Analyse how a theme or idea in the text is relevant to real life.
‘Prejudice cannot see the things that are because it is always looking for things that aren’t.’ Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee explores the different forms of prejudice present in Maycomb society – be it prejudice against women (sexism), racial prejudice or prejudice against anyone who chooses not to adhere to social expectations. Through Scout Finch’s innocent, unfiltered eyes we see the prejudice in Maycomb for what it truly is: extremely unjust. Lee’s fictional town of Maycomb reflects our own society, and therefore these ideas are highly relevant to real life. To Kill a Mockingbird illustrates how far society has come from the 1930s in our struggle to overcome prejudice in all forms, but it also serves the purpose of showing us that change towards a less prejudiced society is still needed.
Maycomb is controlled by rigid sexism and gender rules, which Scout Finch is perplexed by. Scout is, in essence, a tomboy in a society that expects her to be “a lady”. Despite the absence of a mother, Scout has been raised by her father, Atticus, to view and treat women as equals. Therefore, Scout is strongly against the idea of women being ‘housewives’ and believes that as a girl she can do everything that a boy could do, and is consistently trying to prove this to her older brother Jem by joining in with his games. Harper Lee makes the inequality of men and women obvious to the reader when Scout learns that women can’t serve on juries – she says “I was indignant”. This shows her rage at the evident discrimination towards women in the court of law, where once again “all men are created equal.” This idea is relevant to real life because it allows us to appreciate the advancement of our society. Women are no longer expected to serve men (i.e. cook and clean for them) as the professions that were male dominated during Scout’s time are available to both men and women now. The stereotypical positions of men and women in society have been broken down to such an extent that we even have a female prime minister now. Scout would fit quite comfortably into 2008, where women can serve on juries and are definitely not expected to wear dresses all day. Through this novel, Harper Lee also illustrates the idea of hope for change for those societies elsewhere in our world where women are still struggling for equality.
