It is the location of Mr. Deas’s outburst, the courthouse, where the theme of racism is again emphasised, through the setting. In terms of its geographical location, the courthouse is at the centre of the town and much of the town is engrossed in affairs at Tom Robinson’s trial. So it is fair to assume that the courthouse depicts the town and the views expressed by the courthouse can be used as that of the town’s. As the courthouse is the setting for the worst racism, where a charge is indicted onto an innocent man because of his race, and the courthouse is central to the town, it can be interpreted that racism is at the heart of the town and so the town can be viewed as endemically racist. Again, Harper Lee accentuates the theme of racism using the setting.
The courthouse is again used as a means of expressing the racism notion though this time a new setting is introduced. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the prosecutors in the high-profile court case, the Ewell’s, live on the outskirts of the towns’ white community, outside the courthouse, in a dump-like setting referred to as “white trash”. If these so called peasants are frowned upon by the white citizens of Maycomb, it is inconceivable as to how the whites perceive the black citizens of Maycomb as it is these segregated people who are looked down upon to the extent that they are made to live further outside Maycomb’s accepted people, further outside both the Cunnighams and the Ewell’s. This not only shows the degree of inferiority of the black community but also the rigidity of the racial groupings. In fact, there is only one exception to the zones of Maycomb – Dolphus Raymond, described as a “nigger lover”. It is through the setting of the racial groups that the author is able to portray just how widespread racism is in Maycomb County.
Dolphus Raymond, the exception to Maycomb’s racial grouping, is a key figure for another of Harper Lee’s themes within the novel. Dolphus Raymond is seen as the misfit of society and an alcoholic. Though, as the novel progresses, and the discovery is made as to what Dolphus is actually drinking, it raises the issue discussed in the novel of deceptive appearances. Harper Lee revisits the theme of deceptive appearances when Miss Stephanie Crawford, though a neighbour is an outsider to the street, is responsible for concocting stories about Boo (Arthur) Radley. These gossips are found to be untrue and Boo (Arthur) Radley proves his appearance is not what it is made out to be by winning over Scout and Jem through presents in a tree, comforting Scout with a blanket during a neighbourhood crisis and saving the pair’s lives. Another example of a deceptive appearance is of Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose. Upon first appearance, Mrs. Dubose is found to be a sickly frail neighbour who slanders Jem and Atticus. When she does so, Jem destroys his elderly nieghbours’ entire camellia bush and is punished into reading to the woman for a month. Soon after his sentence, Mrs. Dubose dies after freeing herself from a morphine addiction. Jem, an outsider in Mrs. Dubose’s world is deceived by the first impression that he is given of Mrs. Dubose. When hearing of her plight with morphine, Jem realises Mrs. Dubose wasn’t just the frail woman he took her for. In both instances, the outsider is lead into wrong impressions. In accordance with Atticus Finch, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. Once more it is through the setting that key themes of the novel are emphasised.
The idea that deceptive appearances bring a chance for mistakes (in the form of wrong impressions) to be learnt from draws a parallel with Jem and Scout’s episodes to and from school. Jem and Scout learn several lessons about life, most notably in the incident where Bob Ewell makes an attempt at the children’s lives. The incident occurs on their way home from school and despite hearing footsteps behind them, they make the mistake of not attempting to discover whose footsteps they are. However, it is here, despite not being on the school grounds, that the children learn lessons, lessons about life. Another example of where the children learn is when Scout imagines Boo’s perspective and discovers his feelings. On both occasions, when the setting is altered, the children learn. It is therefore no wonder that Harper Lee uses the setting to convey the theme of learning as To Kill a Mockingbird the setting enforces the theme, in this case it is learning.
The principle of learning is not just confined to children however. This novel, set in the 1930s, when racism was rife and southern states promoted slavery, was an era where racism was widespread. Since the time when the novel was set and when it was published (some 30 years later) there was a sustained period when efforts were made to educate people about their attitudes towards other races. These efforts made some impact, however little as though much of southern America did not change its views, it was a step in the right direction. This is resembled with Tom Robinson’s court case in To Kill a Mockingbird. In the case, though the verdict was still guilty, the jury spent a considerable amount of time reaching a decision and this showed that Atticus Finch’s contribution, though little was again a step in the right direction. Here Harper Lee is attempting to continue to educate people about racism and through the period when the novel is set, the reader is able to see how attitudes have changed from a society being endemically racist to what the reader is experiencing in the present day.
The setting of To Kill a Mockingbird is a key aspect of the novel used to enforce the themes of the novel. When outside attack brings to light what people’s attitudes towards others are, the theme of racism is highlighted. This them is enforced when the court is seen to be central to the town and court is found to be racist, the town is depicted as endemically racist. The extent of the prejudiced views upheld by much of the white community is exposed when the racial groupings show the black community to be forced to live in “trash”. When outsiders mistake people with wrong impressions, deceptive appearances are found to be common in Maycomb. The idea of learning is enforced by a change in setting, through the attack and when viewing events from Boo Radley’s point of view. When a reader pictures the attitudes of racists in the 1930s (when the novel is set) they are able to understand how racist people can be and how wrong discrimination can be. So Harper Lee uses a number of different settings to convey various key themes central to To Kill a Mockingbird.
