(Although the above quote from MLK's famous "I Have a Dream" speech came later than the time period of To Kill a Mockingbird, I find it to have some relevance to the novel's setting and the beliefs of a few of its characters.)
As I began to read To Kill a Mockingbird, I was honestly bored out of my mind as Scout opened the story by describing the county. However, by analyzing the various settings given and the mindsets present in each -- specifically the neighbors' views versus that of the Finches -- I was able to more easily understand the way each character dealt with one another and identify the reoccurring motif of discrimination and how it causes humans to see others at face-value instead of for their true colors.
As the Maycomb county's expectations of human nature collide with Scout Finch's personal beliefs, the young heroine of To Kill a Mockingbird is faced with the trials and tribulations of fighting between what society wants and what the innocence in her heart feels is right. The difference between how she was raised to be a good person and society's favored female image create tension with Scout's journey through her childhood and establish mixed views about what kind of person to grow up as within a hometown filled with discrimination.
With the story's setting as Alabama -- a state that was a part of the Confederacy -- during the time period prior to civil rights movements for women and blacks, the people of the Maycomb county followed a strict status quo. Negroes were looked down upon and women had a single expectation to be feminine, refined, and anything but risqué; content of personal character played a minimal part in status. This is apparent in the way that Mrs. Dubose criticizes Scout for not wearing a "dress and camisole" in Chapter 11 (101); Aunt Alexandra says Scout, as a girl, should never be doing things that required pants (81); Jem accuses Scout of acting like a "girl" for being scared in Chapter 4 (38); how any phrase with the word "nigger" in it is used offensively; and how Atticus defending a black man in court is looked down upon.
Even with society's harsh and stratified views, Atticus chooses to raise a family that lives beyond Maycomb's standards. Even though he was a well-off and respected white man, he surprisingly refuses to use his social status for belittlement. He emphasized understanding everyone's points of view and that it's not a bad thing to be a "nigger-lover" if your philosophy is to love everybody (30; 108). By treating all people equally beyond the stereotypes of "black", "white", "male", "female", or "child", Atticus taught by example to treat others according to their true nature as human beings; this explains Scout's innocence in regarding race, age, gender, and other face-value characteristics as unimportant while she interacts with others in her community.
The difficulty posed from the two perspectives coinciding on a regular basis served as the motivation of her external and internal conflicts. As far as a physically-seen example, her tussle with her Francis was provoked by his disrespect of Atticus's choice to defend a black man in court (which was a feat that Scout originally had no problem with). Whenever the two opposing viewpoints meet at the same time, Scout plunges into uneasiness: she struggled to keep her fists out of Cecil Jacob's face when he brought up the term “nigger-lover” since Atticus told her not to mind ignorant insults, and she was confused as to why she couldn’t be a “ray of sunshine in pants just as well” as in a dress when her Aunt Alexandra posed her definition of a lady (81).
To wrap things up a bit... the Confederate-state, post-Reconstruction and pre-Civil Rights time period, small-town setting evidently affects the status quo enforced in Maycomb county. It affects the avid presence of discrimination and, with a family that stands against it, two opposing forces fight their way into the developing moral values of the young protagonist Scout. Her journey to become a good person and overcome the determinants of her society helps move the plot forward by affecting her interactions with others and adding depth to actions taken by each character.
Whew, that was a lot to say.. Did that make sense? :P
Abby (:
ReplyDeleteWhat you just said made perfect sense on how you felt towards what you are reading. Mostly everything you said is something I would agree upon such as the typical female image, status quo of social class and etc.
Scout is very strong and intelligent for her age and she continously faces battles throughout her days with fellow neighbors and the rude comments she has to take in about her father being a "nigger-lover". She also has to take the judgements of her Aunt who believes since she is a girl she has to better start acting like one. This book really pertains to how life used to be back then. I respect how Atticus chooses to raise his family standards by not focusing on the color of skin but treats everyone all equally. Scout is still learning because how young she is and I wonder if everything she is facing now will get to her as she grows up, because as i'm reading she is still learning and doesn't understand much.