to kill a mocking bird

A detailed Summary of to kill a mocking bird

Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, focuses on the maturation of a brother and sister in the "tired old town (Lee 3)" of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930?s. Maycomb, a classic southern town full of gossip, tradition and burdened with a legacy of racism, seems a strange place to stage a drama which encourages equal treatment and non-prejudice. However, the narrator fresh outlook on the sleepy town furnishes the reader with a multitude of viewpoints on civil rights. The traditional Southern racism of Maycomb is looked at through the eyes of our young narrator, Scout Finch. Scout innocent perspective compels her to ask questions about why whites treat blacks the way they do. These questions are crucial in Scouts search for her own identity. Scout must come to terms with the racism of her town and how it affects the people in her life. She must find her own position and what role she will play in the whole racial game. A number of people greatly influence Scout. The two major role models in her life, her Aunt Alexandria and her father Atticus, pull Scout in two opposing directions. Through their dealings with Calpurnia, the Finch's black housekeeper, both the reader and Scout are able to distinguish what path each individua

Harper Lee uses the small town of Maycomb, Alabama as a forum for different views on civil rights. On a smaller scale, Lee uses the relationship between Scout, her aunt, her father, and her housekeeper, to show how racism affects everything. The question of civil rights plays out not only through the trial of Tom Robinson, but also through the everyday interaction between the Finch family and their housekeeper Calpurnia. In the process of growing up Scout must chose where she fits into the whole racial scheme, and her relationship with her housekeeper plays a crucial part in deciding this. Atticus and Aunt Alexander show her two different ways of acting and Scout follows the one that she considers right. Scout follows the role of her father and this shows through her actions near the end of the novel. Scout sits in the colored balcony and bursts out in tears when Aunt Alexandra says she cant be friends with Walter Cunningham, a schoolmate of Scout's, because the Cunningham?s are not our kind of folks (Lee 224). Lee begins the story with the innocent perspective of Scout and ends the story with a Scout that has changed greatly, but a Scout who still retains her non-prejudiced thoughts.

Atticus directly counters Alexandra's wish to get rid of Cal, showing the high value he puts on Calpurnia. Atticus even goes as far as to say he regards Cal as a "faithful member of the family (Lee 157)," which goes against all that Alexandra has tried to teach Scout. Atticus does not openly tell Scout to follow his lead and reject the racism of Aunt Alexandra, but Scout sees all t

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Approximate Word count = 1060
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels