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In this video, it explains about the whole idea of Situational Irony and what it really is. Situational irony is the major difference between what the audience expects and what really happens in the end. This relates to the plot in T.K.A.M because many situations in the novel included Irony. For example, when Miss Caroline appears in the novel there is a noticeable difference between how she dressed which was all dainty and pretty, vs. how her students dressed.

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Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is an incongruity between the literal and the implied meaning. No written method for indicating irony exists, though an irony punctuation mark has been proposed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony
'Isn't it ironic?' You hear it all the time - and, most of the time, actually no, it isn't. Hypocritical, cynical, lazy, coincidental, more likely. But what is irony? Zoe Williams meticulously, sincerely, and unironically hunts it down. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2003/jun/28/weekend7.weekend2
Irony may be defined as the conflict of two meanings. http://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=DicHist/uvaGenText/tei/DicHist2.xml;chunk.id=dv2-70

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Situational irony: The opposite of what you think - Christopher Warner

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Leaps and bounds separate that which is ironic and that which many people simply say is ironic. Christopher Warner wants to set the record straight: Something is ironic if and only if it is the exact opposite of what you would expect.

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This image shows Mr. Cunningham giving Atticus  something to try to repay him for his legal help. Mr. Cunningham is very poor and his family won't take anything from anyone unless they can repay them. When Scout sees Mr. Cunningham trying to leave things at the house for Atticus, she thinks Atticus should tell him to stop. Atticus shows empathy to Mr. Cunningham because he lets him leave small gifts without making a big deal about it. He knows Mr. Cunningham feels bad that he doesn't have money to pay him. This is an act of empathy as Atticus is understanding to Mr. Cunningham's actions.

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In this video, Atticus is talking with Scout and trying to calm her down because she is upset with her teacher. Scout tells him a couple of things that happened that day in school. Atticus responds by giving her a lesson in empathy. "...if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folk. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-"...-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." (Lee, 33)

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A Lesson in Empathetic Leadership from "To Kill A Mockingbird"

"First of all," he said, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it".

This is a famous quote straight out of my favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird. I've recently been rereading it since Go Set a Watchman just came out. As I'm reading it, I've noticed the many times it shows one of our company values.

One of these times, Scout, a young girl, begins going to school and realizes that she dislikes her teacher. She states that she told Scout that her father had been teaching her to read "all wrong". Scout also mentions that her teacher had attempted to give another student a quarter for lunch when everyone knows that their family "don't take nothing from nobody".

Atticus, her father, sits her down and explains that Scout's simply not seeing it through their eyes. Her teacher is new in town, and it was her first day teaching. She can't be expected to know everything, and it's difficult when a student already knows more than the rest of the class.

Atticus teaches his daughter that it's important to step back and think about the other person point of view.

I struggled to understand the other person's view when I became involved in student organizations. I was consistently upset about other people not putting in the same effort that I was in the projects we had to do. It took talking to the people and hearing them out to understand that there's a lot of different reasons things like that could happen. School is busy, many people have jobs to help pay for college, and it's difficult sometimes to get things done.

So, next time you're unsure of why someone is acting in an odd way, or you don't understand someone's decisions, think about what Atticus would say and think from their point of view! Talk to them, understand where they're coming from and react after knowing the whole story.

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A Lesson in Empathetic Leadership from "To Kill A Mockingbird" - Swift Kick

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"First of all," he said, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his...

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This quote states "Don't worry, the spider is smaller than you, yeah, so is a grenade..." This connects to T.K.A.M's Part 1 because when Jem creates a snowman that resembled Mr.Avery, he placed Miss Maudie's hat on top. However when she sees that he took her hat, she told Jem, "You devil, bring me back my hat sir!" (Lee, 69) Maudie's statement is a clear example of verbal irony since she doesn't literally think Jem is the devil.

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This website lists quotes from the novel, which represent irony. For example, "You’ve perpetrated a near libel here in the front yard. We’ve got to disguise this fellow." (Lee, 69) This clearly shows irony, as Atticus doesn't think that Jem "perpetrated a near libel." (Lee, 69) He is acknowledging the fact that Jem's monstrosity of a snowman resembles Mr. Avery, which might offend him if he were to see it.

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The plot of TKAM  charts the progress of Scout and Jem's moral education shown through the relationship between Atticus and his children. This website emphasizes the themes (specifically moral education) in TKAM.

