let Scout play with Walter Cunningham as he was poor, was a farmer and was low class.
From the remarks Aunt Alexandra makes in the novel about the Cunningham family the
reader can pick up the narrow-mindedness of the some of characters in the novel, and that in
the time period the book was set, people just could not accept the fact that there were
coloured people, people of different social status, and people who were just different in the
sense they were not a stereotype of a Maycomb citizen, which characters like Aunt Alexandra
show. However the Cunninghams were never as bad as what the Ewell family was depicted
as. They were “white trash” and they were very poorly educated. By using the words “white
trash”, Harper Lee has manipulated the reader into thinking that the Ewell family was so low
in the social circle that they didn’t deserve to be called people. They were referred to as
”animals” to show how low they really were. The character development of these two families
has made Harper Lee show that not only coloured people can be attacked by prejudice, you
could be a different social or economic status and could be treated differently.
Although people were seen as being prejudiced against groups, individuals were also
targeted. One key example of an individual is Boo Radley. Most of the town is prejudiced
against Boo as he doesn’t follow the crowd and is not often seen doing things that other
people of Maycomb do. Rumours and gossip portray Boo as a malignant and illusive
character and children (being gullible as they are) believe the rumours, whether the gossip is
true or not. They believe that food from the Radley garden is “poisonous” and run past his
house from fear. By adding characters like Boo Radley into the novel Harper Lee shows us
that only a few people in Maycomb accept Boo for what he really is, and respect him. I also
think that here, the author is trying to speculate how judgmental and narrow – minded, not
only children, but adults can be by calling him “different”. When the residents of Maycomb call
someone different, the reader is lead to think that the “different” character just does not think
or act like the other citizens of Maycomb, and therefore they are goals for prejudice. Harper
Lee also suggests to the reader, to be judgmental of a character of Boo Radley’s nature is
expected of not only residents in Maycomb, but in general it is human nature.
Even though a fair majority of the Maycomb residents are severely prejudice, there
are a few people who look beneath the surface of different individuals and groups. For
example, Atticus. Even though Atticus does make comments about being “common” this
character is presented in the novel to be wise understanding of most situations. He does
not judge anyone by their race, religion, views or anything else that makes them different. He
does not seem to be in favour the racist attitudes in Maycomb and sees them be like a
“disease”. From understanding the context the word is used in, Harper Lee proposes to the
reader that the prejudice in Maycomb spreads from one character to another. Miss Maudie
also has some non- prejudiced views by saying that she is proud of “those people in this town
who say that fair play is not marked white only.” This quotation tells the reader that the
character of Miss Maudie was trying to say that she likes and is proud of the thought that
black and white people would be able to use the same things, as well as being allowed to be
around one another. Eventually, nearer to the end of the novel Jem and Scout show their
maturity and open – mindedness, which is evidently shown by making some ‘anti-racist’
remarks. I think that by adding only a few characters with non-prejudiced views Harper Lee is
able to discuss with the reader on a subconscience level, that even though there is a majority
who are always judgmental, there always be some people who can see people for what they
really are, no matter what makes them different.
One of the most important examples of a type of prejudice shown in the novel is
racism. The entire town of Maycomb, with a few exceptions are racist. They see black people
as inferior beings and treat them similarly. Mrs Dubose, a resident of Maycomb shows her
racist views by making a remark about Atticus when she said to the children that their father
was “no better than the niggers and trash he works for”. From saying this, Mrs Dubose is not
only saying that black people should be treated like trash and not as human beings, but she is
also saying, the fact that Atticus has something to do with a black person, that he is also as
low as a black person. Compared to Mrs Dubose, Atticus seems to accept people for who
they are, whereas Mrs Dubose just seems to add to my theory of the stereotypical characters
of Maycomb - being judgmental. Harper Lee also makes the reader realise something about
Atticus’s children. We know from the reaction of Jem towards the comments Mrs Dubose
made, that Atticus’s children have been influenced by Atticus’s wise and open –minded views.
In part two of the novel, racism is quite evidently shown by the jury when Tom Robinson is on
trial. Atticus knew that although he was going to defend Tom Robinson to the best of his
abilities, he would not be able to succeed due to the prejudice the town showed against
coloured people. Harper Lee included aspects like the reaction of Mrs Dubose towards Atticus
working for a black man to show how extreme people’s views were back in the beginning half
of the 20th century, therefore she is able to show the reader what it could have been like if
they were a person of different race. But as well as racism in Maycomb, there was prejudice
against others who were just simply ‘different’.
Overall, Harper Lee is trying to show the reader the reality of life, in the time period
the novel was set. But one thing that I think Harper Lee was also trying to put across to the
reader that reactions like this can take place anywhere there is a negative reaction to
something different. She did this by adding prejudice in the first place, but also discussing it
with the reader by using example of different people and then seeing reactions of the narrow-
minded residents in Maycomb. I think that Harper Lee was trying to discuss the theme of
prejudice by making it obvious to the reader how easily it can occur and how wrong it can be-
ending up taking the lives of innocent people.
