Prejudice in Harper Lee’s to kill a Mockingbird

ABSTRACT

Prejudice is a rigid and unfair generalization and assessment which is done by certain people toward the other people without knowing clearly about them. Therefore, there are some people cannot treat another people fairly, because prejudice has installed in their mind. Prejudice is an attitude that can cause many impacts in social life that disturb harmonic of social life.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is very interesting to be analyzed based on some considerations. First, that novel described prejudices in society, also explained its cause and effect against social life. Second, some prejudices happened in To Kill a Mockingbird are true fact in real life whether the author used fiction characters in that novel. Third, Alabama was used as setting of place in that novel. Thus, To Kill a Mockingbird can be used as mirror of real condition of prejudice in real life, especially in Alabama. Fourth, To Kill a Mockingbird can be representation of prejudice everywhere in this world.

This research uses sociology of literature as a tool to look at prejudice in the novel. Actually, sociology of literature uses literary work as mirror of the real condition in society. It relates to human’s problem in their social environment. Literary work therefore can be witness of history in human’s life, because it reflects social life which is experienced by mankind in this world.

This study then has some results of research. The results are there are some prejudices which are done by many Maycomb people against families with different or bad habit and against black people. Those prejudices are caused by the differences in custom and race. Feeling different from the others will be exist in people mind as long as there are some people keep and spread it in society. Therefore, prejudice can cause discrimination, segregation, and oppression in society. Then, another result is the reflection of prejudice in the novel toward prejudice in the real condition in Alabama.