The inhabitants of Maycomb believed certain crimes were his doing like mutilating: “chickens and household pets”, however “although the culprit was crazy Addie…people still looked at the Radley place”. Although there was no proof of Boo doing it, people still looked to him, because of the reputation he had. Similarly, later on in the book, although there was no proof of Tom Robinson raping Mayella, because he is black, he is found guilty.
This reflects the opinions of most of the people in Maycomb, with exception however of Atticus Finch; Jem and Scouts father. Atticus practices the ethic of sympathy and understanding and never seems to holds a grudge against the people of Maycomb, a quality that much of Maycomb forget. Despite their callous indifference to racial inequality, Atticus sees much to admire in them. He recognizes that people have both good and bad qualities, and he is determined to admire the good while understanding and forgiving the bad. This is one of the most important lessons that Jem and Scout learn from Atticus: “…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. It is shameful because he is one of the very few who practice this moral in Maycomb.
Hypocrisy is another character of Maycomb. This especially shines through the women of Maycomb, who whilst practicing righteousness and charity, just follow society and are racist to blacks. This is demonstrated by the fact that the women of the Missionary Society try and do good for a distant culture like the Mrunas, yet disregard the blacks, a discriminated race in their town. It is extremely hypocritical that they want to help far off peoples, and still liberally discriminate against blacks by for example making preposterous remarks that as a result of the trial they will start coming into their beds.
When reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” one can also learn that most of Maycomb held strong views about anyone who is not white, and are not afraid to voice that opinion. Blacks especially are discriminated against in this society, where blacks are classed as sub-human and second class to whites.
The prejudice in Maycomb most probably came out of the Depression, and out of the poverty stricken society in which, the Ewells were conceived. Bob Ewell is the father, a drunken: “but when a man spends his relief cheques on green whisky”, mostly unemployed member of Maycomb’s poorest family. In his wrongful accusation that Tom Robinson raped his daughter, Ewell represents the dark side of the South: ignorance, poverty, squalor, and hate-filled racial prejudice that was born out of the Great Depression.
Most of Maycomb are racist such as Mrs Dubose when she tells the children, Jem and Scout that their father is: “no better than the niggers and trash he works for” and even members of the Finches are racists like Scouts cousin Francis, who claims that Atticus is “ruining the family” by taking on the Robinson case, and also Aunt Alexandra who does not like to talk about important matters: “in front of Calpurnia and them”.
Blacks were treated with no respect in Maycomb and these “2nd” class citizens were expected to stay away from White society. The Blacks were not even respected enough to have their own Church: “Negroes worshipped in it on Sundays and white men gambled in it on weekdays”. This illustrates the terrible treatment of the Blacks in Maycomb, and the utter disrespect for the Black’s place of worship; especially when the Blacks of Maycomb take their worship very seriously. This is echoed in the pride that Calpurnia takes in presenting the children: “she made me wear a petticoat…she wrapped a pink sash tightly around my waist…she went over my patent-leather shoes with a cold biscuit until she saw her face in them”.
In Maycomb, going to Church does seem to be a big part of life, as Scout says that Church was; “Maycomb’s principal recreation”. Yet although the majority of Maycomb are Christians, they do not believe in the idea of forgiveness, like the Bible preaches.
Blacks in Maycomb County were generally poorer than the Whites and the Black’s Church, the First Purchase Church, reflects this compared to the church that the white community go to. It is simpler than scouts’ Church with: an “unpainted” inside and there was: “no sign of piano, organ, hymn-books…”. In addition the church itself on the outside also shows the poverty, as it’s: “an ancient paint-peeled frame building”. Not only is the building materialistically poor, but the Church has no possessions that a more affluent society would have in their Church. Like for example when Scout asked Calpurnia: “where are the hymn-books?” Calpurnia said: “We don’t have any”, showing that they are unable to buy hymn-books, yet when Zeebo: “Cleared his throat” and “read in a voice like the rumble of distant artillery” the hymn, the whole congregation got up and started to sing: “Miraculously on pitch, a hundred voices sang out”. This thus shows how rich the black congregation are in spirit even though they may not be in material riches.
