2.4 English Essay – Tegan Labes

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Throughout the novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird”, the narrator Scout Finch leads the reader to develop a deeper understanding and connection between her expectation vs the reality of Society. This is strongly portrayed through the Setting (Maycomb) and thanks to scout being raised in this ‘Tired old town’ we get to discover first hand, some real word problems as Scout comes to the realisation that reality isn’t what she had thought. The strong willed seven year old scout, mixed with the Setting of Maycomb helps us understand that settings plays a big role on how young children perceive the ideas surrounding, sexism, classism and racism.

“I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants”. Conformed to gender roles by society. Scout likes to take a practical, rambunctious approach to how she dresses, acts and displays herself, Much to her Aunt Alexandra’s dread. The setting, Is Alabama USA, 1930’s. As you know, sexism was alot more obstinate than it is today, and people had alot to offer when it comes to expressing their opinions surrounding gender roles and norms. Scout often questions and rebels the idea of being a ‘lady’, being a child she questions why she is expected to act and dress a certain way. “Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum”. The setting of maycomb strongly reenforces the typical innocent, reserved and frankly mute nature of women. Aunt Alexandra’s comments regarding scout’s attire and the fact that she gave scout a necklace, demonstrates her attempts to reshape scouts lifestyle. Harper lee’s cleverly set the book through a child eyes to help reader understand the resistance and determination we should, be having against these gender roles. If the book was set through an adults eyes, they would have been more easily influenced by other opinions. Because we see it from scouts perspective, we understand the reason for will power and curiosity.

Scout, a tomboyish girl, is being raised in a small talkative town, she was put into a society where everyone is classist. The setting of Maycomb helps the reader reflect and sympathise. “There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.” This quote shows how Maycomb is affected by the great depression. Maycomb judges and labels people based on the colour of their skin, or how much money they have. The novel is set in 1930’s during the great depression in America. The way people get treated, reflects their reputation including where they live and how much money they have. Maycomb has different ranks, higher class, middle class and lower class. The Cunninghams are a prime example of being treated differently. They are treated with pitty and sympathy such as when Mr Cunningham has to pay Atticus in nuts and wood for his legal services, because he cannot afford to do so in money. You can tell from the way Mr Cunningham approaches Atticus that his is ashamed of how he has to pay off his dept. Harper lee uses Mr Cunningham as an example of how Maycomb has such a negative affect of peoples pride. He is ashamed because he knows that, because he doesn’t want the pitty but he is stuck in this situation of having no money.

“Cry about the simple hell people give other people—without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too.” Through this quote, we can see that racism is very apparent throughout the whole novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The setting of Maycomb reinforces the prejudice that is displayed towards the apparent minute race . The fact that the novel is still banned in some schools, shows that people are a shamed of how we acted and sometimes still act. People were angry when the novel was released because weren’t ready to be confronted by the truth that still is very much occurring daily. “If there was Jem and eleven other boys like him on the jury, Tom would be a free man”. Atticus says this to make Jem understand that it was not the jury that made the conviction of Tom Robinson, but the prejudice they have against people of his race. He says if there were seven other boys like him up there, they would acquit him because he knows Jem can clearly see Tom is innocent. Other boys would evaluate the facts as clearly as jem does, because their minds aren’t influenced by racist ways of thinking. Adult whites in Maycomb on the other hand, are very much invested in upholding the racist social system because it benefits their reputation greatly. The Jury’s reputation in Maycomb would be tainted if they did not sustain racial prejudge.

“I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” This quote from seven year old scout shows that maycomb opens a window to the reader about the realness of society. She doesn’t see anyone as any different to each other. Born a girl, dress and act like a girl. Born black, you are inevitably confined to certain jobs, certain friends and a certain malicious persona. Born poor, you are confined to the reputation of your last name and how much you have in your pocket. This quote from seven year old scout shows that maycomb is so set in race, gender and ranking roles and the fact that Scout has to voice this opinion shows how much of an influence Seeing and discovering all this through a Childs eyes, brings new light to the setting and makes the reader question. The setting of Maycomb, helps the writer reinforce the idea that we have’t come as far as we probably should have as a society.