To Kill A Mockingbird Essay
Laura Stewart
5/25/05
Core 1
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is set in a Southern Alabama town during the 1930s. During that era many people, especially in the southern United States were hostile towards African- Americans. Beaverton is better than Maycomb because people are treated equally and fair here.
The people of Maycomb County had a habit of discriminating against black people living in and near their town. Many of Maycomb's residents thought of black people as trash. For example, during Tom Robinson's trial, Bob Ewell mentions that a group of African- Americans living on his land were devaluing it because they were not white. It is wrong to differentiate someone based on their race because it is something that they can not change. Every person, no matter their skin color has the right to be treated the same as everyone else. In addition, the people who said derogatory comments about African- Americans in the book didn't realize they were doing any such a thing. An example of this is when Ms. Merriweather is talking about her slave Sophy, she refers to her as a 'darky'. People who are unkind to others usually do it because that's the way they were raised. That kind of abhorrence is something you have to learn from someone else who has it first.
The people living in Beaverton are of all different races and respect is expected from everyone living here. For example, in Beaverton, hurting someone because of their race is considered a hate crime and you can go to jail for it. It is never okay to hurt someone just because you don't like how they look. It was wrong that there was a time when people weren't punished when they did something like that. In addition, someone once said that Beaverton is like a United Nations because of the varied ethnic backgrounds people living here have. For example, there are people who go to Highland Park who can trace their family back hundreds of years. Being able to see where your family is from is a cool thing that should be enjoyed by people from every race. You should be proud of your background no matter what, and no one has the right to judge you by it.
To Kill a Mockingbird deals with racial issues a lot in its 281 pages, but ultimately, many of the characters come to understand what we all should; that we all need to respect the people around us despite their appearance or background. That is a lesson that has been adopted by many and it helps to make Beaverton such a great town to live in.