Ewells down at the damp and the Negroes". Jem chapter 23

What do we learn about the Maycomb society in "To Kill A Mocking Bird"?

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'To Kill a Mockingbird' is set out in Maycomb, a town Harper Lee has narrated the story from Scout's standpoint. However she incessantly replaces her approach in order to give a more adult opinion about the events and experiences that happen in the book. She has interconnected Maycomb with her home town Monroeville, Alabama and Scout being herself. Harper Lee has used colloquial language to add a twist of central realism and true characterization in the novel. Harper Lee hasreportedly has also used a sharp tongue, swears liberally and has taken a keen sense of humour.

"Maycomb was an old town but it was a tired old town when I first knew it..." As Scout has said Maycomb was an old town. It inter connects the negative things that we can find in the novel made Maycomb. Maycomb with old beliefs, old customs and old racist views about everyone, even themselves, had developed racis

An important relevance that has to be raised when we are evaluating racism against the black community is the Ku Klux Klang group. This was a community of white people who opposed the advancement of black people. Formed as a social club by a group of confederate army veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee, 1865 turned out to be very violent. The KKK was also extremely hostile to those whites who showed sympathy for blacks. White teachers in black schools were extremely vulnerable. Although the book does not report any incidence of teachers getting lynched but a link that conjoins an event in the book with a KKK like mob was when the Cunninghams with other people gathered up at the county jail the night when Atticus was keeping a watch alone on Tom Robinson. The Cunninghams threatened Attius, told him to stand aside and let them take Tom, 'You know what we want ..... get aside from the door, Mr. finch', the quote interconnects the KKK methods with the very hostile situation Atticus was that night.

Racism was an open and obvious issue in Maycomb society; overall the white community hated Negroes, because they were not able to accept the cultural and traditional background the Negroes hailed from. The white community judged the black community by the skin color, not by the content of their character. 'They did manage to go to schools; the standard of education was very limited, and above all they were treated with contempt by most of their white neighbors, frequently being referred as 'niggers' and 'trash', the quote here supports the fact that whites were racist against the blacks and concludes the "Jim Crow" law in alternate ways, because the quote says that black children did not get enough facilities in the schools compared to white children, there was low level educational advancement in the black schools. This is what happened; black community did not possess freedom due to the unfair policies.

Atticus has represented Guns as false strength. According to him, guns do not prove manhood or bravery. Manhood and bravery come from a man's ability to preserve and fight using his wits, his heart, and his character. The message is explained through tom Robinson's case, 'If I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent my county as a legistrate, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again' (atticusPg.83), The present quote clearly represent that Atticus knew that he would lose the case but he still tried in order to protect an innocent negro who is not the convicted but a victim of racial discrimination between Blacks and whites.

The book is set in the 1930's but was originally written in the 1950's. Referring to the main context of the book, there is certain real-life relevance that refers to the events that happen in the book, for example, in 1930's share cropping began in order to reconstruct the society after the civil war between the north and south. Tom Robinson is an example of a share cropping black. Other important relevances include facts like slavery, segregation, civil rights movement.

The society is prejudiced. One of the terms is of equal opportunities for both sexes. Women do not have equal rights as men; they have to dress up according to the society's acceptance otherwise they will be commented about. 'Well, you won't get very far until you start wearing dresses more often' (Aunt Alexandra to Scout, ch.24), the quote here from Aunt Alexandra indubitably represent that the concept of the dressing had been on in her times too.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Scout Jem, Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, Cunninghams Ewells, Moving Atticus's, Negroes Racism, Miss Caroline, Ewells Cunninghams, Raymond Scout, Jim Crow, black community, white community, scout jem, harper lee, black people, maycomb society, colored woman, jem scout, tom robinson, marry colored woman, maycomb town, institutional racism active, attacked bob ewell, plays key role, woods ewells damp,
Approximate Word count = 2852
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)