Maycomb's Judgmental Judgement

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch violates the rules of conduct in his society. Mr. Finch goes against the grain of his society when agreeing to defend a black man named Tom Robinson at a trial. Finch resists the pressure to follow conventional rules in his society by believing a black man over a white woman in the trial. Additionally, he resists the pressure to conform his children to the expectations that society has due to their gender. Furthermore, Finch’s unique parenting style raises many questions and concerns from the other adults in Maycomb, Alabama, but he does not change his way of raising his kids.

The characters in, To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, often use prejudice against people of controversial issues. Many of the townspeople of Maycomb use prejudice on the families who are on the less wealthy end of the spectrum. Issues are still displayed because of the racial prejudice used against African Americans and those of other races. Lastly, gender is a clear issue in Maycomb because of women’s and girl’s rights and lack of respect towards them because they are female. All of the types of prejudice show that Maycomb has many problems all throughout the town between other families and townspeople.

While Scout is listening to Atticus talk to Uncle Jack, she overhears him say, “ ‘When a child asks you something, answer him for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it’ ”(99). Atticus values information and thinks that children deserve to know what is going on in the world around them. If children are aware in their youth, they have a better chance of alertness in their adult life. While Atticus is talking to Uncle Jack about the trial, he says, “ ‘...I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease...

Life is like a thrill ride; one never knows what will be in store for them. Many characters in the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee feel the same way about life, having experienced many surprising and unexpected turns of events. This story is about a sleepy southern town filled with prejudice, and a lawyer’s quest, along with his children Scout and Jem, to take steps in ridding the town of its prejudiced attitude. Despite being a white man, a lawyer named Atticus, defends an innocent black man accused of raping a white woman. However, everything does not go as was hoped, and the mindset of the society overpowered Atticus’s fair-minded argument. From this emerges a theme regarding the bigotry and bias overwhelming Maycomb: A

Scout is very confused about the case and is asking Atticus why he is doing this. She tells him that people and very controversial about it and doesn't understand why he would risk losing friends and other people in his life. In the novel, Lee stated, “but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.” (Lee 142). Atticus did not care about who he would and wouldn't keep as friends. He knew that this was the right thing to do if he wanted to follow what he believes in. Atticus was sure that the people that supported him as a person even if he was supporting Tom and they didn't agree with the case would stay as very loyal friends and family. The town of Maycomb for the most part did not support the case and that meant that their views on Atticus changed, but he didn't care. After the case had been settled and Tom was found “guilty”, the kids and Atticus headed home. After they got their, Jem confronted Aunty about the case and why Atticus was having such a hard time dealing with Tom loosing. Aunt Alexandra says that the case took Atticus by surprise and was “a little too strong” for him. Atticus was having a hard time dealing with the fact that he wasn't able to win the case. He knew he had a very good argument, but he was feeling a lot of doubt

While the town believes that Tom Robinson is guilty even without evidence. Atticus doesn’t allow prejudice to cloud his judgement. It is clear to see that the people of Maycomb at the time were narrow minded and weren’t willing to listen to beliefs that contrasted their own. Atticus’ attempt to show his children that they should always fight for what they think is right, even though justice doesn’t always

Scout lives in a society where justice means the majority chooses what is best for themselves or even the town. With the new Tom Robinson trial, comes a lot of opportunities for Maycomb to redefine what justice means to them. The first to do this is Atticus when he accepts the case. He knows he can not only change his own ideas, but also attempt to change others. During Tom Robinson’s trial, Atticus talks to the jury after all the

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the audience is introduced to the Maycomb where the characters face differing treatment as a result of the widespread inequality. The inequality of the characters is explored through the social hierarchy of the Maycomb community and the gender inequity that prevails due to longstanding stereotypes. Racism is also a major factor that concerns the inequality of the characters, where black people are disrespected and heavily discriminated against. The injustice of the characters is apparent throughout the entirety of the novel.

Harper Lee's ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ explores the prejudicial issues which plague over the town Maycomb. Harper Lee uses the trial of Tom Robinson a black man accused of rape on a young white girl, Mayella as a central theme to portray the prominence of racial discrimination in Maycomb. The racial prejudice is also widely shown through the characterisation of Atticus. Having Scout as the narrator allows Harper Lee to highlight the gender inequity through a youthful unbiased perspective. The chauvinistic attitudes and prejudiced views of most of the town’s folk leaves Maycombs social hierarchy in an unfair order, victimising many of the town’s people due to their socially non-conforming habits some ‘socially unaccepted people’ including Boo

People of Maycomb judge each other on their behavior. For instance Atticus is called upon to fire Calpurnia, their cook, by his sister Aunt Alexander, he denies her request. His sister then tells him “Atticus it’s alright to be soft hearted, you’re an easy man…” (155). His sister views Atticus as a person who lets emotions get in his ways, and judges him because of it. Moreover, Mrs. Merriweather judges Atticus on his decision to free Tom Robison from jail and capital punishment. Mrs. Merriweather is gossiping about other folk from town she says “’I tell you there are some good but misguided people in this town…’’’ (265-266). She judges Atticus on this decision to stand up for Tom. She believes that he is misguided in his choices. Furthermore, Mrs. Dubose is another example of a person who judge’s people based on their behavior. Once when Jem and Scout were going by Mrs. Dubose they fear that “[They] would be raked by her wrathful gaze, subjected to ruthless interrogation regarding our

From the sidewalks, to the courtroom, even at school racism is always present in the Finch children's life. In the novel, the theme is that racism can divide a town. This is evident in the the attitude of the town towards

People in Maycomb begin to make their own assumptions about the case and form a general opinion, causing Scout and Jem to either stick with what they know from Atticus, or think for themselves morally. Atticus does not believe in prejudice, or in any unfair perceptions, for that matter. He guides Scout through her maturity issues throughout the book and she takes the lessons he gives her. She learns to navigate through life thinking in terms of walking “in other people’s skin” and always trying to reach a point of understanding with others. When faced head-on with a message from her father, she responds to it as such.

To start with, racism was an enormous deal in Maycomb, Alabama. Scout would be bullied by other people just because he defends black man they start calling her father a negro lover and

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about prejudice and reveals how tearing people down due to their demographic features can damage a society. The social basis of prejudice was an issue that many Americans faced in the early 20th century, but Lee specifically focuses on the discrimination that takes place in Maycomb, Alabama. Lee essentially explores the social realities throughout this piece by revolving the story mainly around the bigotry that took place during this time. Several types of prejudice are present in Maycomb, the major types being race, social class, and gender.

Discuss Harper Lee’s Presentation of Maycomb Society in to Kill a Mockingbird Maycomb is described as a “tired old town” where the inhabitants had “nowhere to go”. Maycomb is very similar to any small southern town in the 1930’s, sexism, racism and other prejudices are at a peak, and old traditions are carried out regularly. To Kill a Mockingbird revolves solely around family, community and society, the focus point of the book, the rape trial, would not have occurred if society had not looked down upon the black community.