Kill A Mockingbird, By Harper Lee - 1659 Words

To Kill A Mockingbird features many life lessons and gems of wisdom, presented in a variety of forms. The novel presents messages and lessons about how we should treat others. It primarily teaches important life lessons through the themes of racism, sexism and classism. Through the theme of racism, we learn a lesson about equality, the theme of prejudice teaches us about gossip and a lesson about the power of empathy is taught through the theme of classism. Equality is effectively and consistently taught throughout the novel, through the theme of racism, specifically in the form of the character Tom Robinson and his trial. Tom Robinson experiences racism throughout the novel, being persecuted for crimes he did not commit, with little to†¦show more content†¦The fact that it is noticeable and common knowledge within the town, and no one attempts to enact change, proves that the racism of Maycomb creates a great inequality between the peoples. The town’s racial prejudice is not limited to the black people, but extends to those children born of one white parent and one African American parent. ‘†¦but once you have a single drop of Negro blood, that makes you all black.’ The people of Maycomb are of the belief that all black people, regardless of whether they are a coloured person or otherwise, are as bad as each other. At this point in the novel, we have already heard from Atticus on why the peoples are eq ual when he states that ‘You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women – black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and no particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman with desire.’ By using this powerful comparison of no man having never told a lie, it proves to the reader, and should at the minimum provide doubt to the community of Maycomb, that immorality, lies and sins are not determined by race or the races of an individual, rather by behaviour of a specific person. The racial inequality seen in Maycomb teaches a valuable life lesson in equality, as it is clearly