To Kill A Mockingbird - Themes - Prejudice

Prejudice permeates Maycomb society. Almost every character is either prejudiced against others, or the victim of prejudice. There is racial prejudice, class prejudice and prejudice against individuals who don't fit in.

The majority of the white population of Maycomb are racist. They see Blacks as second-class citizens (they do menual jobs for little money) and second-class humans.

Examples of racism

Only a few people in the book are open-minded enough to recognise racism for the evil it is.

As well as prejudice about people's colour, there is prejudice about people's social standing. There are strict divisions along class lines in Maycomb Society.

Finally there is prejudice against anyone who doesn't fit in to Maycomb's fixed expectations of how people should behave. The most important victim of this type of prejudice is BOO RADLEY.

Most of the town are prejudiced against Boo. Local gossip portrays him as a "malevolent phantom." Children run past the Radley house of fear and won't eat anything that came from Radley trees, believing them poisoned.