Theme Of Chaos In To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in the difficult times of the Great Depression in the early 1930’s. The novel surrounds the life of a young girl named Scout Finch, along with her brother Jem, and their friend, Dill. Who are forced at a young age to watch the people of their small town of Maycomb not only receive, but also give prejudice to numerous, harmless people. Whether it be Boo Radley, a shut in who falls victim to the town’s gossip, even though he is constantly showing acts of kindness towards the Finch children. Or it be Tom Robinson an innocent man that Atticus, Scout’s father must defend be accused rape, and be convicted of a crime he did not to just because of the color of his skin. Throughout the novel, the people of Maycomb deal with prejudice in the forms of sexism, intolerance of differences, and in racism.

In the town of Maycomb, a man who stands up against racism forever changes people’s views on racism. Scout, Jem and Atticus Finch all stand together against racism and prejudice in the tiny town of Maycomb. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in the town of Maycomb, prejudice is a disease, but Jem, Scout, and Dill are immune to this illness because of the people who raise them. For example, when Cecil and Francis told Scout that Atticus is a disgrace to defend Tom Robinson, even though Francis is Scout’s cousin. When Scout and Jem hear the verdict of Tom’s case they both cry and are angry about the sentence while the rest of the town is ecstatic. And finally when Scout doesn’t want Walter Cunningham to come over for dinner because

Hatred that is evident in society is the result of the gap between those of higher and lower social standing. Whether it be by race or of class, bigotry and ignorance is caused by this disconnect of culture; that it is only resisted by the ability to empathize. This is the main idea and concept behind To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It takes place in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama following the children Scout Finch, Jem Finch, and Dill. The story is of Scout’s perspective on the daily life of Maycomb and also follows the other citizens of Maycomb. Lee shows us that the source of this disconnect between the higher and the lower classes is not being able to see the other person’s reality and points out this flaw in many of the characters.

“Human beings are poor examiners, subject to superstition, bias, prejudice, and a profound tendency to see what they want to see rather than what is really there” ~ Scott Peck. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird abounds with the injustice produced by social, gender, and racial prejudice. The setting of the book takes place in the 1930s, where racism is a big deal in society. In the novel Harper Lee uses a mockingbird as an analogy to the characters. The Mockingbird is a symbol for Three Characters in the book, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. The people of Maycomb only know Boo Radley and Tom Robinson by what others say about them. These Characters are then characterized by other people 's viewpoints. In the novel there are many themes that are adjacent to our lives, the one that is found in To Kill A Mockingbird is Human Conflict comes from the inability for one to understand another. “ You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (39)

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a complex literary work exploring several aspects of the human condition. Lee’s story is one based in the 1930’s, shortly before the Civil Rights Movement. Her novel ventures into the societal issues, such as racism and gender stereotyping, in their fictional town, Maycomb. One recurring theme throughout the narrative is the social adjustment of the citizens of Maycomb and the human race as a whole. Lee showcases the progress in social justice matters by using symbolism and motifs.

From the classic story of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Dill, Scout and Jem are installers of chaos in Maycomb, Alabama. They introduced change to Maycomb’s orderly societal system with their unique personalities, unconventional raisings, and ever questioning minds. When Scout disregarded the importance of family lineage, Dill questioned Maycomb’s racist ways, and Jem learned about the ways of the town with little guidance, the societal order of Maycomb was disrupted

Another life lesson that Jem and Scout learn about throughout the story is of the categorization of people in Maycomb, which ties in with the prejudice. They notice that most of the people in Maycomb value their ancestry and background very much, especially to see who settled down in the area first and had more distinguished and important ancestors. They also notice how the people of Maycomb are always judging one another and saying that a person acts a certain way because of his background, ancestry, or race. On pg. 226 Jem says, “There's four kinds of folks in the world. There's the ordinary folks like us and the neighbors, there's the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.”The quote above is the way Jem believes that people are divided in Maycomb County. This shows how the environment around Jem and Scout is affecting them and how they are starting to see and understand people and their actions.

