Harper Lee's Representation of The Theme of Racism in to Kill a Mockingbird

Published in 1960, and written by critically acclaimed author Harper Lee, “To kill a Mockingbird” observes the life of Scout Finch, an innocent American child subjected to the horrors and ruthless segregation that existed in the Southern United States. The novel itself addresses multiple universal themes, in particular the concepts of racism and injustice. These ideologies are especially evident throughout the various characters introduced by Lee and demonstrate the impact these notions would place on the function of society.

In particular, racism in To Kill a Mockingbird refers to partiality, referring either to a person, or to an entire race, or to a group of people belonging to different ethnic groups.  The novel presents bigotry in Maycomb society where most of the individuals belong to different races. Harper Lee braves prejudice and points out how social betrayal, partisanship and the lessons of discrimination destroy social cohesion. In spite of the fact that the full content portrays racism, a few notable incidents of racism in Harper Lee’s novel will be discussed in this essay.

The first quote that prominently displays the theme of racism is when Mr. Raymond acts as if he is drunk so he can explain why he married a woman of another race and even lives with her. From the novel, we understand that Mr. Raymond is frequently drunk and in this scenario he pretends to be befuddled to explain to Scout, Jem and Dill on why he does this as “Secretly, Miss Finch, I'm not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that's the way I want to live.” The quote clarifies the reality that a man would  pretend to be drunk just so he may live with the lady he cherishes and have children with, may be an idealized illustration of racism prevalent in Maycomb. Moreover, usage of simile and irony emphasizes on the point that there was clear racism in the society and it’s unacceptable to live with a person from another race and better yet marrying her. Adding onto this, the personal pronoun “I” makes the reader feel as though the story is being told to him/her and the emotional connection towards the readers proves the point of how much of a disgrace the society was in the late 1900’s.

The second quote that evidently displays the major theme of racism in the book is when Atticus mocks his Uncle stating that “She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.” The derogatory term of “negro” is shown here to display the lack of respect given towards black people as from what we know now, in society, is an ethnic slur that only black people have the right to use. The constant repetition of the singular personal pronoun of “she” emphasizes that she indeed did something unethically wrong, again, demonstrating the theme of racism as it should be acceptable to kiss a person from a dissimilar race. Likewise, as an audience we understand that Atticus hopes for us readers to be caught into the technique of a paradox , since in this case, Mayella did indeed broke the law, however Tom, an attentive black man, was following them and obeying the white wife. Finally the alliteration of “came crashing”  helps focus on the readers' attention in this particular section of the text and having the creation of rhythm and mood.

The third and final quote I will be discussing in this essay expressing the controversial and major theme of racism is when a lynch mob tries to kill Tom Robinson before he enters his trial as “I thought they must be cold-natured, as their sleeves were unrolled and buttoned at the cuffs. Some wore hats pulled firmly down over their ears. They were sullen-looking, sleepy-eyed men who seemed unused to late hours.” The quote here displays both the general use of visual imagery as well as the metaphor of “cold-natured” describing the selfless and dangerous men ready to attack Atticus to get to Tom Robinson. From this quote, the visual imagery has the effect on readers as it allows them to create the obscure scene in their mind and to create the scene in their own perception and what they would do in the scenario. Beside this, the metaphor sums to the fact that they lack any ethical value and do not follow or understand what is right and wrong in society proving to the point that racism was indeed a clear and controversial problem back in the late 1900’s, even to the extent in this case, having someone from a different race threatened and nearly killed before entering a trial.

To conclude, through the utilization of different techniques and quotes Harper Lee exhibits the significant theme of racism in his novel. Through the analyzation of the scenarios of when Mr Raymond pretending to be drunk to display affection for his wife as she is black, the mockery of Atticus and his uncle and the close killing of Tom Robinson before his entrance to trial are all ways that present the theme of discrimination and racism in To Kill a Mockingbird.