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The Coexistence of Good and Evil

The most important theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is the book's exploration of the moral nature of human beings-that is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. The novel approaches this question by dramatizing Scout and Jem's transition from a perspective of childhood innocence, in which they assume that people are good because they have never seen evil, to a more adult perspective, in which they have confronted evil and must incorporate it into their understanding of the world. As a result of this portrayal of the transition from innocence to experience, one of the book's important subthemes involves the threat that hatred, prejudice, and ignorance pose to the innocent: people such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are not prepared for the evil that they encounter, and, as a result, they are destroyed. Even Jem is victimized to an extent by his discovery of the evil of racism during and after the trial. Whereas Scout is able to maintain her basic faith in human nature despite Tom's conviction, Jem's faith in justice and in humanity is badly damaged, and he retreats into a state of disillusionment.

Read more about the exploration of good and evil in Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible.

The moral voice of To Kill a Mockingbird is embodied by Atticus Finch, who is virtually unique in the novel in that he has experienced and understood evil without losing his faith in the human capacity for goodness. Atticus understands that, rather than being simply creatures of good or creatures of evil, most people have both good and bad qualities. The important thing is to appreciate the good qualities and understand the bad qualities by treating others with sympathy and trying to see life from their perspective. He tries to teach this ultimate moral lesson to Jem and Scout to show them that it is possible to live with conscience without losing hope or becoming cynical. In this way, Atticus is able to admire Mrs. Dubose's courage even while deploring her racism. Scout's progress as a character in the novel is defined by her gradual development toward understanding Atticus's lessons, culminating when, in the final chapters, Scout at last sees Boo Radley as a human being. Her newfound ability to view the world from his perspective ensures that she will not become jaded as she loses her innocence.

The Importance of Moral Education

Because exploration of the novel's larger moral questions takes place within the perspective of children, the education of children is necessarily involved in the development of all of the novel's themes. In a sense, the plot of the story charts Scout's moral education, and the theme of how children are educated-how they are taught to move from innocence to adulthood-recurs throughout the novel (at the end of the book, Scout even says that she has learned practically everything except algebra). This theme is explored most powerfully through the relationship between Atticus and his children, as he devotes himself to instilling a social conscience in Jem and Scout. The scenes at school provide a direct counterpoint to Atticus's effective education of his children: Scout is frequently confronted with teachers who are either frustratingly unsympathetic to children's needs or morally hypocritical. As is true of To Kill a Mockingbird's other moral themes, the novel's conclusion about education is that the most important lessons are those of sympathy and understanding, and that a sympathetic, understanding approach is the best way to teach these lessons. In this way, Atticus's ability to put himself in his children's shoes makes him an excellent teacher, while Miss Caroline's rigid commitment to the educational techniques that she learned in college makes her ineffective and even dangerous.

The Existence of Social Inequality

Differences in social status are explored largely through the overcomplicated social hierarchy of Maycomb, the ins and outs of which constantly baffle the children. The relatively well-off Finches stand near the top of Maycomb's social hierarchy, with most of the townspeople beneath them. Country farmers like the Cunninghams lie below the townspeople, and the Ewells rest below the Cunninghams. But the black community in Maycomb, despite its abundance of admirable qualities, squats below even the Ewells, enabling Bob Ewell to make up for his own lack of importance by persecuting Tom Robinson. These rigid social divisions that make up so much of the adult world are revealed in the book to be both irrational and destructive. For example, Scout cannot understand why Aunt Alexandra refuses to let her consort with young Walter Cunningham. Lee uses the children's perplexity at the unpleasant layering of Maycomb society to critique the role of class status and, ultimately, prejudice in human interaction.

Prejudice

Discussions about prejudice in general, and racism in particular, are at the heart of To Kill a Mockingbird. Conflicts over racism drive some of the most compelling and memorable scenes in the novel. Racial conflict causes the two dramatic deaths that occur in the story. On one level, To Kill a Mockingbird represents a simplistic and moralistic view of racial prejudice. White people who are racist are bad, and white people who are not racist are good. Atticus risks his reputation, his position in the community, and ultimately the safety of his children because he is not racist, and therefore good. Bob Ewell falsely accuses a black man of rape, spits on Atticus publicly, and attempts to murder a child because he is racist, and therefore bad. To Kill a Mockingbird does attempt to look at some of the complexities of living in a racist society. Both Scout and Jem confront everything from unpleasantness to murderous hostility as they learn how their family's resistance to racial prejudice has positioned them against the community at large.

