The protagonist is the main character in a work of literature that often changes in some important way by the end of the book. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the protagonist, Scout Finch, changes in that vital way. Written by Harper Lee, 1930-era Maycomb County is plagued by racism, prejudice, and hypocrisy. With this atmosphere, Scout and the people around her struggle to keep their own morals intact. Scout learns the true reality that the world has to offer, both respectable and wicked aspects.
Racism is constant in our world, and it certainly is also constant in To Kill a Mockingbird. Being in the 1930s in southern Alabama, it’s not hard to tell that the majority of the county is racist against blacks, as is the rest of the south. Being in this …show more content…
However, Maycomb doesn’t seem to pay heed to it. The first example comes right after the Tom Robinson case, where Scout overhears her middle school teacher, Mrs. Gates, saying that the outcome was deserved in one way or another. Later in class, she is heard preaching that the Jews had done nothing wrong and did not deserve the punishment instated by Hitler. Hypocrisy to the max. A second example of hypocrisy in this novel is with Aunt Alexandra and her group of friends. One friend, a certain Mrs. Merriweather refers to northerners as hypocrites for setting their blacks free, but segregating them shortly thereafter. This hypocrisy is blatant, as Merriweather seems to be blind to the injustice that they have done to Tom Robinson and the black community in Maycomb. A third example of hypocrisy involves the Finch family. Aunt Alexandra believes that the Finch family is high and mighty, and stands above all other families in Maycomb. This is not true, as Atticus, Scout’s father, retaliates with the fact that the Finch family is just as involved with racism and inbreeding as any other family in Maycomb. These three examples puzzle Scout and her mind, wondering why people act as such, and I believe that this further resolves Scout to not be like the people that are blind toward
Racism is constant in our world, and it certainly is also constant in To Kill a Mockingbird. Being in the 1930s in southern Alabama, it’s not hard to tell that the majority of the county is racist against blacks, as is the rest of the south. Being in this …show more content…
However, Maycomb doesn’t seem to pay heed to it. The first example comes right after the Tom Robinson case, where Scout overhears her middle school teacher, Mrs. Gates, saying that the outcome was deserved in one way or another. Later in class, she is heard preaching that the Jews had done nothing wrong and did not deserve the punishment instated by Hitler. Hypocrisy to the max. A second example of hypocrisy in this novel is with Aunt Alexandra and her group of friends. One friend, a certain Mrs. Merriweather refers to northerners as hypocrites for setting their blacks free, but segregating them shortly thereafter. This hypocrisy is blatant, as Merriweather seems to be blind to the injustice that they have done to Tom Robinson and the black community in Maycomb. A third example of hypocrisy involves the Finch family. Aunt Alexandra believes that the Finch family is high and mighty, and stands above all other families in Maycomb. This is not true, as Atticus, Scout’s father, retaliates with the fact that the Finch family is just as involved with racism and inbreeding as any other family in Maycomb. These three examples puzzle Scout and her mind, wondering why people act as such, and I believe that this further resolves Scout to not be like the people that are blind toward