1.4 essay

Harper Lee published To Kill A Mockingbird in 1960 a time in which segregation and institutional racism were being questioned and the civil rights movements was trying to change the status quo. But the book is set in the 1930s, which despite being only 30 years prior was a very different world. So the messages of To Kill A Mockingbird were all the more potent and important for the time, but these messages and themes were only conveyed so effectively because of the skilled writing that Harper Lee frames the plot with. In this essay, we will analyze how Harper Lee used the settings of different scenes of the novel to accentuate the key themes of prejudice that make to Kill A Mocking Bird such a compelling read.

To Kill A Mockingbird is set in the deep south, more specifically in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a stereotypical representation of the deep south in the 1930s similar to Lees home town of Monroeville just smaller and more isolated from the wider world. Maycomb prides its self on being strongly self-dependent but relies on a cotton-based economy and cotton farms in the south relied heavily on slave labor, which means that Maycomb had a strong connection to slave labor and racism. There would be a lot more resentment toward the black community and progressive members of the white community like Mr. Dolphus. Scout describes the town as “old, tired and suffocating,” this comment is describing the actual infrastructure of the town but Lee uses this quote to reflect the sentiments of the residents. They aren’t open to progressiveness or adaption, at least most of them aren’t. Near the end of the book, it is discovered that some people supported Atticus’s decision to defend Tom Robinson, but this group is the silent minority of the town who are ready for change but scared to act up. This is important because To Kill A Mockingbird was published in 1960, right in the middle of the civil rights movement. Harper Lee is making a commentary on the people who support the civil rights movement but are unwilling to act.

The Finch family ranch is a perfect example of the classist divide in Maycomb. The ranch is set just outside Maycomb and is a cotton farm, this means that it requires a large labor force and yet brings in enough revenue for the flinch family and especially Aunt Alexander to live comfortably in relative wealth, but the farm has a massive divide between the Finches and the workers. This is shown in how Calpurnia; who originally came from the ranch, works and treats the family. Although she is clearly loved by the children and Atticus the socio-economic divide is apparent. These examples of the class divide are all throughout the text. Lee grew up in Monroeville Alabama and was very aware of the class divide as her family was an upper-middle-class family in a well-respected part of town, but Lee could see that outside of her neighborhood poverty was rampant and there were many families similar to the Cunninghams. The simple quote ” their Cunninghams, ms.” Says so much with very few words. The Cunninghams and their plight is so unanimously known by the townspeople that this is all that needs to be said for people to understand.

The third theme of prejudice that Lee weaves into To Kill A Mockingbird is sexism and the perceived place of women in the world. She does this most clearly by using the character of Aunt Alexander and how Aunt Alexander changes Scout’s perception of the home. At the start of the text, the house which the family lives in is hardly talked about, as Scout and Jem spend most of their time exploring outside, but once Aunt Alexander arrives she attempts to change Scout from the child she is to a “proper woman”. The quote “it would be good for you to have some feminine influence,” is the antitheses of what Aunt Alexander’s role is. She starts to mold her straight away, this means Scout spends more time inside and the house starts to transform into her world. Aunt Alexander changes the house in order to mold Scout into her perceived societal role. This is important because as a woman author Harper Lee experienced a lot of doubt in her proficiency at writing because she was a woman. The 1960s was an era of freedom compared to the decades before for women but Lee was still not treated with the same respect as her male coworkers. So with Scout, she is showing that some women are not meant to be put into the traditional housewife role and should pursue other paths in life.

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird was one of the most decisive and important texts of the 60s, because of its striking presentation of the themes of discrimination. The three main aspects of discrimination are thoroughly covered with great symbolism and the settings in the book are one way that Harper Lee created this symbolism by connecting settings with correlating ideas. This is only one of the ways that Harper Lee accentuates her themes. Because of the potency of these themes, the book was received as a brilliant liberal view of the problems of America and a lot of people were able to gain an insight into the lives of the people they are not.