The treatment of prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird is not only simplistic in terms of morality, but also in terms of perspective. To read the novel one would think racism is a problem that exists between educated, financially stable, moral white people, and ignorant, dirt poor, vicious white people. The black characters in the novel are rarely given voice on the topic of racism. When they do speak it is largely in terms of gratitude for the good white people of town and not in terms of anger, frustration, resistance, or hostility towards the culture of racism. When the author does present black characters as trying to resist racist abuses, she shows them doing so by avoiding or retreating, as when Tom Robinson attempts to escape from prison or when Helen Robinson walks through the woods to avoid going past the Ewell house. Black characters in the novel never respond to racism actively and barely respond to it reactively. When a black character is critical of white people, as when Lula challenges Calpurnia for bringing Jem and Scout to the black church, she is ostracized by the rest of the black community, suggesting her complaints against white people are unfounded.

Law

Though the trial of Tom Robinson takes up only about one tenth of the book, it represents the narrative center around which the rest of the novel revolves. This trial seems intended as an indictment of the legal system, at the least as it exists of within the town of Maycomb. Procedurally, the judge carries out the trial properly. The lawyers select the jury through normal means, and both the defense and prosecution to make their cases. But the all-white jury does not interpret the evidence according to the law, but rather applies their own prejudices to determine the outcome of the case. Tom Robinson's guilty verdict exemplifies the limitations of the law, and asks the reader to reconsider the meaning of the word "fair" in the phrase "a fair trial." While Atticus understands that the legal system is flawed, he firmly believes in the legal process. At the same time, Atticus believes the law should be applied differently to different people. He explains to Scout that because she has a good life full of opportunities she should have to obey the law fully, but he suggests that there are others who have much more difficult lives and far fewer opportunities, and that there are times when it is just to let those people break the law in small ways so that they are not overly harmed by the law's application.

Lying

There are two lies at the heart of To Kill a Mockingbird. Mayella Ewell says that Tom Robinson raped her, and Heck Tate says that Bob Ewell accidentally stabbed himself. The first lie destroys an innocent man who occupies a precarious social position in Maycomb because of his race. The second lie prevents the destruction of an innocent man who occupies a precarious social position in Maycomb because of his extreme reclusiveness. Taken together, the two lies reflect how deception can be used to harm or to protect. The two lies also reveal how the most vulnerable members of society can be the most deeply affected by the stories people tell about them. Social status also determines who is allowed to tell a lie. During the trial, prosecutor Horace Gilmer confronts Tom Robinson, asking Tom if he is accusing Mayella Ewell of lying. Even though Tom knows full well that Mayella is lying, he cannot say so because in Maycomb the lies of a white woman carry more weight than the truth told by a black man. Atticus, on the other hand, who is white, male, and of a higher class status than Mayella, can accuse her of lying when he suggests that it was really Mayella's father, not Tom, who beat her.

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to kill a mockingbird free online study guide

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To Kill a Mockingbird: Themes | SparkNotes

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The most important theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is the book's exploration of the moral nature of human beings-that is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil.

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Calpurnia plays an important role in the lives of Jem and Scout. As the plot of the story thickens, we can see Scout and Jem developing moral education. “There're some folks who don't eat like us. But you ain't called on to contradict' em at the table when they don't" (Lee 32). In this quote, Calpurnia scolds Scout for speaking impolitely to Walter Cunningham. From this, we can clearly infer that Calpurnia wants to teach the children the value of principles and ethics.

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Calpurnia + Moral Education - To Kill a Mockingbird and the Roles of Women

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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee influences Scout to grow up with a strong moral education. For example, Scout, a young White girl, receives a lecture of morals and manners from Calpurnia halfway through dinner because she says something rude to her White classmate Walter Cunningham when he drowns his plate of food in syrup.

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In this quote, it states that "Compassion is an action word with no boundaries." I believe that this connects to the plot on T.K.A.M Part 1 because when Scout rips her jeans in Chapter 6, Boo Radley ends up sewing them back up and leaves them outside, for her to take when she came back. He did this out of the kindness & compassion in his heart although she, along with Dill and Jem kept trying to invade his privacy.

