Reflections of Historical Realities-- To Kill a Mockingbird In the 1930s, many Southern towns remained tainted by the bloodshed of ancestors and were still largely removed from past Reconstruction efforts to modify deeply ingrained social dynamics. The Great Depression only served to weather such towns, acting as an economic earthquake that toppled the belief systems of many people, testing both their integrity and clarity of vision. Maycomb County is no such exception—a setting depicted by Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird, Maycomb County offers a home to inequality and racism, perfectly disguised by the town’s quaint values and seemingly friendly lifestyle. Scout Finch, a naïve child in Maycomb County, narrates the history of persecution
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Scout describes the existing caste system in Maycomb, where people were “utterly predictable to one another” (Lee 175). For example, the Cunninghams were poor, bartering farmers, the Ewells were dirty, illiterate, and a disgrace to Maycomb County, and not one of the Crawfords could mind his or her own business. There were also certain social dynamics expected to be followed, unless one wanted to end up like Boo Radley, the outcast from next door. Women also upheld certain standards—Scout conceded to wearing dresses, socializing, and drinking tea, as a part of her maturity. Moreover, those who were colored were at the bottom of the hierarchy and lived on the outskirts of Maycomb County. Jim Crow laws, established in the 1890s, enforced segregation, curfews for blacks, disenfranchisement, and public lynching (Pilgrim). This segregation is evident when Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her own church, which was paid from the earnings of freed slaves. One member told her, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here—they got their church, we got our’n” (Lee 158). This intolerance and divided mindset was considered normal, marking prejudice and segregation as customary. Whites despised blacks and considered anyone who stood up for them a “nigger-lover,” the existence of such a term testifying to how …show more content…
The old South was challenged to endure poverty and break free from long-lived stereotypes and racism. The Finch family in itself served as a model of the importance of integrity, courage, and morality, even when the outcome has much at stake. Atticus Finch encouraged his children to understand others, even when the others are very different or make wrongful decisions. Atticus had hope for change to come, “That was one thing that made me think, well, this may be the shadow of a beginning. That jury took a few hours. An inevitable verdict, maybe, but it takes ‘em just a few minutes” (Lee 297). Thus, Scout realized through her father how different their perspective was and how a seemingly friend town removed from change learned many hard
Scout describes the existing caste system in Maycomb, where people were “utterly predictable to one another” (Lee 175). For example, the Cunninghams were poor, bartering farmers, the Ewells were dirty, illiterate, and a disgrace to Maycomb County, and not one of the Crawfords could mind his or her own business. There were also certain social dynamics expected to be followed, unless one wanted to end up like Boo Radley, the outcast from next door. Women also upheld certain standards—Scout conceded to wearing dresses, socializing, and drinking tea, as a part of her maturity. Moreover, those who were colored were at the bottom of the hierarchy and lived on the outskirts of Maycomb County. Jim Crow laws, established in the 1890s, enforced segregation, curfews for blacks, disenfranchisement, and public lynching (Pilgrim). This segregation is evident when Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her own church, which was paid from the earnings of freed slaves. One member told her, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here—they got their church, we got our’n” (Lee 158). This intolerance and divided mindset was considered normal, marking prejudice and segregation as customary. Whites despised blacks and considered anyone who stood up for them a “nigger-lover,” the existence of such a term testifying to how …show more content…
The old South was challenged to endure poverty and break free from long-lived stereotypes and racism. The Finch family in itself served as a model of the importance of integrity, courage, and morality, even when the outcome has much at stake. Atticus Finch encouraged his children to understand others, even when the others are very different or make wrongful decisions. Atticus had hope for change to come, “That was one thing that made me think, well, this may be the shadow of a beginning. That jury took a few hours. An inevitable verdict, maybe, but it takes ‘em just a few minutes” (Lee 297). Thus, Scout realized through her father how different their perspective was and how a seemingly friend town removed from change learned many hard