Moreover the Black congregation show an opulence in warmth towards the (White) children, Jem and Finch. Even though the Blacks have been exposed to years of hatred and racism, the blacks are still welcoming to the children and it is evident that through the years of discrimination, it has had a profound effect on the group, making them on the whole patriotic amongst themselves. An exception to this is Lula, who doesn’t believe the children should be at their church: “you ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillum her…” . It is understandable for Lula to feel this way and Lula is a necessary character for the book as Lula “rescues” the black community from being seen as unambiguously good. However although this reaction is understandable, Reverend Sykes believes that one “bad egg” in the discriminated black community can affect greatly the way the community is perceived.
Their honesty and their intense sense of community is shown also when money is collected for Tom Robinson’s mother. The Reverend has an honesty about him: “Nobody leaves here till we have ten dollars” which compares to when the White men and women meet. When they give money they do it to make themselves feel better and although they give more money than the blacks, the Whites can afford to give more without them sacrificing too much. However the Blacks do it for the benefit of others in the group and have to sacrifice a little more than they can afford, to help the needy.
The racism and prejudice that fills Maycomb seems to be deeply ingrained in society, seeping through the education system and the law. Both school and the law are deeply racist against blacks and it shows how widespread the problem was; the hatred of blacks was not just a rural opinion but an opinion that was held among the highest in society, such as the courts.
Racism is even in the rigid education system in Maycomb. The teachers are clearly racist however this is the norm in Maycomb County. In one instance one of Scouts’ teachers criticizes Hitler’s prejudice against the Jews while indulging in her own prejudice against blacks: “we are a democracy [America]…over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody”. This shows the hypocrisy of the education system and that racism is rife there also. The teacher insinuates that because the USA is a: “DEMOCRACY”, fairness is available for all. However the blacks are suffering from the same kinds of discrimination and segregation that Jews experienced in Hitler’s dictatorial regime. Ironically though the “DEMOCRACY” that the teacher speaks of is not an all-inclusive one that offers the same rights to all. The fact that racism towards Blacks is being portrayed as normal in the classroom must contribute to racism persisting in the South and shows that intolerance and discrimination does leave a great impression on the youth and their attitude in the future.
This idea that racism is perpetuated in school is also referred to in Alan Parkers’ Oscar winning 1988 film, “Mississippi Burning” when Mrs Pell says: “It’s ugly. This whole thing is so ugly…people look at us and only see bigots and racists. Hatred isn’t something you’re born with. It gets taught. At school, they said segregation what’s said in the bible…Genesis 9, verse 27. At 7 years of age, you get told enough times, you believe it. You believe the hatred. You live it…you breathe it. You marry it.” This does show clearly that racism is ingrained in the young from very early on.
However racism and bigotry is not created just by the education system. The households that children grow up in must also be held responsible as children are a product of their up-bringing. A racist household will have a lasting effect on the off spring and will produce yet another generation of ignorance in the form of discrimination, thus creating a constant intolerant society.
Evidence for this is the difference between the Ewells and the Finches and how they deal with their children. The Ewells are the scum of Maycomb; they live behind the dump and live off the country’s benefits. Mr Ewell’s son, Barris has had no proper moral teachings from home and lives under no rules, and thus is uncontrollable. Burris only comes to school the first day of every school year, making a token appearance to avoid trouble with the law. In chapter 3 he leaves the classroom, making enough vicious remarks to cause the teacher to cry: “ain’t no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c’n make me do nothin’!”There is no hope for, Barris Ewell as he is a product of Bob Ewell and Barris is morally taught at home. Barris has therefore no hope for change as he is taught at home by the same person who gave the Ewells such a bad name. The epitome of his parenting is said by Atticus: “but when a man spends his relief cheques on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from Hunger pains.” Bob Ewell is the father of the family and does not care for his family unlike Atticus Finch who is the polar opposite.
Atticus cares about his family and seems to be the perfect father. His parenting style is quite unique in that he treats his children as adults, honestly answering any question they have. He uses all these instances as an opportunity to pass his values on to Scout and Jem. Atticus uses this approach not only with his own children, but with all of Maycomb. And yet, for all of his mature treatment of Jem and Scout, he patiently recognizes that they are children and that they will make childish mistakes and assumptions.