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This website gives a list of TKAM quotes, and states the prejudice and discrimination behind them. These surround the plot, as the quotes encounter verbal and physical violence. For example, “I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks. (Lee, 231) This statement bridges the gap between prejudice and discrimination in the novel.

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Prejudice

Scout says this to Jem when they are discussing why different groups in their town do not get along. Jem disagrees and believes that people's differences are the source of their disagreements. While Jem accurately identifies a major source of conflict in Maycomb, Scout expresses a deeper yet more naïve understanding of people's shared humanity. Her innocence is also a lesson to the reader, because it communicates an idealized world in which people are able to respect one another despite racial and socioeconomic differences.

This conversation between Atticus and Scout comes early in the book, after Scout's first day of school. Atticus is trying to get Scout to understand why her new teacher behaved differently than Scout expected and discourages her from making judgments about others, especially on the basis of race or class, until she has considered their individual perspective. This conversation sets up an ongoing theme of empathy and guides Scout's efforts to imagine other characters' interpretations of important events, such as the Tom Robinson trial.

Although this line sounds like a command, the speaker, Dolphus Raymond, is actually predicting what Dill won't do when he gets older. He says that once Scout and Dill become accustomed to the current world, they will no longer be shocked or even upset by the injustices they witness every day. This comment implies that children are morally superior to adults because they have not yet been jaded by the unfair world around them.

In this quotation from Chapter 18, Holden recalls watching the Christmas Show at Radio City with "old Sally Hayes" the year before. Sally kept saying how beautiful the show was, which provoked this comment from Holden. Holden's assertion that Jesus "would've puked" at the sight of the "fancy costumes and all" indicates that he associates Jesus with a lack of pretension and affectation; in other words, Jesus was not a phony. Even though Holden has nothing but distaste for the Church and for the commercialization of the Christmas holiday, he retains his respect for Jesus.

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Scout says this to Jem when they are discussing why different groups in their town do not get along. Jem disagrees and believes that people's differences are the source of their disagreements. While Jem accurately identifies a major source of conflict in Maycomb, Scout expresses a deeper yet more naïve understanding of people's shared humanity.

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In this article, multiple acts of kindness and compassion are shown. Numerous different acts of goodness were done, many of which helped people in need which seems similar to how Atticus helped Mrs. Dubose with her problems, even though she always harassed him.

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ABC News took a look at a "special nine" from 2009, acts of compassion, sacrifice, bravery and talent that were, in every case, inspired by a single someone, or a group of many, reaching out perhaps a bit further to help a fellow man.

We chose nine stories that illustrate achievements both bold and benevolent, all representative of how people make a difference in the lives of others.

Risking It All

The residents of Layton Avenue in Milwaukee began the day of July 19, 2009, as neighbors but they ended it as heroes.

What should have been a quiet Sunday evening was interrupted when an SUV driving past their homes crashed and burst into flames. Angela P. Baldessari, 32, and her two small children were trapped in the upside-down car and it looked as if they were about to die, until neighbors and passersby rushed in to save them.

Baldessari and her 2-year-old daughter were pulled from the car but her 4-year-old son, David "DJ" Harper, was trapped in his car-seat.

John and Joel Rechlitz, two off-duty firefighters, took turns diving into the burning car to rescue the boy and, as a result of their bravery, DJ is now recuperating from burns covering 20 percent of his body.

DJ would have died had it not been for their fearless efforts but the Rechlitz brothers do not call themselves heroes.

"We were in the right place at the right time," Joel Rechlitz told ABC News.

To the Harper family, they were so much more.

"There are angels all around us," DJ's father, James Harper, said.

To learn more about DJ or donate money to help pay for his medical bills, click here.

Teaching by Example

For mountaineer Greg Mortenson, the path to peace begins in the mind of a child.

Mortenson has spent the past decade building schools in some of the most challenging parts of the world, Afghanistan and Pakistan, in order to help educate the boys and girls of the local villages.

Since its inception, Mortenson's non-profit, Central Asia Institute, has built 78 schools for 33,000 children.

Mortenson's work has not always been easy.

"I had a fatwa issued against me because I was trying to promote girls' education," Mortenson told ABC News.

In 2009, Mortenson received the Sitara-E-Pakistan, or Star of Pakistan, the country's highest civilian award, in recognition of his accomplishments in the area.

Inspiring Stories of 2009

"If you fight terrorism, that's based in fear," Mortenson said, "but if you promote peace, that's based in hope. It's ignorance that breeds hatred."

