As a whole the black community of Maycomb are able to win over the reader’s sympathy and admiration because Harper Lee is able to maintain their dignity and respect throughout the course of the novel. On the discussion about the Mrunas at the missionary tea party, Miss Merriweather says, ‘they had little sense of family that whole the tribe was one big family,’ which is seen as bad thing due to western Christian morality. However, Lee is being ironic. Surely it is a good thing that a community should look after each other, regardless of how they are related or not and that is exactly what the black community, of Maycomb, do. The black community always bond together regardless, so Lee is not portraying them as frail, passive victims. An example of them working together is when the Reverend Sykes and the rest of the community club together for Helen Robinson, even though they do not have a lot of money, which is a representation of their pride and how they help one another out. Their Church ‘First Purchase’ is a very important symbol of their pride and dignity. This is because this is the first thing that the first liberated slaves bought, so to the black people it gives them a sense of ownership and pride. When Lula tells Calpurnia to take the Finches’ away, saying, ‘you ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here,’ it shows this sense of ownership and that she is protective of ‘First Purchase’. This is the only time Harper Le portrays one of the black community in bad light. However the reader can easily justify this because it is the only place that she fells real ownership and it is ok for her to fell protective. So as a whole the black community are able to maintain their dignity and pride. Calpurnia is a good character to look at because she is sometimes portrayed differently from the other black characters because she lives in the white community,
Calpurnia is a good character to look at because her life is comprised of living as a black woman in the white community. The way she was educated may be strange because she had to read ‘Blackstone’s Commentaries’ which is extremely complicated English and very difficult to read, yet alone learn from it. This reveals that even though she had a lack of formal education she was able to overcome this and succeed in learning how to read. In turn she taught Zeebo how to read and at church he does the lining because the congregation does not know how to read. This portrays the black community as being weak because they are illiterate but strong because they are able to help each other out. As part of the Finches’ family she is criticised by scouts narrative perspective but the reader can see that Calpurnia always has Scout’s interests in mind. This can be seen when Calpurnia tells Scout off for being rude to Walter Cunningham, ‘That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?,’ this informs us that Calpurnia is showing Scout how to treat people who are not as privileged as her and by saying, ‘you hear?,’ she makes sure she gets the message across. She teaches Scout good manners and even Atticus admits that he couldn’t get by without her. Even with her strong character we can feel sympathy for her because she doesn’t even know her birthday. This can be seen as horrific because this tells us she was ripped from her mother at an early age and sold off to be a slave, so she never knew her mother and never will. She however like all the other black characters can be seen as a passive victim because she is always being undermined by Aunt Alexandra and must be defended by Atticus. So Calpurnia is portrayed as a strong black character in Maycomb but she can be criticised for being passive just like Tom Robinson.
Throughout the course of the novel we learn only a few things about Tom but he is probably the person who best represents the racism directed towards the black community, not just in the novel but also in all the Southern States of America in that time. He is the person who, for the most part, shows himself as a passive victim. In the courtroom it is obvious that he is not guilty but still he is found guilty, which illustrates the amount of racism and how he is oppressed. The fact that Atticus is seen to be a hero makes Tom look more like a passive victim in contrast. The black characters are ever so respectful of the white community and an example of this is when Tom keeps saying, ‘yes suh,’ to Mr Gilmer even when he is disrespecting him. His death is heroic because he takes his life into his own hands and does not let other people run it for him and decide his fate. Tom has a combination of susceptibility and strength physically, and he is mentally strong, despite the situation he is put in when he goes to court. This appeals to the reader, so we admire him but we do not pity him, instead he is portrayed as a hero in this way.
The racism that is expressed throughout the course of the novel is the main thing that portrays the black community as passive victims and what makes us fell sympathy towards them. The worst offender is Bob Ewell who despises the whole of the black community in every manner possible and is the main contributor to Tom’s death. Even though he himself is hated by the whole of the white community, his testimony in court is still accepted and that leads to Tom’s death, showing how racism towards the black community is still worth the life of Tom. Racism keeps the black community suppressed and they are unable to do anything about it because they are scared of what might happen to them. Even Atticus sees the racism because he feels that their was no way the could win the trial and Reverend Sykes agrees when he mentions the, ‘Secret courts of men’s hearts,’ which means that the jury had already made up their mind long before the trial had started and that there was no way of winning. Also Atticu does no want the children to catch, ‘Maycombs usual disease,’ and when interpreted means that he doesn’t want his children growing up to become racist, like most other people in Maycomb because he knows how bad it is and what evils it can do. So in this area the black community can be portrayed as passive victims but that is because they can really do nothing about it.
One of the best ways that Lee has portrayed the black community is through the eyes of children. This is because they are still young so they have not lived long enough to understand the full effects or racism, so they can give a fair unbiased opinion of them. They get along well with the black community and portray them as well presented and kind human beings so they are not seen as passive victims. Calpurnia telling her off always annoys scout but this is nothing to do with colour, it is plainly the fact that she is young and doesn’t like being told what to do. Each child is heartbroken when they learn the harsh realities of racism. Scout shows her feelings towards racism when the talk about Miss Gates, ‘how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be so ugly about folks right home,’ thus showing that Scout sees through her hypocrisy and understanding that what she is doing is wrong. Then Jem shows his emotions straight afterwards by saying to Scout, ‘I never wanta hear about that courthouse again, ever, ever, you hear me? You hear me?’ this shows his emotions and the repetition of the words emphasized on how much the racism has affected him. During the trial when Dill gets upset Dolphus shows that he dos not want to be associated to the racism and that is why he lives like a tramp even though his family is rich. Another way Lee portrays the black community is through the use of mouthpiece, when both Dolphus and Atticus point out the injustice of racism. So through the eyes of the children, Lee is able to give an unbiased view of the black community and they are seen as heroic and brave.
So in conclusion Harper Lee is trying to make this novel look realistic and she does so by making seem oppressed and as passive victims but she is also able to make them seem heroic at times.