Harper lee demonstrates her view of Alabama in the 1930s through three main points: gender, race and education. When exploring each of the three points Lee uses characters with 2 dimensional personalities (the exceptions being Scout, Mayella Ewell, Aunt Alexandra and The Cunningham.) Lee's characters fit into one archetype from each of the following character archetype pairs (black/white, rich/poor, kind/nasty, educated/illiterate). At each the introduction of each character Lee establish's them as either a "good guy" or a "bad guy".
When exploring race, Lee uses characters who share traits such as being educated, kind, illiterate or mean but differ in their ethnicity. This helps Lee demonstrate how being black could place someone at a disadvantage, …show more content…
For example, when Scout comes home from her first day of school, she argues with Atticus that she should not have to go because it will not benefit her, Atticus explains to Scout that despite the fact that school may not directly benefit her, she still must go if only to conform to Maycomb's standards. When Scout points out to Atticus that The Cunningham and The Ewell children don't have to attend school, Atticus tells Scout that The Cunninghams and The Ewells are at the bottom of the social ladder in Maycomb. And that furthermore The Ewells are the shame and disappointment of Maycomb County. However, despite Atticus's insistence that scout should still attend school, he promises that scouts can still read with her father every night. The second way that Lee explores education is as it playing a role in being part of the solution in ending prejudice and ignorance, Scouts growth is the best example of this. Scout, who starts of as a southerner who doesn't anything wrong with the way that blacks are treated and a foolish believer of the rumours about Boo Radley, Scout, by the end of the book has growing into an understanding person, who disagrees with the treatment of black people and has come to understand Boo Radley and regrets the way she, Dill and Jem treated
When exploring race, Lee uses characters who share traits such as being educated, kind, illiterate or mean but differ in their ethnicity. This helps Lee demonstrate how being black could place someone at a disadvantage, …show more content…
For example, when Scout comes home from her first day of school, she argues with Atticus that she should not have to go because it will not benefit her, Atticus explains to Scout that despite the fact that school may not directly benefit her, she still must go if only to conform to Maycomb's standards. When Scout points out to Atticus that The Cunningham and The Ewell children don't have to attend school, Atticus tells Scout that The Cunninghams and The Ewells are at the bottom of the social ladder in Maycomb. And that furthermore The Ewells are the shame and disappointment of Maycomb County. However, despite Atticus's insistence that scout should still attend school, he promises that scouts can still read with her father every night. The second way that Lee explores education is as it playing a role in being part of the solution in ending prejudice and ignorance, Scouts growth is the best example of this. Scout, who starts of as a southerner who doesn't anything wrong with the way that blacks are treated and a foolish believer of the rumours about Boo Radley, Scout, by the end of the book has growing into an understanding person, who disagrees with the treatment of black people and has come to understand Boo Radley and regrets the way she, Dill and Jem treated