This was a part of her campaign to teach… [her] to be a lady” (Lee 229). At the parties Scout wears a dress and sits with the ladies while listening to them gossip (Lee 228, 229-234). The ways Aunt Alexandra tries to eliminate the improper lady in Scout and tries to make her more like a proper Southern lady points to the motivation of Lee to write her novel involving similar events that she may have experienced herself. During this period, women were thought to be very weak and fragile. They suffered from lower paying jobs and people thought they needed to stay at home and not work. This was because people thought that they would be taking away jobs from men and children needed a mother at home full time (Cruz). Southern femininity was very …show more content…
The demonstration of Jim Crow Laws in To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that Lee was influenced to write her novel by real events and laws. Jim Crow Laws stated it would be unlawful for a black person to be in the company of a white person. Black people had different places to sit, eat, learn, and buy things (“Jim”). In the novel, many people went to Tom Robinson’s trial. The black people have to enter through a separate door to go up to the balcony to sit and watch the trial. Scout, Jem and Dill could not find a seat in the bottom of the courtroom. Reverend Sykes, a black man, saw their problem and asked them if they would like to join him upstairs (Lee 163-164). They accepted, and they proceeded to watch the trial in the black balcony. “Reverend Sykes edged his way upstairs. In a few moments he was back. “... [There is] not a seat downstairs. Do… [they] all reckon … [it will] be all right if… [they] all came to the balcony with… [him]?”. “Gosh yes,” said Jem. Happily, … [they] sped ahead of Reverend Sykes to the courtroom floor” (Lee 164). The Jim Crow Laws were not followed here by the children because they did not grow up with racist parents, so they
Harper Lee includes many Jim Crow laws in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Jim Crow laws were racial segregation laws that blacks were expected to follow and respect. A few examples of Jim Crow laws blacks and whites were not suppose to eat together, blacks were not allowed to display public affection toward one another. If a black person was riding in a car driven by a white man he would have to sit in the back of the vehicle (Pilgrim). Harper Lee incorporates many Jim crow laws inside of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Reverend Sykes walks them to the front pew. Lula is mad at Calpurnia for bringing them to a black church. While in church, they pay money to help support Tom Robinson’s wife, Helen. Scout realizes at the church that Atticus is defending Tom. Scout then
There were many ways the Southern states tried to deny equal rights to African Americans. For example, the Jim Crow Laws were created in the 1890s by such southern states as Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina,and Florida, segregating the races in such places such as railroads, restaurants, education, and libraries. An amendment that should have prevented the Jim Crow Laws was the 14th Amendment because it stated “equal protection of the laws” for every citizen. Another example how the South tried to restrict the African Americans was the creation of the Black Codes, which allowed white employers to give African Americans very low wages or to arrest jobless African American; these codes were justly viewed as another form of slavery. The 13th
Ever wondered how the Jim Crow Laws were resisted by the Black Louisianians? During Reconstruction, Black Louisianians had gained the ability to vote and some of them were able to actually hold political office. At the end of Reconstruction, Black Louisianians had gained limited rights and opportunities. During the Jim Crow Laws, Black Louisianians had gained the ability to have separate facilities as long as they were equal. So, Black Louisianians had resisted the Jim Crow Laws by having major movements that caused major controversy but had a major reward.
The concept of sexism is a more obscure and hidden idea in the story. This topic is developed and is typically caused by Aunt Alexandra with her making negative comments about Scout saying things similar to what she says in this quote on pages 92 and 93 “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. 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. Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea-sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year.”
In the book, Jem and Scout try to sneak into the trial against Atticus’s wishes, but end up arriving late. By the time they got there, the only available seats were on the balcony, which was reserved for colored citizens. This can show use of the Jim Crow laws because it conveys the idea that the Black citizens were separate from the rest of the town. In the novel, the children mention that while they were looking for a place to sit, they saw the Black citizens of Maycomb finding their seats, after waiting for the White citizens to find their own. The novel also sneaks in, when the children went up to the colored seats, four Black men automatically stood up and
In To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many references to the Jim Crow laws, which were created to keep inequality towards the races. The Jim Crow laws were considered a safeguard for whites and a way of life for blacks. The people at that time thought that whites were superior to blacks in all-important ways
After hours of waiting, the jury came back in. Scout explains how “A jury never looks at the defendant if it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson… Judge Taylor was polling the jury; ‘ Guilty...Guilty...Guilty’”(211) When Scout and Jem hear the verdict, they are distraught. As they were walking home, “It was Jem’s turn to cry.. ‘It’s not right, Atticus’”(212)
One of the first historical connections to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was The Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws were laws enforcing strict segregation among Blacks and Whites (Pilgrim). The Jim Crow laws included laws such as Blacks were not allowed to show affection toward each other in public, Whites did not use courtesy titles when referring to Blacks, and Whites and Blacks were not to use the same public facilities (Pilgrim).
In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the issue of Southern Womanhood is brought up many times throughout the novel. Lee uses many different characters to help show how she viewed Southern Womanhood. Specifically she uses, Scout, Mayella Ewell, and Scout’s Aunt Alexandra. In "To Kill A Mockingbird", Harper Lee uses specific characters to show how negative of an impact Southern Womanhood used to have. Harper Lee uses Scout in many cases to show how she thought Southern Womanhood used to have a negative impact.
The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written in 1960 by Harper Lee in the point of view of a young innocent girl named Scout. One of the main messages that Lee has (need a new word than – indicated or set out) is racism, it plays an important role which strongly impacts many character’s lives unfairly and changes the relationship between two. Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” shows that it is wrong to hurt someone who does no harm to you, for example, black people are innocent but no way did they have as many rights as white people did. Black people lived hard lives because society was judgemental, irrational and most importantly, racist. As Scout and Jem grow older they learn to cope, take responsibility and are introduced to new aspects of life, one of which is racism.
The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird are the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws were cruel to colored people. “Jim Crow laws were an official effort to keep African Americans separate from Whites in the southern United States for many years” (“Jim Crow Laws”1). The Jim Crow laws were put in place to keep Blacks below Whites. People thought that they needed theses laws because they did not believe that there where equal to them.
Racial Injustices Racism in the 1930’s served as an injustice to blacks that were convicted of crimes. In the time periods of the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and The Scottsboro Boys trial, discrimination in Alabama was atrocious, and racial injustice was seen throughout this time period. The Scottsboro trial shows how discrimination played a large role in Alabama during the 1930’s. This influenced Harper Lee’s to write about the Tom Robinson case. In many ways, the Scottsboro trials were more similar to the Tom Robinson case, but at some points had differences.
“I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, [Alexandra] said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants” (Lee 67). Aunt Alexandra expects Scout to fit into the role of a woman, even at such a young age. Another example of the harsh standards placed on Scout is shown when Alexandra is having tea with her friends in chapter 24. Miss Stephanie says, “well, you won’t get very far until you start wearing dresses more often”
Essay In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County. The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.