In To Kill a Mockingbird, what do you learn about the town itself and the way of life of its inhabitants in this novel?
In "To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee tells the story of children growing up in a southern town, but also creates a vivid picture of the town itself and its inhabitants. What do you learn about the town itself and the way of life of its inhabitants in this novel? Maycomb is in Albama in the southern United States. "Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it." This is a description of Maycomb given by Scout in the first chapter of the novel. Later Scout goes on to say "There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with." This suggests that Maycomb is an old town that has been hit hard by the depression. Another suggestion of this is "The Cunningham's are country folks, farmers and the crash hit them the hardest." This also suggests that a lot of farming is done in the area and one the reasons why the crash hit the area so badly. The depression was mainly caused by the Wall Street stock market crash in 1929. It was also caused by US producers over producing their products this led to high unemployment rates, poverty and near starvation for millions of people. There was too much supply and not enough demand world-wide. US farmers couldn't afford to buy because they couldn't sell their own produce. This is one of the main reasons why the southern states of the US were hit so hard by it. All this meant that
To Kill a Mockingbird. Discuss the ways in which the whites give the coloured folk hell in the novel.
'Cry about the hell people give other people- without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they're people too.' Discuss the ways in which the whites give the coloured folk 'hell' in the novel. 'Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they're people too.' - says Dolphus Raymond, a white man who lives with a black woman with their 'mixed children'. In this quote, he elucidates how the white people of Maycomb often lash out and make the negroes suffer without realizing they are basically human too and deserve the same kind of rights and respect as everyone else. One of the foremost ways 'white people' give 'coloured folks' 'hell' is their disregard for the sanctity of human life when it comes to the negroes. For instance, Tom Robinson's plight. The Ewells accused Tom of rape, when all he intended to do was help Mayella with an 'old door'. When Tom was in the house, she 'jumped on' him, but her father saw this, and subsequently brought the case to court and charged Tom with rape. However, Tom was evidently innocent as Atticus shows how the wounds on Mayella's face were created by a man with a strong left hand, whilst Tom's left hand 'hung dead at his side'. Hence, in this respect, the Ewells give Tom 'hell', by making a false accusation and threatening his life,
To Kill a Mockingbird - Maycomb County
David Pearce To Kill a Mockingbird - Maycomb County To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Maycomb County, an imaginary district in Southern Alabama. The time is the early 1930s, the years of the Great Depression when poverty and unemployment were widespread in the United States. Maycomb is home to the main characters including Atticus (The head of the Finch family household), Aunt Alexandra (Atticus's sister), (Jem) Jeremy (The oldest of Atticus's two children), (Scout) Jean Louise (The youngest of the two. She also try's to be a boy by doing boy things) and their black maid Calpurnia. They live on the main residential street in town. There are many other people living in Maycomb, who all seem to know each other very well like one big family. There are some characters that are excluded from this family, such as the Radley's. They are a dark family surrounded by rumors and different stories. Apart from this aspect of Maycomb, the rest of the town is very quiet and dreary as explained in the first few chapters. Here is what Harper Lee tells us: "Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square." He then goes on to describe how the Great Depression effected the city: "People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and
How Does “To Kill A Mockingbird” Reflect The Divided Nature Of 1930s America?
How Does "To Kill A Mockingbird" Reflect The Divided Nature Of 1930s America By Sam Woods During the course of this essay I will be discussing the underlying themes in the Harper Lee classic To Kill A Mockingbird. The setting of this influential novel is the American South in the 1930s, a time and place where social division was rife. The South represents a region of the United States which demonstrates relatively traditional values. For example, southern societies suggest men act like gentlemen, and women act in a polite manner and wear dresses. Such characteristics mainly emerge in small southern towns because they remain unaffected by large groups of people from different parts of the country. Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird documents the life of a young girl growing up in Maycomb, Alabama. Jean Louise Finch, also known as "Scout," represents a young girl who attempts to find her identity. The young tomboy receives pressure from adults who insist she should conform to the traditional role of a southern lady. Harper Lee uses nicknames, fist fighting, virile clothing, and undesirable women to portray Jean Louise's masculinity while encouraging her to postpone becoming a lady. In traditional society, parents name children according to their gender. Common names for boys include John, Robert and James, whereas Elizabeth, Sarah, and Cathy represent standard
How does Harper Lee present Maycomb in "To kill a Mockingbird"?
Question: How does Harper Lee present Maycomb in "To kill a Mockingbird"? "To kill a Mockingbird" was set in nineteen-thirty-two, the same time as The Great Depression which was an economic slump that started in nineteen-twenty-nine. After the Wall Street Crash thousands of people lost their jobs. It was very difficult for a large segment of the population to make a living. In September nineteen-thirty-one, fear and panic spread as over eight-hundred banks shut in America. Lots of people (one in three) were out of work. At the same time, America was also suffering from large droughts. Areas became known as "The American dust bowl" as it was hard to grow crops. This went on for eight years. The farmers were hit the hardest as in "To kill a Mockingbird" Mr Cunningham pays in "Hickory nuts" and not money to Atticus for work. Maycomb was a farming community who hated outsiders and anyone who is different. Also, the people of Maycomb are narrow minded and old fashioned. Like most of America at this time, Maycomb was extremely racist and sexist. The important people of the town (social hierarchy) were the white men, the white women, then black men and finally the black women. A big example of racism in nineteen-twenties America is the Ku Klux Klan who were a very strong racist group who went round threatening to kill black people. The KKK was made up of only white people but
To Kill A Mockingbird - Prejudice has caused the pain and suffering of others for manycenturies.
