Essay About Harper Lees And Different Forms Of Prejudice

Reflection Statement on Area of Study Prejudice
Essay title: Reflection Statement on Area of Study Prejudice
Reflection Statement on area of study Prejudice
Prejudice; what a strong and powerful word that is. When prejudice first comes to mind I first think of, judgment, bias, stereotyping, unfairness and intolerance. It’s much more than that it’s an evil discriminator act of power. A preconceived opinion of someone de to physical characteristics that can’t be helped or changed. There are many different forms of prejudice but the four main ones to me are as follows. Sexism (the unfair prejudice against someone because of their sex), ageism (the pre conceived idea that they are not worthy due to someone’s age), socio economic prejudice (the discrimination against someone due to their wealth/class/job place in society etc) and last but not least racism (the prejudice targeted towards someone because of their racial background, whether that be white, negro, Asian etc). Personally prejudice to me is one of the most hurtful and intolerant actions towards someone I have ever seen. It’s nasty and deceitful and is the epitome of no justice. What’s that saying ‘freedom and justice for all’ in Australia? Well that doesn’t seem to be the case, I mean our own native aboriginals feel like there in a concentration camp on their own land due to the prejudice they receive when placed in a white society.

One of the texts I studied was Harper Lees ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ this novel shows the different forms of prejudice in all their greatness. To kill a mockingbird has really helped me understand prejudice a lot more. You see how no one in to kill a Mockingbird is completely good or evil. Every character is human, with human flaws and weaknesses. Harper lee even changes Atticus, the shining example of morality, symbolically weak by making him an old and widowed man. It is how these flawed characters influence and are influenced by the major themes that keystone their society. These are the many different themes; the problems of growing up in societies eyes. Where you are constantly judged and targeted. Justice and injustice, courage to stand up for what you as a person truly believe in, respect for the individual. Education in ‘to kill a mocking bird’ is extremely important theme, that’s why at a young age Atticus had taught Jem and scout to read and had been taught right from wrong. To the end of the novel you see Jem and scout realizing this by Jem wondering whether family status could be based more on education rather than the family blood line. You can see why Atticus did this because education is the key to unlocking the ignorance that causes prejudice. For example attics deeply acknowledges the ignorance blinding peoples minds and hearts for example when in the court he says “the witnesses for the state…have presented themselves to you gentlemen…in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the…evil assumption…that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber” (