Posted Wednesday, 18 September 2013 // by Nabad
GROWING UP
The story begins with a portrayal of the children’s naivety; their belief in Arthur “Boo” Radley’s monstrous characteristics, their inability to see evil in others – a purely innocent depiction, with the children showing no sense or idea of the faults in their society. As the story develops and the children confront evil and injustice, they are forced to incorporate these confrontations into their understanding of the world. The three main factors that aid the maturing of the young children are Boo Radley, Tom Robinson’s trial, and the moral education which they receive from their father. Tom Robinson’s trial plays a vital role in the children’s lives, as the idea of social inequality is brought to their attention. They are baffled by the thought that Tom could possibly be convicted, as all arguments prove him innocent, and the children learn the dangers of their racist society and no longer see the world as the harmless place it once was, learning that humanity has a great capacity for evil and that prejudice has overtook the minds of the public. The children’s changing attitude towards Boo Radley is an important representation of their growth throughout the story. At the beginning of the book, Boo is just a childhood superstition but as the story progresses and Boo favours the children on various occasions, they have a more adult perspective on him – learning that he is a good man ruined by a cruel father, and near the end of the book he becomes completely human to Jem and Scout. Their father’s moral education plays a huge role in the maturing of the children. As the book advances, we see Jem and Scout incorporating lessons Atticus has taught them into their lives. We see them opening up to Boo Radley and Tom Robinson by putting themselves into their shoes, which corresponds to Atticus’ teaching, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” At the end of the book, Scout explains to her father that to accuse Boo Radley of murdering Bob Ewell would be like killing a mockingbird, which shows how her understanding of her father’s principles has developed through the story and how these principles have aided in her maturing.
INEQUALITY
Ideas of social and racial inequality are explored deeply in the book. Families similar to Atticus’ lay at the top of the social ladder –regardless of that, Atticus is ready to jeopardise this in order to defend a black man. Following in the social hierarchy of Maycomb County are most of the townspeople, then people like the Cunninghams, follow by white trash Bob Ewell. And, lying at the bottom of the ladder, despite many admirable qualities, lay the blacks. Ideas of social and racial inequality appear frequently in the book, clearly represented in the conviction of Tom Robinson, the stigma around Atticus defending a black man and Dolphus Raymond marrying a black woman and giving birth to mixed children. The social hierarchy of Maycomb seems to be an important aspect of all the townspeople’s lives, even when it seems to be interference to their morality. The residents of Maycomb despise people of lower social status than them, or people of the same social status who interact with such people. Social inequality is one of the main reasons for Tom Robinson’s death – Bob Ewell felt that if he disgraced a Negro, in some way, he would be comforted about the fact that he is flippin’ white trash.
Jem and Scout spend a large amount of time trying to decipher the ins and outs of Maycomb’s social structure – Scout believes people are people, although both she and her brother have a quite clear understanding of the social hierarchy of their town. This is displayed by the part of the book when Scout explain the Cunningham child’s refusal to accept a loaned lunch, and Jem’s quote, “The thing about it is, our kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells and the Ewells hate and despise the coloured people.” Although able to understand how people fall on the social ladder, the children cannot seem to understand why. Scout is extremely distressed at the fact that Aunt Alexandra won’t let her be seen with a Cunningham, and obviously, the two children are crushed by the issue of inequality circling the death of Tom Robinson. These realisations of society’s inequalities by Jem and Scout can be related to the theme previously discussed, growing up.
Labels: To Kill a Mockingbird