejudice and gender prejudice. Since the three women are
black, the individuals working at NASA have a prejudiced opinion about them. They imagine
they are unable to do mathematics properly. They believe that the women should stay as
housewives and they shouldn’t undertake a ‘man’s’ job, which is working at NASA. This
comes under gender prejudice or also known as sexism.

1. Boo Radley and Katherine Johnson were both prejudiced because they both had people
having a preconceived opinion about them, without having any actual experience with
them.
 Boo Radley had rumours going around about him because he never left the house
and so people judged him off of that.
 Katherine Johnson was a mathematician working at NASA and the people there
made a preconceived opinion about her saying that she wasn’t good enough. “…I put
a lot of faith in you.” Al Harrison Said

2. Along with prejudice come segregation. Prejudice refers to a positive or negative

judgement of other people based on their ‘group membership’ Since TKAM and hidden
figures include black people; they both were prejudiced and segregated.
 The black occupants of Maycomb lived in their own ‘quarter’ a space of housing set
to the aside for individuals of colour. The individuals of colour in Maycomb live in
wooden lodges, rather like enormous sheds which were frequently rundown. The
area where they reside is likewise close to the town dump and therefore a long way
from the middle-class neighbourhood. The other citizens would look down on them.

“Maycomb’s Ewells lives behind the town garbage dumb in what was a negro
cabin.” This quote shows that the negros did in fact live in their own ‘quarter’ near
the garbage dumb as well as the poor white people. This shows social class as well
as prejudice.

 In Hidden Figures, the other male workers look down on the black women that work
there. The women there were segregated because if they needed to use the
restroom, they needed to go to the other side of the campus just to relieve
themselves. Similar to TKAM, they had the facilities that were ‘not good quality’
whereas the white people had more privileges and they had ‘better quality’
facilities. It seemed as if everything was segregated, there was even a different
coffee pot for the coloured. This all happens because of their invalid opinions about
the black people

Literary Techniques in TKAM

 Irony: When Scott and Jem try to bring Boo Radley out of his mysterious hiding,
another irony is about Bob, when he attempts to excuse himself yet is killed in his
own act.
 Metaphor: The novel shows the utilization of a mockingbird as a representation for
somebody who causes you to appreciate things and acquire joy in life.

Audiomack