Have you ever felt your morals being influenced by different factors? What makes you judge what is right and wrong? In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the setting is Maycomb, Alabama, during the height of racism and the Great Depression. Jean Louise, nicknamed Scout, is young, and she is fighting to find what is right and wrong. Every aspect of her morals is being formed as she questions why people believe whites and blacks aren’t equal. Many aspects can influence your morals and judgment. Three of the main factors that influence these aspects are the people that you are around, the area you are in, and the time period in which you live.
To begin with, one factor that can influence our moral growth is the people we are around. After Scout’s …show more content…
The setting of the book places Scout in the racist and prejudice southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression and the peak of racism. It was common for women to meet at someone’s house and gossip about the racial occurrences in the town, something not as common in different areas. An example of this occurring in the book is when the Missionary Society is meeting, and Mrs. Merriweather says, “I tell you there’s nothing more distracting than a sulky darky. Their mouths go down to here. Just ruins your day to have one of ‘em in the kitchen,” (Lee 264-265). The southern-style gossiping society caused Mrs. Merriweather to strive to be the dominant woman in her group of friends. The South’s strong views on Blacks caused her to do this. In the North, people don’t have as strong as views. Scout realized that people can say rude and racist words to try to act acceptable in a group. She learned everything you say should be nice and kind no matter what situation you are in. The stereotypical mindset of the white people about the blacks is shown many times in the book. Another example is the time that the town finds out about Tom’s death. Scout observes, “To Maycomb, Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw… when it comes down to the line the veneer’s mighty thin. Nigger always comes out in ‘em.” (Lee 275). Townspeople in the deep south, like Maycomb’s citizens, have stereotypes of black people like this. They do not allow for people to be different. People of a different area other than the south are more accepting of people. They realize people have imperfections, and all people are not the same. Everyone does not fit in a universal list of characteristics for your racial group. Scout is affected by this stereotypical
To begin with, one factor that can influence our moral growth is the people we are around. After Scout’s …show more content…
The setting of the book places Scout in the racist and prejudice southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression and the peak of racism. It was common for women to meet at someone’s house and gossip about the racial occurrences in the town, something not as common in different areas. An example of this occurring in the book is when the Missionary Society is meeting, and Mrs. Merriweather says, “I tell you there’s nothing more distracting than a sulky darky. Their mouths go down to here. Just ruins your day to have one of ‘em in the kitchen,” (Lee 264-265). The southern-style gossiping society caused Mrs. Merriweather to strive to be the dominant woman in her group of friends. The South’s strong views on Blacks caused her to do this. In the North, people don’t have as strong as views. Scout realized that people can say rude and racist words to try to act acceptable in a group. She learned everything you say should be nice and kind no matter what situation you are in. The stereotypical mindset of the white people about the blacks is shown many times in the book. Another example is the time that the town finds out about Tom’s death. Scout observes, “To Maycomb, Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw… when it comes down to the line the veneer’s mighty thin. Nigger always comes out in ‘em.” (Lee 275). Townspeople in the deep south, like Maycomb’s citizens, have stereotypes of black people like this. They do not allow for people to be different. People of a different area other than the south are more accepting of people. They realize people have imperfections, and all people are not the same. Everyone does not fit in a universal list of characteristics for your racial group. Scout is affected by this stereotypical