To Kill A Mockingbird Prejudice has caused the pain and suffering of others for many centuries. Some examples of this include the Holocaust and slavery in the United States. In to Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee racism was the cause of much agony to the blacks of a segregated South. Along with blacks, other groups of people are judged unfairly just because of their difference from others. The prejudice and bigotry of society causes the victimization of people with differences. Some who are discriminated against are those who are born differently than the majority. One person that is treated unfairly is Calpurnia, as you can see when Aunt Alexandra tried to get Atticus to fire Calpurnia, because in her eyes, Calpurnia wasn't a good enough female role model (p.136). This is a prejudice action, because Calpurnia is as good as a role model as Aunt Alexandra, if not better. Aunt Alexandra is a bigot and doesn't see the character of Calpurnia, just the colour of her skin. Another person who is treated like an inferior is Scout by her teacher, because she knew how to read. "She discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste. (p.17)." Scout is treated like it is her fault that she knows more than the average child did. She learned earlier than others so she gets punished unjustly. Tom Robinson is also one who is
Prejudice is one of the main themes in 'To Kill a Mocking Bird'. Write about the different prejudices, paying particular attention to the social and historical context.
Andrew Proctor Prejudice is one of the main themes in 'To Kill a Mocking Bird'. Write about the different prejudices, paying particular attention to the social and historical context. 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' teaches us about the deceit and prejudice amongst the residents of Maycomb County, all of whom have very contrasting and conflicting views. We are told the story through the eyes of little girl, Scout, and the day-to-day prejudices she faces amongst society. Her father, Atticus, is a white man defending a Negro, even though the town frowns upon such a thing. He is trying to bring order to the socially segregating views, both within the court and out. The most common form of prejudice, which is seen many times throughout the novel, is racism. The white folk of Maycomb County feel they have a higher status in society than the black community, and that the Negroes are there simply to be controlled by the whites. The views of a Negro do not matter; they are worthless to a white person. They are seen as dirty and 'beneath' a white. This is true even in extreme cases such as the Ewells being compared to the black community. Even though the Ewells are seen as low class, shabby and disliked, they are still given a higher status than any Negro. You find out the position of the Ewells quite early on in the book, after Scout meets the youngest child of the family, Burris.
Are the black characters portrayed as passive victims, who need rescuing by the heroic whites?
Are the black characters portrayed as passive victims, who need rescuing by the heroic whites? Harpers Lee's portrayal of the black community throughout To Kill a Mockingbird is widely diverse and they can be either be depicted as passive victims or heroic characters in the novel. The ways that the black community can be seen as passive victims is by the way the white community of Maycomb always oppresses them. This can be seen clearly by the fact that the black community live in their own little settlement on the outskirts of the town. Also they live next to the town dump so they can be seen as dirty and uncivilized. In addition to this, is that the white community socially and institutionally shuns them so they are seen as weak and powerless. The black characters themselves know the consequences of challenging the status quo. For example in the courtroom, Tom says, 'If you were a nigger like me, you'd be scared,' which shows that they are passive and unwilling to stand up for themselves. It seems that the only people who are willing to stand up for them are some members of the white community such as Atticus Finch, Link Deas and Heck Tate who at the risk of their own reputation, are willing to stand up for the black community. So in contrast to these people the black community can be portrayed as feeble and defenceless. On the other hand their passive way of living can be
Similarities between tom Robinson and boo radley
Similarities between tom Robinson and boo radley Certain uncanny resemblances between Tom Robinson and Boo Radley's lives exist in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Often large groups of people misunderstand certain unusual individuals. Sometimes they stereotype the person; other times, they simply do not bother to find out the truth. When such circumstances occur, the ostracized person's actions become unfairly misinterpreted or not understood at all. Sometimes rumors circulate about the individuals, that might then be assumed as the truth. In this novel, Tom and Boo are both outsiders to the white, normal society of Maycomb county. Tom and Boo share generous natures that are misunderstood; they hold little social value, and are generally assumed guilty. The first parallel in the lives of Tom and Boo, focuses on their property. Tom lives in the "nigger nest" (pg. 175) near to Mr. Ewell but outside the city limits. While testifying Mr. Ewell says, "I've asked this county for fifteen years to clean out that nest down yonder, they're dangerous to live around 'sides devaluin' my property (pg. 175)". A person's status often relates to his property, and the interpretation of that property's value is often based on the tenants of the land. In Maycomb county, the black community inhabits the least desirable property. In the Jim Crow era, blacks were stereotyped as violent and
Atticus Finch is the pillar of strength that holds the novel together. He is not only the source of strength for the novel itself, but also for his children and the community of Maycomb.
Atticus Finch is the pillar of strength that holds the novel together. He is not only the source of strength for the novel itself, but also for his children and the community of Maycomb. Atticus possesses a strong sense of justice and responsibility and he stands on his principles that all men should be treated equally. The author, Harper Lee depicts Atticus as a man with strong values and character, who tries his best to defend an innocent black man, but instead of being respected and lauded, he is ostracized by society "...". The bad treatment he receives spills over to his children as well. His own children, Jem and Scout were even once embarrassed of him because he was older than the other fathers, that he does not hunt or fish, and they felt that he never achieved anything of significance. Atticus is a humble and modest man who preferred not to show off his talents. "pg 98" Atticus is shown to be a righteous man who opposes violence, and he teaches his children the same principles that he himself believes in. He does so in a gentle manner, without using any force, choosing to let his children learn through experience. For example, on one occasion, Scout refuses to attend a\school because she felt that she was being mistreated by her teacher and that it was no use going to school as she was not learning anything. Instead of forcing Scout to attend school, Atticus reasoned
