Question

• Collect examples of prejudiced behaviour from films or novels.
• Discuss the examples you and your classmates have gathered. How are prejudices reflected in the manner a social group is depicted? How do we decide whether a certain kind of portrayal is prejudiced or not?
• Can you distinguish between instances of prejudice that were intentional – i.e., the filmmaker or writer wanted to show it as prejudiced– and unintentional or unconscious prejudice?

Answer 1

Title: Analyzing Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird

In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a clear example of prejudiced behaviour occurs during the trial of Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of a crime. The social group of Black residents in Maycomb is depicted as powerless, deeply marginalized, and legally vulnerable despite overwhelming evidence in their favour. The townspeople automatically assume Tom’s guilt simply because of his race, refusing to look at the factual evidence presented by his lawyer.

We can decide this portrayal is prejudiced because it relies on systemic bias rather than objective reality. A portrayal is prejudiced when a character’s worth, honesty, or guilt is judged entirely by their membership in a specific group rather than their individual actions. In this case, the white jury’s verdict is driven by deeply ingrained racial stereotypes of the 1930s American South, which prioritized maintaining white supremacy over delivering justice.

Crucially, this instance of prejudice is highly intentional on the part of the author, Harper Lee, who deliberately constructed the trial to expose the ugly reality of racism to her readers. However, looking at the novel through a modern lens, some critics argue the book also contains unintentional or unconscious prejudice. While Lee wanted to critique racism, she depicted the Black characters primarily as passive victims who rely entirely on a “white saviour” to defend them, reflecting the unconscious limitations of a white author writing in the 1960s.