Maycomb's Purpose Of To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee portrays the town of Maycomb, Alabama in her American Literature book, To Kill A Mockingbird, for she uses the characters in this novel to explain how her feelings about the world and the . The understanding of To Kill A Mockingbird examines society and culture of racism through the lens of Maycomb. ((((THESIS)))) To Kill A Mockingbird shows racism during different times throughout the book. This includes when Atticus was telling Scout about the nicknames of the blacks in Maycomb.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the passage starting on page 327 and ending on page 331 to show Maycomb’s blindness to prejudice in their own town. Throughout the entire book there are many difference types of prejudice including race, gender, and age prejudice, but no one seems to realize they are being prejudice. When examples of prejudice come a long that are not focused in Maycomb (in this case the Nazis and Jews) the town of Maycomb is upset by it. It is hypocritical of them to think prejudice outside of Maycomb is bad, when it is such a big problem in Maycomb and they don’t even realize it.

Voltaire once said, “prejudices are what fools use for reason”, and it remained true almost 200 years later in the town of Maycomb. A small southern town, filled with close-minded people Maycomb represents the south in the 1930’s. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates maturation, racial prejudice, and social ostracism through the use of characters and conflicts.     Coming of age is exhibited as Jem matures from a foolish boy to a young man. In the beginning Jem spends his time with Dill and Scout, throwing “open the gate and spe[eding] to touch the Radley house on a dare (Lee 18).

Jose Nava Mrs. Eichorst English 9 Honors 30 March 2023 Conformity in To Kill A Mockingbird Do you think that you're different from others? Well as much as you might think you are you probably act like others more than you would think, this is called conformity. Conformity is something that all people have experienced at least once in their life. You experience it in school, around your family, and with friends, it’s something that in today's society is drastically normalized.

Racism in Maycomb In Maycomb County racism is a major custom, how does one survive it? Racism is one of the main ideas in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Every character in this novel is affected by it one way or another. A look back into the 1930s shows just how prevalent racism actually was, also how it can be connected similarly to racism we still face today. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, we take a look at how racism affects Tom Robinson, Atticus, and Scout, in vastly different ways. Tom Robinson, as a black man in Maycomb, he unfortunately has to deal with the worst of racism.

The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, tells the story of Atticus, Scout, and Jem Finch along with some other family members in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1920’s. This family has an interesting life in such a small town. They have different social classes and crime, but they all look out for one another. Nothing happens in Maycomb without everyone knowing about it. Lee reveals that courage manifests itself in a variety of ways.

To KIll a Mockingbird by Harper Lee uses the town of Maycomb changing throughout the story ultimately affecting the ending. Lee represents society as an ever changing factor to people life. There are a few things that attribute to this change including the case against Tom Robinson as well as the mob that confronts Atticus wanting to get at Tom Robinson. Characters such as Atticus Finch have seen this change in Maycomb and are personally affected by it.

“Cry about the simple hell people give other people—without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too” (Lee 254). This quote by Atticus Finch clearly presents the idea that the residents of Maycomb dislike black people in general. " Scout," said Atticus, "n*****-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything—like snot-nose.

The events in the small town of Maycomb in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout’s childish perceptions develops higher levels of maturity in interpreting the occurring events, influencing her oblivious innocent character. The lack of understanding and awareness of her surroundings throughout the novel further reveals her progressing persona. Racism is culture and prevalent in the South throughout the novel, which exposes Scout to the complexity of interracial relationships in extending her and the community’s beliefs. Scout narrates the story filtering the way characters evolve into the novel. However, Lee’s use of double-voicing shows Scout through the eyes of a child, sees Calpurnia as strict and cold-hearted.

Through this harsh reaction, Scout begins to understand how society works, and how unaccepting society really is. Harper Lee reveals how the citizens of Maycomb county condemn others who

I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could not do anything in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants¨(pg 81). This was the thought that Scout had towards being a lady. Scout thought that being a girl was one of the worst things. Reason being, being a girl meant being a lady. And being a lady meant living in a confusing world of wearing dresses and doing lady things.

Imagine you live in a tiny old divided southern town during the Great Depression. The people in that town will stand up for what they believe in and not back down for nobody and nothing. That town is called Maycomb and is the setting of the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”(TKaM) written by Harper Lee. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a realistic fiction novel that is told through a young girl named Scout, eyes. Scout has a father named Atticus and a brother she calls Jem.

Henry Lafayette Dubose shows both how the racism in Maycomb was very present and how it was normalized too. She normalizes racism when she called Atticus a “nigger lover”. Her using this phrase shows that she saw it as shameful to treat coloured folks equally, and she is very comfortable with saying it. Her racism is also clear when she says “Your father's no better than the niggers and trash that he works for!” [Lee 110].

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the entire town of Maycomb accepts and contributes to maintaining the racial status quo. The narrator, Scout, tries to make it seem as though Maycomb, Alabama is a better place than other southern states in the United States. Although, they tolerate racism just as much as any other southern state. Some characters are aware of this, like Atticus Finch and Dolphus Raymond and others are not. Dolphus Raymond even states “Things haven’t caught up to that one’s instinct yet.

Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour. Racism can be seen even in the first few chapters of the book. These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they were growing up.