Maycomb is a small town within Alabama itself, and was microcosm (sort of representative) of American society during the 1930’s. It is a town concerned in its own matters and dilemmas, and we do not hear anything about the rest of Alabama or in America throughout the entire novel. The novel, in a way makes a social comment that black people should be treated with the same rights and responsibilities as white people. This is turn created a sort of fear towards black people, as they were thought to be very dangerous people.
During the novel, we learn more and more about the segregation and racism shown towards the black community in Maycomb. They are referred to as ‘niggers’ and ‘negroes’ very often during the story by some characters in the story. This shows that the black community were treated badly and that nobody had much respect for them.
The attitudes of black people towards white people in the novel are much the same. Calpurnia, who is considered as a surrogate mother to Jem and Scout, shows no hatred or disliking towards the white population during the novel. This is mainly because of the fact that she has been taken in by Atticus Finch, a lawyer who chooses to defend a black man accused of rape, much to the dismay of all other white people in Maycomb. She is used during the play as a bridge between the two communities, and is the main source of information and news about Tom and his family. The other black characters also share this feeling of white people throughout the novel, with none of the black community saying a bad word for their white counterparts.
However, the white attitude towards the black race is mixed. The more racist side of the white community are the characters Robert (Bob) Ewell and Mrs Dubose. Bob Ewell is the father of Mayella Ewell, the girl who accuses Tom Robinson of raping her. He frequently refers to Tom as ‘nigger’, and to Atticus as ‘nigger lover’. Mrs Dubose is also racist, not towards Tom however, but towards Atticus, and she also calls Atticus names such as ‘nigger lover. This forms a bit of irony as although Mrs Dubose is not a ‘nigger lover’, she is entirely dependant on her negress servant Jessie, who we see wait on her hand and foot until she passes away. In addition to this, she is a slight coward in the sense that she does not talk about Atticus like this to his face, but merely behind his back and more notably, to his children. This leads them, Jem more evidently than Scout, to seek revenge on her, and in the end Jem cuts of all her flower heads.
During the novel, Harper Lee shows us the side of black people that no one in the book would expect. She shows them to kind and warm hearted, as well as hard working people. We hear towards the end of the story that Tom himself was a very hard working person, and works for Mayella Ewell without pay. After reading the novel, my view is that black people were viewed as being either stupid and child like, or evil human beings.
The two black characters that play relatively major roles come across as being very friendly and very polite people. Calpurnia looks after the house and after the children, taking them in as ‘her own’. However, as she is black, this leads to rumours about her private life coming out. She looks after the children so much that she even takes them to a black church, even though they are white. During her time at the Finch’s residence, she has gained the respect of everyone around her, notably by Atticus, who refers to her as a ‘faithful member of the family’. This shows how much she is trusted and valued by Atticus and the rest of his family.
The other black character in the novel, Tom Robinson, is only seen for a short period of time during the novel, however when we do see him we find that he is as kind hearted a person as anybody. He is revealed as a polite and honourable person in court, and is always ready to help Mayella Ewell. A prime example of this is in the court scenes where upon being asked about whether he was paid for his services, he replied:
…‘I was glad to do it. Mr Ewell didn’t seem to help her and neither did the chillun and I know she didn’t have no spare nickels around’.
This clearly shows us that this is a man that values people above his work, and doesn’t ask for money, preferring to do the work himself free of charge. We also know that Tom, like Calpurnia, is a regular church goer, and is regarded very highly in the black community.
When Tom is accused of raping Mayella, the whole of the White community takes side with her, saying that if she says that Tom Robinson was the guilty party, then he must have done it. The White people then set out on revenge for Tom’s act, as we see when Tom is moved to the local gaol. They tell Atticus: ‘You know what we want’, bluntly showing that they are after Tom. However, we then see that the racism and hatred towards Black people is ever present in the jails and prisons of Maycomb as well. Towards white people we see there is a policy of shoot to wound if a prisoner is attempting to escape. But when Tom attempts to escape the perimeter fence, he is shot seventeen times, showing us that the guards had their own sense of resentment towards Tom, and had justly got, what they believed, their revenge. A phrase summing the shooting up by Atticus was: ‘…they didn’t have to shoot him that much’.
The attitude in general towards the coloured community is in parts, shocking. They are spoken off with disgust and are given no respect whatsoever. They are also put down by their white counterparts at every occasion, for example when Boo Radley is arrested on suspicion of stabbing his father in the leg with a pair of scissors, the Sheriff says:
‘Hadn’t the heart to put him in the jail alongside Negroes’
This shows that even in police stations there is segregation and racism, and this also shows that black people were regarded among the lowest of the low. However, it is not just the Sheriff that shows us the racial abuse towards the coloured community. Mrs Dubose frequently put down Atticus and Tom Robinson, saying:
‘Your Father’s no better than the Niggers and trash he works for!’
This is by far the most racist comment that we have seen during the course of the novel. Mrs Dubose uses the word ‘trash’ to describe the coloured community, and this symbolises how the white community felt for the black people at the time. However, we must stress that not all of Maycomb community is prejudiced. Atticus describes the racism as ‘Maycomb’s usual disease’, while Miss Maudie Atkinson says she is proud of:
‘Those people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only.’
This shows us that not all of Maycomb’s population is bigoted towards black people.
We see a fine example of how Black people act away from the white community when Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to a Black church. In reaction to this, the black people at the church, instead of throwing them out, welcome them with whole hearted kindness, and make them feel at home. Here we see the only ‘negative’ black character, Lula May, and in my view this makes the novel unrealistic in a sense that only one person opposes such a thing (white children in Black church). However, Black people at the time would have been afraid to show their true feelings of white ways for fear of further prejudice from Black people or for losing their jobs. Therefore it perhaps is realistic that Black discontent can only be shown to a child who is breaking the rules of segregation that have been prescribed for black people by white people. A great example of the Black community’s whole hearted welcome is when Jem and Scout first enter the church. Harper Lee describes the actions of the Black people in the church as:
‘When they saw Jem and me with Calpurnia, the men stepped back and took off their hats; the women crossed their arms at their waists, weekday gestures of respectful attention.’
These actions show us the gratitude of the Black community towards Atticus’ and his family for what he has done for Tom Robinson, and that they would even go as far as to let his white children into a Black Church with them.
Overall, the community of Maycomb is largely prejudiced towards the Black population, and even though there are a few people who acknowledge the Coloured community for what they are, the vast majority of people do not. Harper Lee shows this in various ways, as well as showing that the Black community is a loving, caring and very helpful group of people. The best example of this is in the Black church, as I have explained above. She also shows that the White people are racist, and that what goes around comes around in the way of Mayella Ewell and the rape scandal, and all in all, does an excellent job in presenting to us the Black community in Maycomb.
