Narrow Minded and Ridiculous Cultural norms are what make and shape a society. They are the guidelines, and or patterns, that are supposed to be followed, in order to be considered a normal, typical, everyday citizen. As such, it does not matter if the norms are right or wrong. As long as the citizen is still considered part of their society, right and wrong does not matter, as far as they are concerned. In the case of To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the cultural norm, of Maycomb County, embraces the wrong, in the form of extreme prejudice behavior. A behavior, of which, presents itself heavily while either talking, and or mentioning, the topics of religions, racism and classism. Given the time period is set during the …show more content…
While, not having to deal with the Great Depression, the act of harassing non-religious people dates back to when being Christian was still considered to be the only acceptable way to live. A action, of which, was especially taken seriously within the southern area of the United States. And sadly, the ones, in Maycomb, who get harassed the most, are Scout’s neighbors, Miss Maudie Atkinson and the Radleys. According to Miss Maudie, some of the townspeople have the nerve to “[pass] by [her] place and [tell her that her] and [her] flowers [are] going to hell,” as a result of her being a Baptist, instead of a Christian (Lee 59). Religious disagreements, like this, should not allow for someone to threaten another person. In fact, the point of a religion is for a worshipper to be able to express their own personal beliefs, without having to deal with the hatred and judgement from the others, who worship something else. In threatening Miss Maudie, the townspeople also threaten Mr. Nathan Radley and Mr. Arthur Radley. They taunt them for the fact that they “[do] not go to church,” and that, like Miss Maudie, they are “Baptists” (Lee 11-59). Two things, of which, in the townspeople's eyes, needed to be punished for. Thus, one of the main reasons of why Mr. Nathan Radley and Mr. Arthur Radley stay inside of their house half of the time. They do not …show more content…
Considering that the Civil War happened 65 years before the events of this book, people, in the south, were still extremely hostile, towards the African Americans. To best capture this, is the event of Tom Robinson’s case. Tom Robinson was an African American who was accused of “[raping]... Mr. Bob [Ewell’s]” daughter, Mayella Ewell (Lee 223). During his trial, everyone does not even listen to Tom Robinson’s testimony, instead, they listen to Mr. Heck Tate’s, Bob Ewell’s and Mayella Ewell’s. On top of this, the court and jury are biased enough to even overlook evidence that proves Tom’s innocence. According to Mr. Heck Tate, he found Mayella “bunged up on [the right] side of her face,” which would had been his left, while looking at her (Lee 225). The importance of this is, Tom Robinson would had not been able to punch Mayella on the right side of her face. This is because of the fact that he was “crippled… [and] his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right… [and] ended in a small shriveled hand,” thus proving that he would be unable to punch Mayella on the right side of her face, as that required the dominance, and power, of someone who actually had a left hand (Lee 248). Therefore, proving that Tom had no part in harming Mayella. However, it is because of the simple fact that Tom is an African American, that he is charged as being
For black back then, when you have to go to court you are more than likely going to be guilty. Tom Robinson is in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in this small town in Alabama named Maycomb. This is about Tom Robinson getting accused of raping a white girl by the name of Mayeela Ewell. The Ewell family is one of the meanest families in Maycomb, but Mayella still has a higher ranking than Tom. This shows how racist the town of Maycomb is and some families that live there.
Leading up to the Civil Rights Movement, the black community was in a constant battle against law enforcement treating them unfair compared to the white community. The Scottsboro Boys and Emmett Till’s cases were one of the many times that the legal system showed to be unfair to blacks. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, the law enforcement and community were very racist against blacks and believed all blacks were criminals. In the story, Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer gets put into a very difficult situation and decides to defend a black man, who went by the name of Tom Robinson.
The ever present distaste from whites in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, shows the issues that blacks had to deal with constantly. Lee was able to portray this hatred by putting and important character, Tom Robinson a black man, on an unjust trial for the alleged rape of a white woman, Mayella Ewell. This classic story reveals the awful conditions and intense racism during this time in the southern Unites States. Some of the many African Americans affected by southern white racists in court or otherwise include the Scottsboro
Stereotypes in Maycomb rule the town. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, people are expected to be in a certain social standing, and to never cross the stereotypical line. Everyone knows their place, and people socialize within their assigned groups. If the line is ever crossed, there are serious consequences.
““I don’t know, but they did. it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it--seems that only children weep””(Pg.243) This quote portrays the assumption that African Americans are responsible for all mistakes even without rationally reasoning the situation. Although the trial was well fought in the end, there was no justice found for Tom.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.
Breaking Social Norms In To Kill A Mockingbird In To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, Lee depicts the main character Scout Finch as the primary feminist who defies social norms despite several influences in Maycomb County. Scout displays her feminist qualities throughout several occurrences in the novel. She continues to stay true to herself and fights for how she desires to act, while occasionally experimenting with her femininity.
Expectations. A simple set of norms that kids often lack, both academically and socially. In “The Catcher and the Rye”, by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield, is struggling to grow up. Holden doesn’t want to grow up, but rather stay a kid because he doesn’t want responsibility. For the sake that Holden struggles to following social and academic conformity, he experiences a difficult crossroad between his childhood and adulthood.
“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” This is a quote from Atticus Finch, a courageous and wise character from Harper Lee 's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. The story is told through the perspective of a young girl, Jean Louise ¨Scout¨ Finch. She lives with her older brother, Jeremy, and widowed father and prominent lawyer, Atticus, in Maycomb, Alabama during the time of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, the children experience the injustice and prejudice of society through a tough case that their father was appointed to and are taught to respect and tolerate all people, despite their differences.
Tom Robinson is a black man who is wrongfully convicted of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. This novel goes through Scout's life from when she was 6, till she is 9. She lives in the town of Maycomb Alabama, and lives an innocent life until about halfway through the story, where she begins to ask questions. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout shows the readers that racial inequality creates an unjust society through the African American community, through the people surrounding colored folks, and through Tom Robinson’s Case. The first example of the consequences of racial inequality is the African American community in Maycomb.
“Don't trade your authenticity for approval” stated an unknown author. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Scout is a young girl who breaks the social norm of wearing proper clothes such as dresses. In the town called Maycomb, the social norms are for whites to separate from African Americans along with women dressing a certain way and men dressing another. Those social norms don’t just exist in Maycom they are also in the real world. Ellen DeGeneres is a woman in the real world who breaks those social norms.
First, Tom Robinson should have been found not guilty because he was right handed. Mayella the victim, was punched in the face on the night of the crime. On page 235, Mr. Heck Tate stated that Mayella had a black eye on her right eye
Cultural norms are what make and shape a society. They are the guidelines, and or patterns, that are to be followed, in order to be considered a normal, typical, everyday citizen. As such, it does not matter if the norms are right or wrong. As long as the citizen is still a part of their society, right and wrong does not matter, as far as they are concerned. In the case of To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the cultural norm, of Maycomb County, embraces the wrong, in the form of extreme prejudice behavior.
Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.
Boo Radley had been kept in isolation for so long, he didn’t know how to communicate or socialise properly. He has been misunderstood as a malevolent person, when he actually is a benevolent person. He displays this when he put a blanket around Scout, whilst she and Jem watched the fire. As readers, we are shown social prejudice by the assumptions made about the Radley’s. Another example of social prejudice is the