Atticus plays a key role in the novel. Overall the Mockingbird motif stands against, prejudice, racism and segregation. ‘Jem, I didn’t ever see any jury decide in favour of a coloured man over a white man’ the quote clearly embodies the fact that black people were being racially discriminated in the courts. This fact has some relevance with the trial of Tom Robinson as Atticus says ‘she (Mayella Ewell) was white, and she tempted a Negro, she did something that in our society is unspeakable’; this quote is from Atticus defending Tom in the trial, gives evidence that the segregation was active between the white community and the Negroes. It portrays that Atticus is the minority in Maycomb, as Maycomb is such a racial prejudice community.
None of the characters in this story takes much interest in the world beyond Maycomb County. Roosevelt or the rise of Adolph Hitler in Germany to be alive, despite their lack of luxury. Living in such a rural small town environment…“There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County”. Still, the Finches consider themselves well off only in comparison with the farm families who live in the same county. The family owns a nice house and can afford to hire a black housekeeper. Everyone knew everybody and helped one another get by in life. However, for some characters such as the Cunningham’s, have not the luxuries of the middle class families. We find this out when Scout attempts to explain to Miss Caroline that Walter didn’t forget his lunch, but had no lunch to bring, she says, “Walter’s one of the Cunningham’s Miss Caroline” As Miss Caroline is an outsider, and is therefore new to Maycomb she doesn’t understand its ways, so she gets angry and humiliated when Scout tries to help her. This shows Macomb’s tight community, and that everyone knows each other so well, that outsiders will have to adjust. This shows the town’s attitudes towards race and social distinctions.
Although there is a lot of prejudice in the community, in chapter eight, Miss Maudie’s house was on fire, ‘the men of Maycomb, in all degrees of dress and undress, took furniture from Miss Maudie’s house to a yard across the street. It illustrates the community spirit throughout Macomb, with all the neighbours helped.
I think Harper Lee, wants to show how prejudiced the American society was, and to change people’s attitudes. In the novel, it is clearly shown how hard it is to get rid of the distinct racism. Just about, everyone in the town is represented in the book – the officer, the sheriff, doctor, lawyer, reverend, and many people would have recognized these people. The Maycomb’s people are not generally bad, but it is hard to break away from the constant prejudice focused in the book, “there is just one kind of folks. Folks.” Scout is very mature for her age, and recognises from Atticus’s teachings that many people around them are prejudice, and that they have all been bought up in that specific way.
Everyone knows what to expect from each other, and everyone’s business is discussed throughout the town. Often the town’s gossip is inaccurate. For example, Dolphus Raymond is pre-judged when he gets drunk, but Dill and Scout find out he really was not. Nothing much ever changes in the town, which portrays how long it would take peoples attitudes to change amongst people in the town. Atticus and Mr Raymond probably feel quite similarly about the unfair treatment of black people in Maycomb, but they react differently. Mr Raymond is so disgusted he separates himself off completely from the white society, whereas Atticus tries to be more understanding. Alike the lynch mob, and the trial, is it shown that there is safety in numbers, which perpetuates prejudice, if no one stands out from the majority then prejudice will take over. Therefore with Maycomb’s majority being racially prejudice, it is clear that Tom Robinson has no chance unless someone where to step out and defend him.
Overall, the education system in Maycomb was poor due to the inefficiency of the system, which was moulded automatically due to the partitioned casts. Blacks were not allowed to marry white people. ‘I sure would, Atticus can’t do anything’ (scout), the quote obviously conspire the fact Scout and Jem had negative attitudes towards Atticus’s profession. Dubose’s illness due to morphine addiction. Subdivisions in their quiet community as it says in the beginning of chapter one that ‘It was a quiet town’ with ‘nowhere to go, no one to go with’. However, Scout and Jem were literate, that was due to Atticus who thought that education was one of the most important aspects of life. The schooling system is completely different, ‘the Dewey Decimal System’. We see the ignorance of Miss Caroline, for she is an outsider of Maycomb. As she is so different, she has to adjust, as Maycomb seem to be clinging to the past.