In Harper Lee’s book “To Kill a Mockingbird” Jem , Scout , and Dill live in Maycomb , Alabama around the time of the 1930’s they all were struggling through racism and poor family’s trying to get by. Harper Lee’s first and only novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was published during the civil right movements. In this book Jem, Scout, and Dill tend to have courage and loyalty through life and in their relationship toward one another . Jem and Scout are brother and sister, Dill is a friend of the family but they accept him as a brother. Although, Jem and Dill have the most exceptional relationship out of them all. “ To Kill A Mockingbird” the impact racism had on society shows through the setting , characters , and town of Maycomb , Alabama .

In the town of Maycomb, the black population is judged upon their skin color. For instance, when Mr. Gilmer is cross-examining Tom, and speaking to him without dignity. Mr. Gilmer says to Tom during his cross-examination “are you being impudent to me boy.”(225). Mr. Gilmer called a grown man boy, it was clear he showed no respect to Tom, who is black. Likewise, Calpurnia escorts Jem and Scout to the black church, and Calpurnia changes the way she talks. As Scout is observing Calpurnia talk, she says “why do you talk nigger talk?”(143). In Scout’s and Jem’s mind Calpurnia has never talked nigger talk; Scout is judging Calpurnia because she talks nigger talk. In Support of, Calpurnia introduces Jem and scout to her friend Lola, and Lola disapproves of the while children in a black church. Lola yells “you ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillum here- they got their church and we got our’n! (136).

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, prejudice and racism are embedded in the regional psyche of Maycomb, a miniscule town in Alabama. The narrator interpolates injustice and racism in Alabama during the 1930s, largely through the eyes of Scout, who was a child during this time, however, the adult Scout occasionally interjects with some adult observations. Furthermore, the citizens of Maycomb are stereotyped pervasively throughout the book. In Harper Lee’s To Kill Mockingbird, examples of racism, sexism, and social class are used to demonstrate how prejudice can corrupt a community.

As the United States “progresses” in economic, educational and technological advancements we still are fighting for racial equality. With more than 50 years since the brown vs. board of education case there is still incidents like Ferguson, Baton Rouge, and Phiando Castile where many questions are still unanswered. However, Harper Lee dealt with these same problems in 1960 when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee created an emotionally confronting story. Lee writes through the eyes of “Scout” a lawyer’s daughter in a small sleepy town of Maycomb in Alabama during the great depression. Throughout the book “Scout” learns coming of age lessons from Atticus and her own experiences. But when Atticus takes on a case defending a black man (Tom Robinson) convicted for rapping a white woman (Mayella Ewell) and is found guilty. “Scout” her brother Jem begin to understand the effects of the prejudices in society. Therefore, Lee applies the literary concepts of diction and tone to revel the truth that prejudices in society negatively affect the way people treat each other in To Kill a Mocking Bird.

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

Throughout Harper Lee’s novel, Scout, a young girl growing up in the southern town of Maycomb County, comes to realize the way that something are in her town- specifically socially. At the beginning of the novel, Scout believes she knows where she stands in Maycomb’s hierarchy. Jem, her brother, describes it in his thirteen-year-old wisdom; “‘There’s kind of people in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes,’” (Lee, 258).

Maycomb, is a segregated, urban area located in Southern Alabama. The small town is filled with black citizens, that are victims of racial discrimination and have their rights stripped from away them because of their skin colour. To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM), takes place throughout the Great Depression and unveils many secrets, untold truths about the life of citizens and explores the struggles dark skin people faced during the Great Depression.The novel is a simplistic view of life in the Deep South of America in the 1930s, which reflects racial and social prejudice, discrimination between blacks and whites. The book is narrated by a young girl named Scout who matures throughout the novel, from an innocent child to a morally conscience young adult. Harper Lee develops concepts by using language forms and features to highlight dominant themes of the novel such as racism. Racism in TKAM has different effects on different characters, such as Tom Robinson, Jem and Scout. Dark skin people faced many hardships throughout the Great Depression, in this novel anyone who was coloured or had connections or relations to coloured people, struggled to have the right to life due to them being black, this had many effects on different characters.

In the Bildungsroman novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the protagonist Jean Louise “Scout” Finch lives in Maycomb, Alabama. In Maycomb, races are segregated and people are alienated; Arthur “Boo” Radley was isolated by most of Maycomb, for example. In the novel, Scout met people in different social classes such as: Robert E. Lee “Bob” Ewell, Tom Robinson, Calpurnia, and Atticus Finch. Through the use of complications, imageries, and characters, Lee implies stereotypes and how a person’s development can be impacted by social classes.