To learn more about the organization or make a donation, click here.

Drawing a Following

Lots of children like to draw but for 7-year-old Isabelle Redford, art is about helping others.

"I like to draw cards because I can raise money to help the orphans," Isabelle told ABC News.

Isabelle's project began after her mother told her a story of two girls in Haiti whose mother died during childbirth. Although she was only 5 at the time, Isabelle began selling her drawings to raise money, hoping to help.

The cards are now sold through the Global Orphan Project, a charity that builds and runs orphanages.

Isabelle has already raised more than $45,000, enough to build "The Isabelle Redford House of Hope" for orphaned girls in Haiti.

Isabelle and the Global Orphan Project plan to break ground on another orphanage in Uganda sometime in the next two months.

"I really want to do this all over the world where they really need it," she told ABC News.

To learn more about the Global Orphan Project or make a donation, click here.

Fair Health

Congress has been debating the health care bill for months but while Congress deliberates, Dr. Stan Brock has been taking action.

Brock, inspired in part by his own story, being homeless, being without food, being without medical care, oversees an organization dedicated to bringing doctor and patient together.

Brock's brain-child, Remote Area Medical, runs free health care clinics around the world. The all-volunteer organization was originally founded to offer aid in developing countries but 64 percent of its work is now done in the United States.

This year, Brock took RAM out of the remote areas of the United States and moved it to Los Angeles for an eight-day clinic.

"People ask me what are you doing in Los Angeles?" Brock told ABC News. "For people that simply can't afford health care in this country, the opportunity to get it is remote."

Remote Area Medical has already scheduled its 2010 clinics, beginning Feb. 6, 2010, in Chilhowee Park, Tenn.

To learn more about Remote Area Medical or make a donation, click here.

Delivering the Goods

Bus driver Jorge Munoz gives new meaning to the phrase "sharing is caring."

Munoz has been feeding New York's hungry for the past five years, and he's been doing it by cooking hundreds of meals each night in his small kitchen in Queens, N.Y.

Munoz witnessed the toll the recession took on his fellow New Yorkers this past year as he watched the number of mouths he was feeding double. Munoz even found himself unemployed for a month, but he continued to feed the more than 100 people who showed up nightly looking for food.

Munoz spends half of his $650 a week salary on food, but the value of the dollar means little to him.

"The best way we get paid back is that we in these guys smile," Munoz told ABC News.

To learn more about Munoz's efforts or to donate money, click here.

Millions of Reasons

Helen LaKelly Hunt, the daughter of Texas oil tycoon H.L. Hunt, was born into wealth. Raised to be a Southern belle and not think of money, she was startled to learn as an adult that affluent women were not making significant donations to charities that directly aided women.

"Women and girls shoulder 85 percent of the burden of poverty today," Hunt told ABC News. "Yet today they receive 7 percent of the funding philanthropically."

In partnership with the Women's Funding Network and with the help of a generous donation from her sister, Swanee Hunt, she launched "Women Moving Millions," a campaign to raise $150 million for women's funds through donations by wealthy women.

"It's time for high net-worth women to stand by their sisters," Hunt told ABC News. "We wanted these women to step up to the plate and not sit on the sidelines while these other women are helping to heal the planet."

Women Moving Millions has already raised more than $185 millions from only 101 donors, including two men.

The donations have been disbursed among 43 women's organizations with the promise of much more to come.

"We're beginning the unleashing of something that's going to cascade and keep going," Hunt said. "We are just getting started."

To learn more about Women Moving Millions or to make a donation, click here.

Wish Fulfillment

Dave Girgenti is in the business of granting wishes.

His Web site, WishUponAHero.com, connects those in need to those with the power, and desire, to grant wishes.

"Sometimes, it's as simple as advice or a birthday card," Girganti told ABC News. "They're not always huge, huge wishes. So anyone can be a hero."

Inspiring Stories of 2009

Heroes have sent a World War II veteran back to Pearl Harbor for his 90th birthday, a prom dress and shoes to a girl whose house burned down, and introduced a boy with terminal cancer to his basketball idols.

Nancy Mitchell has granted 21 wishes, kindness that was repaid when someone else granted her wish.

Mitchell's husband has just lost one of his jobs, their dryer stopped working and their car needed thousands of dollars in repairs when their refrigerator died.

