To Kill a Mockingbird Essay The film, To Kill a Mockingbird, confronts many intercultural conflicts. The story depicts the people of Maycomb County to be very ethnocentric. A majority of its inhabitants believe that white people are superior to black and the rich are superior to the poor. This becomes a very prominent barrier that prevents many people from trying to see things from another’s perspective. Many of the town’s residents contain a strong hold onto their traditional beliefs, in regards to race and social class, which is an extremely noticeable issue. With many of the characters coming from various cultural norms, on more than one occasion, Scout comes face to face with these barriers. She strives to overcome, what seems to be, a
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Atticus tries to teach his children to be tolerate of all people no matter color or social class. The character Boo shows how people that are mentally ill are often outcast to society because people had no idea how to treat them, so like most people they fear what they do not understand. A difference in Intercultural communication occurs in the generation difference is shown during the scene that Scout infuriates her elderly neighbor by saying “Hey Mrs. Dubose.” Mrs. Dubose then begins to scream at Scout yelling “Don’t you say ‘hey’ to me you ugly girl! You say good afternoon Mrs. Dubose!” Being a traditional Southern lady, from an earlier generation, she expects to be greeted in a particular manner. When Atticus walks by he presents himself to her with the utmost respect and compliments her and her flowers, even though she was just being nasty to his children, he shows tolerance in the way he responds to her. Another example of how difference and tolerance come into play is when Scout starts her first day of on the “wrong foot.” At lunch a new teacher asked why Walter Cunningham did not have a lunch and then tried to give him a quarter, which he refused, Scout tried to explain to the teacher that everyone knew the Cunningham’s were poor, yet very proud and would not take anything they could not repay. From Scout’s point of view, she was trying to help the teacher not look foolish, which in turn only caused her to get in trouble. Later that evening she explains to Atticus what happened, he proceeds to tell her that everyone comes from a different walk of life and that you never really know a person until you consider things from their point of view, or as he says “live in their skin.” At the end of the film, when Scout stands on the Radley porch she finally realizes what Atticus meant about not knowing a person until you walk in their shoes.
Atticus tries to teach his children to be tolerate of all people no matter color or social class. The character Boo shows how people that are mentally ill are often outcast to society because people had no idea how to treat them, so like most people they fear what they do not understand. A difference in Intercultural communication occurs in the generation difference is shown during the scene that Scout infuriates her elderly neighbor by saying “Hey Mrs. Dubose.” Mrs. Dubose then begins to scream at Scout yelling “Don’t you say ‘hey’ to me you ugly girl! You say good afternoon Mrs. Dubose!” Being a traditional Southern lady, from an earlier generation, she expects to be greeted in a particular manner. When Atticus walks by he presents himself to her with the utmost respect and compliments her and her flowers, even though she was just being nasty to his children, he shows tolerance in the way he responds to her. Another example of how difference and tolerance come into play is when Scout starts her first day of on the “wrong foot.” At lunch a new teacher asked why Walter Cunningham did not have a lunch and then tried to give him a quarter, which he refused, Scout tried to explain to the teacher that everyone knew the Cunningham’s were poor, yet very proud and would not take anything they could not repay. From Scout’s point of view, she was trying to help the teacher not look foolish, which in turn only caused her to get in trouble. Later that evening she explains to Atticus what happened, he proceeds to tell her that everyone comes from a different walk of life and that you never really know a person until you consider things from their point of view, or as he says “live in their skin.” At the end of the film, when Scout stands on the Radley porch she finally realizes what Atticus meant about not knowing a person until you walk in their shoes.