Oppression is defined as cruel or unjust treatment, control, or restriction of freedom. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the racial prejudice in Maycomb oppresses Tom Robinson and his family most obviously, but other examples of prejudice leading to oppression are apparent as well.
Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of assaulting Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Atticus defends Tom in court and is able to show that because of Tom's disabled arm, he could not possibly have produced Mayella's injuries. It should have been an open and shut case, but the jury—all white men—returned a verdict of guilty. This injustice perpetrated on Tom Robinson and his family was bred solely by racial prejudice. Tom attempts to escape from prison rather than wait for his appeal to come to trial or risk being lynched by the men of Maycomb. He does not believe he will receive justice, and he doesn't: he is shot down by prison guards.
Other black residents of Maycomb suffer from injustice and restricted freedoms because of their race. The comments made by the women at Aunt Alexandra's mission society tea party reveal that black people who work as hired help in the white people's homes are treated as second-class citizens. Mrs. Merriweather doesn't allow her household employee, Sophy, to express her outrage at the way the Tom was treated. She says, "Sulky . . . dissatisfied . . . I tell you if my Sophy'd kept it up another day I'd have let her go." This is an example of oppression coming from prejudice.
Atticus is notably different in the way he treats Calpurnia. He values her, trusts her, and respects her the way he would any person.
Another type of prejudice is the way that Jem, Scout, and Dill treat Boo Radley. Because he is reclusive and different from others in town, they treat him in ways that Atticus warns them against. He doesn't want them to let their prejudice against Boo for his strange ways to cause them to treat him with cruelty. One of the important things Scout learns in the book is to treat everyone fairly, even if he or she is different in some way. Atticus goes to great lengths to teach his children about empathy and to show them that prejudice and its resulting oppression are unacceptable.
Note that prejudice can be imposed on any individual or member of a certain group. Prejudice and discrimination involves unjust actions or prejudgment toward others. Oppression can come in the form of legislation, societal and personal beliefs, and any form of maltreatment and injustice toward an individual or group of individuals. Here are some examples in the text:
Race: To Kill a Mockingbird features racial prejudice in the circumstances of Tom Robinson's trial. Tom is wrongfully accused of attacking a white woman, and he is prejudged because he is an African American man. He is sentenced to life in prison and is killed for attempting to escape prison.
Gender: Gender roles are imposed on Scout, who experiences societal pressure to be a "lady," regardless of her own wishes.
Class: Aunt Alexandra believes the Finch family is superior to others in the lower class; the Ewell family is prejudged due to their lower-class status and lack of education. They are regarded as "trash" within Maycomb society.
Rejection of norms: Boo Radley is considered strange, as he never leaves his house. He becomes a town myth after spending one night in jail, and the town deems him a delinquent.
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