After she posted to the site, Ginny Winderman, who volunteers to help run the site, bought a refrigerator for Mitchell.

"It's just not an appliance," Mitchell said. "She gave me my holidays back."

To learn more about the Web site or get involved, click here.

Profiles in Courage

For the tens of thousands of U.S. troops far from home, their commitment to purpose, their focus on the mission, their devotion to each other and their love of country and family, perhaps explains their unwavering dedication in the face of all the personal sacrifice.

"I really feel that I've made an impact or participated in something really critical to our nation," Col. Gary Volesky told ABC News this year. "I truly believe that our families are safer because we are right here."

President Obama recently announced plans to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. They will join the 68,000 already there. Another 114,000 continue to serve in Iraq.

These servicemen and women have left husbands, wives, children and loved ones behind this year, in order to help defend and grow communities in Afghanistan and Iraq.

And those abroad are not the only ones showing courage.

"[My son Alex] always makes me smile because he says, 'Ok, dad, you go over there and you help those people and I'll wait for you back here,'" Volesky said.

If you're interested in making donations to troops serving abroad or helping their families at home, click here.

A Sorrowful Ritual

In February 2009, the Pentagon lifted an 18-year ban on media coverage, with the family's permission, of the return of fallen service members to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

More than 5,000 coffins have arrived at Dover since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began. All have received a dignified transfer.

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ABC News took a look at a "special nine" from 2009, acts of compassion, sacrifice, bravery and talent that were, in every case, inspired by a single someone, or a group of many, reaching out perhaps a bit further to help a fellow man. We chose nine stories that illustrate achievements both bold and...

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In this particular picture, we can see that Aunt Alexandria is not paying attention to Calpurnia. Alexandria doesn't respect all the work she does for the family. This is a sign of prejudice, as Alexandria has never experienced life in the shoes of a black woman.

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This image shows Tom Robinson and Atticus in the court house.  Atticus shows empathy by defending a black man during a time period where white people did not help black people. After a couple of times looking at this picture, I noticed that there were only white people in the background. This made me think that they might have a lack of empathy for Tom Robinson since he is black.

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This presentation showcases the importance of moral education in TKAM. Many ethics and acts of morality are seen in the novel. This adds to the plot, as many characters (such as Scout and Jem), slowly develop morality throughout the novel.

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During the time period in which the novel took place,   many acts of prejudice and discrimination took place. Prejudice makes up the plot, as the novel surrounds the idea of discrimination against colored. This website discusses the character Boo Radley and his importance in the novel.

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Prejudice is a common problem during the early quarter of the twentieth century. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird this problem is evident in Maycomb. Boo Radley, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson are all victims of prejudice, and all three characters are plagued by this. It affects them all differently; crippling them and disabling them from acting as they wish.

In the novel, Boo Radley is a victim of prejudice. Boo Radley is not accepted nor does he fit into Maycomb society because he is different from others. He is not normal so he is punished by a society that is very judgmental. Boo does not act like a normal person. In society, his actions are mysterious and abnormal. One day Boo was cutting the newspaper with scissors, and when his father passed "Boo drove the scissors into his parent's leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activity"(Lee, 11). Boo just sat there after stabbing his father. He did not apologize or feel remorse for his actions.

Boo Radley isolates himself from the people of Maycomb. Boo stays inside his home all day and nobody ever sees him. After some trouble with the law, "Mr. Radley's boy was not seen again for fifteen years"(10). If Boo chooses to go outside, he will be unfairly viewed as a visitor from abroad because of his mysterious ways. Boo stays inside his home because he knows that his society will ridicule him. After being isolated for so many years, Boo is developmentally challenged. Boo has lost his basic social skills and will not survive outside of his home.

Boo is the object of rumors and is viewed as the towns erratic figure. The town speculates what he does inside his home. People believe that Boo "went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows... any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work"(9). The town would blame or accuse Boo for any little crime or unexplained phenomenon. Children speculate as well as the adults. Jem speculates to Dill "Boo was about six and a half feet tall, ... there was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time"(13). This is an example of prejudice in the novel because the children speculate and fabricate ideas of what this human does. The town portrays Boo Radley as a monstrosity in their society when he is just an individual who made mistakes and is a little bit diversified. This is an example of the crippling affect that prejudice has on a person.

