English Liturture Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

English Liturture - Coursework Example It is such a sad thing that we, human beings have such views and feeling towards our fellow human beings rather than having the less fortunate creations like the animals feeling hatred to human beings for having been blessed more than they have been. Looking at such angle, animals have all the logical reasons for hating men should they have such feelings. However, men hating their equals make no sense at all. This is a sad fact that the highest-thinking living being feels, which would be the saddest part of all because it is decreasing him to a mere animal. These are all evident in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee). Prejudices in To Kill a Mockingbird The story tells of a colored man who has been wrongly accused of rape by a white woman and her father. Being colored, Tom Robinson, the accused was despised and already convicted even before the proper process he needed to undergo. This brought his life to danger, with the white Americans wanting to kill him for the accusa tions made to him even before his trial. Opinions about his being a bad person were already made in the minds of his spectators which eventually had a negative effect to his lawyer, Mr. Finch. The latter was named a negro-lover, extending its effects to his children who were not yet old enough to understand the situation of their father’s client, feeling the resentment of their relatives as well as their neighbors. Racial discrimination has been portrayed in the story in the character of Tom Robinson and his family and the Finch’s helper, Calpurina who represented the prejudiced black people not only in the story but in real life. Gender discrimination on the other hand has been reflected in the speaker’s character, Scout who felt separation in activities enjoyed by his brother and their summer friend, Dill. This also has been strongly seen in the character of the abused Mayella Ewell, the accuser of Tom Robinson. During the trial, it has been revealed that the woman was being abused by his father who was a widower for a long time. Being a drunkard, he has left all his responsibilities to be attended by his first daughter abusing her from household chores to sexually possessing her. The hardships the family experienced placed them among the least privileged and were given the stigma of being in the low class so that the Ewell children were never expected to have decent meals nor finish a year’s education. The family also pictures the life of those who are discriminated because of their social status. Prejudice is such a serious matter that abounds almost everywhere so that it has become the interest of many studies internationally. Suggestions have been made on how to fight against such atrocity especially to those which extend its effect to the killing of other people, not to mention mass murdering a family or race. One of the most common suggestions is education which may help enlighten the minds of people regarding gender, race a nd status. However, in Social Psychology of Prejudice (Crandall & Schaller 1996), it has been mentioned that racism, a form of prejudice thrives even in the intellectual circle. What then is the real score of what we could do about this matter? Race Race is traced in A History: The Construction of Race and Racism (Rogers & Bowman 2008), to religion and science. It is said that the early Christian