His stern but fair attitude toward Jem and Scout reaches into the courtroom as well. He politely proves that Bob Ewell is a liar; he respectfully questions Mayella about her role in Tom’s crisis. One of the things that his long-time friend Miss Maudie admires about him is that “Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets.” The only time he seriously lectures his children is on the evils of taking advantage of those less fortunate or less educated, a philosophy he carries into the animal world by his refusal to hunt.
In chapter 10, a crazy raged dog threatens the people of Maycomb and walks towards the Finches House. When Calpurnia calls Atticus home, he arrives with the sheriff, Heck Tate, yet the presence of the dog makes everyone equal for a few minutes united in fear. Heck brings a rifle and asks Atticus to shoot the animal and to and Scout’s amazement, Atticus does so, hitting the dog with his first shot despite his considerable distance from the dog. The fact that Atticus stands there to defend his community by killing the dog foreshadows the future when he defends Tom Robinson and defends Maycomb from their prejudices. Atticus loves equality in everything, blacks and whites and also he does not like holding a gun as he feels that it is an unfair advantage over nature and believes all should be equal. It is extraordinary that a man living in such a prejudice society like that of Maycomb is so different from the usual grain, yet he is probably the most respected among the people.
By the end of the novel, Jem, in particular, is fiercely devoted to Atticus Though his children’s attitude toward him evolves, Atticus is characterized throughout the book by his absolute consistency. He stands rigidly committed to justice and thoughtfully willing to view matters from the perspectives of others: “…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. He does not develop in the novel but retains these qualities in equal measure, making him the novels and Maycomb’s moral backbone and voice of conscience.
The difference in parenting techniques between the two families is great and the children reflect this, Barris Ewell a reckless and morally deficient boy, and Jem and Scout who learn important lessons throughout the book. Scout is unusually intelligent, learning to read before school, unusually confident, she fights boys without fear, unusually thoughtful, she worries about the essential goodness and evil of mankind and unusually good, she always acts with the best intentions.
One quickly realizes when reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” that Scout is who she is because of the way has raised her. He has nurtured her mind and conscience without bogging her down in fussy social hypocrisies and notions of propriety. Scout, thanks to Atticus’s “hands-off” parenting style, is an individual not following what society wants her to be, which is a Southern lady wearing dresses and learning manners. By the end of the novel, Jem, in particular, is fiercely devoted to Atticus and learns some very important and worldly lessons.
One place that is expected to promote equality in society is the law and the courts, however in Maycomb; the courts reflect the discrimination and racism as much as the education system.
The law is meant to be protection for everyone and the law is not meant to be biased to anyone. But in Maycomb County and all over the South in the 1930s, racism prevailed through the courts and justice system. Harper Lee shows the biased in the courts through the Tom Robinson case which bears many similarities to the real life case of the “Scottsboro Boys” in which the problems of the Deep South were revealed to the world.
In the case that Atticus takes on, when Tom Robinson is accused of rape, even though there is no evidence to support this, he was still found guilty because of the colour of his skin. If you were black in the deep south of the USA, you had no rights and were subjected to outright bigotry and hate. Being a Black man at that time, in Court, with a white man’s word against a black man’s word, the white mans word would always be believed. This is what happened in the Tom Robinson Case where it was Bob Ewell’s word against Tom Robinson’s, yet even though Bob Ewell is a drunk, unemployed, non-contributor to Maycomb’s society, his word is taken against the Black mans. To quote from Alan Parker’s film, “Mississippi Burning”: “If you were a Negro, nobody would give a dam what you thought.” Just because Tom Robinson was a Negro, nobody in Maycomb and in the jury gave a dam what he said, as a result of the discrimination. This is backed up similarly in “To Kill a Mockingbird”; Atticus sums up the justice system: “the evidence boils down to you-did – I – didn’t. The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewell’s”, which means basically, the jury couldn’t possibly take a Black man’s word over a white man’s word.
Similarly when Atticus draws attention to Tom Robinson’s crippled hand to prove that he did not attack Mayella, it is not only a plot device used by Harper Lee, but also as a symbol of his disadvantage in life as a black man. His arm had been injured in a cotton machine, primarily used by slaves and later, poor black workers in the cotton fields. The legacy of slavery cripples Tom in court and in everyday life, just as his actual injury is a constant burden for him.