Atticus Finch is another victim of prejudice in the novel. After the appointment to defend Tom Robinson, a black person, the town exhibits prejudice towards him. The townspeople believe that Atticus should not present a proper defense for a black person, but Atticus fully intends to do so because he believes in equal rights and does not believe in prejudice or racism.

Atticus Finch is the object of vicious comments by the townspeople. Many do not believe that Atticus should defend a black person in court because, in their biased opinion, a black person is guilty before the case is brought to trial. Mr. Bob Ewell confronts Atticus after the trial at the post office corner, spits in his face and says 'Too proud to fight, you nigger-lovin' bastard?'... 'No, too old'(217). This does not bother Atticus because he knows that he is doing the right thing defending Tom properly.

Atticus's children have to confront comments by family and people in their neighborhood throughout the novel. In an incident at a family gathering Francis Finch tells Scout 'Grandma says it's bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he is turning out to be a nigger-lover... he's ruinin' the family, that's what he's doin'"(83). Scout is confused about these comments and is not sure what they mean. One evening Scout asks Atticus "What exactly is a nigger-lover?"(108). Atticus responds to Scout and explains the term to her so that her ignorance will no longer bother her. Jem is also faced with a similar situation with Mrs. Dubose. She tells Jem, "Your father is no better than the niggers and trash he works for"(102). Jem understands what Mrs. Dubose says and lashes back at her destroying her flowers. Jem and Scout also hear Aunt Alexandra and Atticus arguing one night "she won't let him alone about Tom Robinson. She almost said Atticus was disgracin' the family"(147). These comments are hard for the children and Atticus.

Tom Robinson is a victim of prejudice in Maycomb because of his race. Tom is black and accused of raping a white woman. Being a Negro in Maycomb during the nineteen thirties is difficult. During the trial Mr. Gilmer insinuates that Tom is guilty of raping Mayella Ewell because he has a previous conviction. Mr. Gilmer posed the question, 'What did the nigger look like when you got through with him?'... Atticus raised his head 'it was a misdemeanor and it's in the record'(196). By reason of Tom's inferior skin color he is judged to be a hurtful person in society.

Tom Robinson fleas the Ewell's home after Mr. Ewell sees Mayella kiss him. At this point Tom has no other alternative. Mr. Gilmer questions Tom, 'Why did you run so fast?'... 'It weren't safe for any nigger to be in a-fix like that.'... 'you weren't in a fix... were you scared she was going to hurt you?'... "No suh, I's scared I'd be in court...scared I'd hafta face up to what I didn't do"(198) In the thirties a white person's word is superior to that of a black person's. Mr. Gilmer demonstrates this as he cross examines Tom on the witness stand. Mr. Gilmer questions Tom's word, 'you say she's lying, boy?'(197). This proves that even if Mayella is lying, the White community will believe her before the believe any honest or dishonest Black.

Tom Robinson is unfairly treated on the witness stand by Mr. Gilmer. Mr. Gilmer, the prosecuting attorney is disrespectful towards Tom. He treats Tom as if he is a child and refers to him as "boy"(197) when he is in fact a grown man with a family. Dill realizes 'that old Mr. Gilmer doin' him thataway, talking so hateful to him'(198). Mr. Gilmer is also disrespectful to the Black race referring to them as "niggers"(196) throughout out the trial.

The town of Maycomb displays prejudice against Boo Radley, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson in different ways. They are all indefensible in society and there is nothing they can say or do to prevent discrimination against themselves. By the end of the novel, Maycomb seems to begin a positive change from prejudice. Society is now beginning to understand that Boo, Atticus and Tom's differences are what give them character and without their differences, life in Maycomb would be monotonous.
Source: Essay UK - http://www.essay.uk.com/coursework/the-effects-of-prejudice-in-to-kill-a-mockingbird.php

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Prejudice is a common problem during the early quarter of the twentieth century. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird this problem is evident in Maycomb. Boo Radley, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson are all victims of prejudice, and all three characters are plagued by this.

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In this video from NBC News, a grandma supposedly waved to children passing by in school busses out of the kindness and compassion in her heart for them. This relates to Part 1 in T.K.A.M because Boo shows compassion to Scout by putting a blanket over her when Miss Maudie's house burned down.

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‘Grandma in the Window’ Teaches Kids Compassion

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93-year-old Louise Edlen had been waving to passing students for years. When the kids noticed she was no longer sending her usual greeting due to illness they reached out to support her. KING’s Eric Wilkinson reports.