Prejudice. Kindness and Prejudice. The idea of these two words have no similarity with each other, yet authors often highlight both of these ideas in their texts gracefully. The authors of To Kill A Mockingbird and The Paper Bag Princess have given the themes of these ideas a lot of emphasis in their writing. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the author narrates tales about racism and prejudice through the eyes of Scout Finch. Set in 1930s in Alabama, Scout’s father, Atticus Finch is the lawyer for a black man who has been charged for rape of a white woman (which he may or may not have committed). Atticus’ wisdom and acts of kindness receives a lot of criticism from the people who continue to hold prejudice against African Americans; where he is harmed even though he only does good. Similarly, in The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, Elizabeth is a princess who once lived happily with Prince Ronald, but their happiness was destroyed when a dragon took Prince Ronald away and ruined everything that the couple had. Elizabeth is courageous and is determined to bring the Prince back only clad in the only item that remains: a paper bag, and she does it only to find out that she is also criticized for her looks. She experiences loss as the dragon takes everything of theirs away, she only wants to do good and is figuratively killed by the Prince’s ungrateful reaction. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Robert Munsch’s The Paper Bag Princess, the authors use the main characters to show the theme, harming the helpful has consequences, and prejudice is a force of destruction. Both texts use their main characters, Atticus Finch and Elizabeth to show the theme of harming those kind has consequences, and prejudice is an evil force.
Elizabeth and Atticus show the theme, harming those helpful has consequences, in both the texts. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is a wise man who believes in not harming those kind and inferior and one day, he teaches Jem and Scout, “‘Shoot all the bluejays if you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’” (Lee 119). Their neighbor, Miss Maudie further explains this idea to the children, “‘Mockingbirds don't do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens. Don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us’”(Lee 119). Atticus Finch asks Jem and Scout not to harm any mockingbirds as they practice shooting; this theme later applies to Atticus in the book as he only does good to everybody as he only helps those who are inferior and needy, he has never harmed anybody even if he has been called names, such as a “n*****-lover”, and he has been killed figuratively as he has been humiliated so many times by the racist people of Maycomb, yet he proves them all wrong and becomes a hero. Atticus Finch is a wise man, and the author uses him to show the theme, harming those helpful has consequences, or “it's a sin to kill a mockingbird”. Similarly, in The Paper Bag Princess, the author uses Elizabeth to reveal this theme as she has a similar story to Atticus. To illustrate, “Unfortunately, a dragon smashed her castle, burned all her clothes with his fiery breath, and carried off Prince Ronald. Elizabeth decided to chase the dragon and get Ronald back”(Munsch). Here, Elizabeth shows kindness as she only wants to help the Prince. She fights the mighty dragon all the way with her witty nature, but is harmed as the princess has nothing, but a paper bag as clothing. Furthermore, “‘Ronald,’ said Elizabeth,’your clothes are really pretty and your hair is very neat You look like a prince, but you are a bum’”(Munsch). Here, it is shown how Elizabeth is also figuratively killed as the prince is ungrateful towards her help. She proves to him the consequences of being unkind and it is understood that “they do not live happily ever after”. Hence, it is seen that both Elizabeth and Atticus reveal the theme, harming those helpful has consequences as they both are harmed, they both only do good to people, and they are figuratively killed, yet both the authors present severe consequences to the people who harm them.
The theme, prejudice is a force of destruction is revealed in both the texts through the main characters, Elizabeth and Atticus. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is not racist as he decides to support a black man which was against the ordinary in 1930s Alabama. Atticus Finch does not become upset even if he is insulted, “‘I do my best to love everybody...it’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you’”(Lee 144-145). Here, Scout tells Atticus about the unkind names that racist people call him, and Atticus does not have a negative reaction to this; this reaction of his shows that Atticus Finch does not hold prejudice against anyone. Most people do hold grudges and prejudice against Atticus and treat him badly as seen here, “‘They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it - seems only children weep’”(Lee 285). The jury was partial towards the white skin and it seems that it was only ‘fair trial for fair people’. This statement made by Atticus shows how people have constantly held prejudice against blacks and anyone who supports equality and always treated them unfairly. Similarly, In The Paper Bag Princess, Elizabeth never held any prejudices towards not being a princess and she had no problems with being clad in a paper bag. However, Ronald insults her as she goes to the dragon’s cave to help him, “‘Elizabeth, you are a mess! You smell like ashes, your hair is all tangled and you are wearing a dirty paper bag. Come back when you are dressed like a real princess’” (Munsch). It is seen that the main protagonist is a victim of hatred and prejudice despite her attempt to save Ronald. Elizabeth never held any of kind of prejudices against anyone about about their dressing sense and looks as it seen that she does not hesitate to wear a paper bag in the first place. In the end, Elizabeth does get upset and Ronald does face some consequences (these may not be as severe as it is a children's’ book) for the prejudice he held towards Elizabeth. Hence, it is evident that both the authors use their main characters and the problems they face to reveal the theme, prejudice is a force of destruction in the world.
In summation, authors of various books such as To Kill A Mockingbird, and The Paper Bag Princess, use main characters to show the theme, harming the helpful has consequences, and prejudice is a force of destruction. Harper Lee uses Atticus Finch, and Robert Munsch uses Princess Elizabeth to reveal these two major themes in their writing. Whether it something as light and childish as The Paper Bag Princess, or something more emotional and mature like To Kill A Mockingbird, these themes are found in all works of art. These themes remain constant in all texts and the real world, and authors choose to reveal these themes through their main characters, such as Princess Elizabeth and Atticus Finch to repeatedly emphasize on the importance of goodness and love for all which in turn encourages young readers to idealize these kindhearted characters and do good for the world. These ideas are as simple as just two phrases, but can be found in all texts. These universal ideas are very important and are valued by all, yet these beliefs only come down to two words with very different meanings. Prejudice. Kindness and Prejudice.