Moreover even the set up of the courts, has been shaped by a society that encourages segregation and racism. The definition of justice is: “the quality of being just; fairness” but in the court of Maycomb, Blacks and Whites were separated showing that in a court of law where justice is meant to act, inequality is present, and fairness is absent.
However the prejudice in Maycomb is not only towards the Blacks. As well as prejudice about the colour of people’s skin, people in Maycomb discriminate against people’s social standings. Maycomb seems to have a strict hierarchy of social classes, for example Aunt Alexandra is the top and part of the White aristocracy who doesn’t like to mix with anyone who is “below” her in Maycomb’s social standings; She doesn’t like Scout playing with Walter Cunningham because the Cunninghams’ are lower class Whites. In chapter 1, Young Walter Cunningham is the first glimpse at the Cunningham clan, part of a large population of poor farmers in rural Maycomb. Yet although they are poor lower class farmers, they are better in social standings than the Ewells’ who are the white trash of the community, unemployed, uneducated and ignorant in their beliefs. Even below them are the Backs who bear the brunt of White hatred.
In Maycomb, there is prejudice against anyone who doesn’t fit into Maycomb’s strict expectations of how people should behave. One of the mockingbirds of the novel, Boo Radley is one of the victims of this. Boo and his family do not fit into Maycomb society for example they do not go to church on Sundays which was Maycomb’s: “principle recreation”, and the “shutters and doors of the Radley house were closed on Sundays” which was “alien” to the people of Maycomb. Every one in Maycomb does the same thing and thinks the same things and because the Radleys’ shut their doors, they are, especially Boo, considered social outcasts.
Most of the town are prejudiced against Boo and local gossip seems to portray him as a “malevolent phantom”. Even the children run past the Radley house out of fear and won't eat anything that came from Radley trees, believing them poisoned. Maycomb’s society is so suspicious: “a baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions asked.” Yet a few people accept him for what he is. Miss Maudie remembers him when he was a boy who always spoke nicely; and Atticus tries to make the children understand him and not torment him.
As well as the prejudice against people in Maycomb, in the 1930s there was friction between the North and South of the USA. This was probably due to the difference in beliefs, where the North had more modern beliefs the South were far behind with ancient thinking. The Northern states were willing to look into the future, modernise, and develop, but the South were mostly stubborn people who did not want to develop or adapt and as a result, were full of intolerance. This friction can still be seen today but it is not as evident.
However the two areas are totally different in social structure and life. This dissonance is shown in “Mississippi Burning”, where Clayton Townley says: “in the courts of Mississippi, they have been reminded, that they cannot, by force, turn our communities into replicas of their communities...communities in which negroes run riot, unrestrained and unpunished, as they do this summer in the streets of Harlem, or they do in the streets of Oakland, or they do in the STREETS OF CHICAGO”. They call it the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, yet in the 1930s they weren’t so united but split as if dividing the North and South.
Furthermore there was prejudice in Maycomb and in the Deep South in the 1930s against different religions. This is reflected in “Mississippi Burning”, where there are constant references to Jewish people in a negative light: “Don’t you call me man, Jew-boy!” and “you don’t call me nothing, nigger-loving Jew-boy”. And plus Clayton Townley of “Mississippi Burning”, also describes the extremism and prejudice within white religion: “these Northern students, with their Communist, atheist bosses… [they are] powerless against us if every single Anglo-Saxon Christian one of us stands together.” These quotes illustrate the concentrated prejudice against anybody who is not white Anglo Saxon black hating Christian and also shows a contrast between the harmony of the black church.
In conclusion, Maycomb is a complex society with many layers. Maycomb epitomizes the typical rural ignorant town in the midst of the great depression. The problems associated with the cause of Tom Robinson’s death could be the responsibility of the Ewells’ Scout says: “I maintain that the Ewell’s started it”. However the cause of Robinson’s trial and death cannot be blamed primarily on Bob Ewell but also the society that surrounds him. The racism that pours out of all spectrums of Maycomb life is a product of the society that was common all over the Deep South of America, a society that tolerated the persecution of the blacks and the discrimination of other people who were “different”.
Mississippi Burning, Alan Parker, 1988.
Mississippi Burning, Alan Parker, 1988,
Mississippi Burning, Alan Parker, 1988,
