Summary:
To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a story of prejudice and class distinction in the south in the 1930s. Lee uses Scout finch, a young girl, as the narrator of the story to show the injustice in Maycomb county society. Throughout the book Scout often wonders why people can't all just get along.
"Why can't we all just get along""(Rodney King) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story of prejudice and class distinction in the south in the 1930s. Lee uses Scout finch, a young girl, as the narrator of the story to show the injustice in Maycomb county society. Throughout the book Scout often wonders why people can't all just get along. Blacks and poor people are discriminated against and Scout does not understand why. Through Scouts eyes Lee demonstrates how three types of prejudice; gender, social and racial create difficulties and unhappiness for Scout.
Scout's life is made difficult by the gender stereotypes that society tries to impose upon her. Scout is talking about Aunt Alexandra not liking the way she dresses.
"Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I couldn't do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants"(85-86). Aunt Alexandra and the other ladies in the town were always making suggestions to scout that she would never be a lady unless she started dressing like one. This makes life difficult for Scout because she cannot do the things she likes to do, such as climbing trees, while wearing a dress. In southern society in the 1930s women were expected to wear dresses and take care of the house and be like "delicate flowers." Scout was more comfortable in her father's world than she was in Aunt Alexandra's. Atticus is answering Jem's question of why people like him and Miss Maudie never serve on juries and Scout responds. "For one thing, Miss Maudie can't serve on a jury because she's a woman-...' 'You mean women in Alabama can't-"' I was indignant"(224). Women in the South at this time obviously had fewer rights than men. You were promised a jury of your peers if you went to court, and women were not considered peers, or equals, to men. Scout is horrified by this because she feels that she is as good as any male and could serve on a jury as well as them. Scout feels more at home in the world of her father and Jem than she does in the complex world of ladies.
Scout has trouble understanding the reasons for the strict social classes in the small town society. Scout is listening to the Missionary Society ladies talk about how black people are not as good as them and she thinks to herself. "Well, neither of us was the Mayor of Birmingham, but I wished I was the Governor of Alabama for one day; I'd let Tom Robinson go so quick the Missionary Society wouldn't have time to catch its breath"(237). Even though Scout is listening to the ladies talk about how they are better than the laboring class of society she still believes that everybody should be treated fairly no matter what their social rank. Scout has actually met the people that the missionary ladies think of as just cooks and servants, and she realizes that they are people with families and dreams just like anyone else. Scout is talking to her brother about the people of Maycomb. "Naw, Jem, I think there's just one kind of folks, Folks"(230). When Jem is telling Scout about the different classes of people in Maycomb, Scout disagrees and says there is only one kind of folks, Folks. This statement shows that Scout does not think it is right to treat people differently just because they come from a poorer family. Even as a child Scout realizes that people should be treated fairly and she wonders how she will fit in the small town society.
Perhaps the most difficult and destructive prejudice she has to deal with is the racial prejudice that colored everyday life in the South in the 1930s. Scout's classmates made fun of her because her dad was defending Tom Robinson. "Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch's daddy defended Niggers"(79). Scout did not understand why Cecil made it sound like a bad thing that Atticus was defending a Negro. She believes that it is unfair that people are harassing Atticus just because he was assigned to defend a black man. Scout is listening to Atticus talk to Jem about the outcome of the trial. ."..As you grow older you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it- whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash"(223). Atticus taught Jem and Scout that is was wrong to be prejudice against black people. This idea was not the popular one at the time. Scout will always be different than the majority of society because of her belief that blacks and whites are equal.
Growing up at this time was difficult for Scout because it was a time when prejudice prevailed in the thinking of many of the people around her. It was hard for Scout, being a tomboy, living in a society where femininity was expected of women. Not only was life difficult for Scout because she was expected to be a lady, but because she did not understand the social classes of society. The black people that Scout considered friends where put at the bottom of the social pyramid. In today's society only one of these boundaries has been overcome. Women are not required to be as much like delicate flowers. However social class still exists in society and racial prejudice has only been slightly dealt with. Even though we have come a long way there are still prejudices that exist in society today.
This is the complete article, containing 980 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
