Where you live, who you interact with and the ideas and ways of thinking that you are exposed to all contribute to who you are. In the novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the ideas of racism and prejudice against black people are ones that are taught to the children and enforced by the elderly. Social constructs such as all women must be docile, elegant and ladylike while men are to be gentlemen, are examples of the many ideas engraved into the minds of the citizens of Maycomb County. In some ways these ideas may seem harmless, but they can easily manifest to become violent and harmful to certain individuals. The ideas portrayed in the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” are used to show the negative aspects of ideas such as prejudice and
…show more content…
Children are highly influenced by their surroundings. Their environment helps to shape their ideas and understanding of the world around them. The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” is set in the 1930’s, in the midst of the Great Depression in the small fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. As a close community, the citizens of Maycomb all know each other well. The main character of Harper Lee’s novel, Scout Finch, is affected through the book by her environment. Maycomb is a small place, isolated from any of the major cities and towns. Scout is a tomboy who lives in a small town. The small town ideologies such as black people are only three-fourths of a person. That men and women have specific gender roles they must play and that Maycomb’s way, is the right way. Scout’s environment is shown to have influenced her to an extent. Scout, unlike the other citizens of Maycomb County shows resilience to conforming to society’s conditions and values and the ways of the majority. She does not want to be a lady, which her Aunt Alexandra insists she do, and does not show the same level of hatred towards black people that others do. As she is still a child, she has not developed her …show more content…
Tom Robinson, a black man in the novel, is accused of raping and beating a white woman, Mayella Ewell. In the trial, it is revealed through Atticus Finch’s questioning of witnesses that Tom Robinsons was innocent of the crime as he could not have physically raped Mayella Ewell. It is clear to everyone in the courtroom that Tom was innocent yet he was still convicted and found guilty by the jury. This shows that the jury, completely made up of white men, decided to convict a black man, not because they believe he had committed the crime, but because that is what they were taught should happen to a black man who was accused of committing a crime against a white person. Those adults were of the belief that all black men do terrible things and are beneath them. The adults of Maycomb County show this attitude many times. Mrs. Dubose, an elderly woman who lives down the street from the main character, calls her and her father filthy names and insults the children as they pass by her house, simply because her father is defending a black man. This is seen as a bad idea to many citizens of the town and they hurl insults towards the Finch family. Elders such as Mrs.Dubose all shun Atticus in their own way for defending a black man in the trial because he is accused of harming someone of a different race, a white woman. This prejudice and
Children are highly influenced by their surroundings. Their environment helps to shape their ideas and understanding of the world around them. The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” is set in the 1930’s, in the midst of the Great Depression in the small fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. As a close community, the citizens of Maycomb all know each other well. The main character of Harper Lee’s novel, Scout Finch, is affected through the book by her environment. Maycomb is a small place, isolated from any of the major cities and towns. Scout is a tomboy who lives in a small town. The small town ideologies such as black people are only three-fourths of a person. That men and women have specific gender roles they must play and that Maycomb’s way, is the right way. Scout’s environment is shown to have influenced her to an extent. Scout, unlike the other citizens of Maycomb County shows resilience to conforming to society’s conditions and values and the ways of the majority. She does not want to be a lady, which her Aunt Alexandra insists she do, and does not show the same level of hatred towards black people that others do. As she is still a child, she has not developed her …show more content…
Tom Robinson, a black man in the novel, is accused of raping and beating a white woman, Mayella Ewell. In the trial, it is revealed through Atticus Finch’s questioning of witnesses that Tom Robinsons was innocent of the crime as he could not have physically raped Mayella Ewell. It is clear to everyone in the courtroom that Tom was innocent yet he was still convicted and found guilty by the jury. This shows that the jury, completely made up of white men, decided to convict a black man, not because they believe he had committed the crime, but because that is what they were taught should happen to a black man who was accused of committing a crime against a white person. Those adults were of the belief that all black men do terrible things and are beneath them. The adults of Maycomb County show this attitude many times. Mrs. Dubose, an elderly woman who lives down the street from the main character, calls her and her father filthy names and insults the children as they pass by her house, simply because her father is defending a black man. This is seen as a bad idea to many citizens of the town and they hurl insults towards the Finch family. Elders such as Mrs.Dubose all shun Atticus in their own way for defending a black man in the trial because he is accused of harming someone of a different race, a white woman. This prejudice and