Many characters in To Kill A Mockingbird are isolated from mainstream :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

Many characters in To Kill A Mockingbird are isolated from mainstream society. Discuss the ways in which Atticus Finch and one other character are set apart from the society of Maycomb To Kill A Mockingbird was set in the 1930s in the south of USA, Alabama. At that period, slavery had already been made illegal. But people in the south were a bitter about it because they still believed that they needed the slaves to maintain their cotton farms. They didn't treat the blacks as though they had the same social status as them and basically still treated them as though they were still slaves. This unfair prejudice was widespread throughout the south. "Maycomb", didn't actually exist but was meant to be the embodiment of a typical town in the south at that time. In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, she has created characters who seem a little different and thus, isolated from the rest of Maycomb's mainstream society. Prime examples of this isolation are Atticus and the Ewells; particularly Bob Ewell. Probably one of the most important and obvious point to Atticus Finch's isolation is his lack of prejudice towards black people. Although this might not be seen as something unusual at the present day, it was at that time. More obviously so because the story was set in the south where prejudice against the blacks was something that was taken for granted. The people in Maycomb knew that prejudice was wrong and yet, they didn't think that prejudice against the blacks was wrong. They saw it as a separate matter. An example of this would be the teacher telling the children that "Over here we don't believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced." The irony in it is that the reader knows that the majority of Maycomb are prejudiced against the blacks and to say that Hitler was wrong in being prejudiced was hypocritical. Atticus though, wasn't prejudiced and this was what made him different. He lets Calpurnia, a black woman, take care and act as a mother to his children. This though is not really seen by the people of Maycomb. To the people of Maycomb, Calpurnia is merely a housekeeper; but she's actually much more than that. As he told Aunt Alexandra when Aunt Alexandra wanted to dismiss her, "She tried to bring them up according to her lights, and Cal's lights are pretty good." Unlike others, he appreciates what Calpurnia did for him. "We couldn't operate a single day without Cal, have you ever thought of that? You think how much Cal does for you?" He says this to Scout when she wanted Atticus to Many characters in To Kill A Mockingbird are isolated from mainstream :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays Many characters in To Kill A Mockingbird are isolated from mainstream society. Discuss the ways in which Atticus Finch and one other character are set apart from the society of Maycomb To Kill A Mockingbird was set in the 1930s in the south of USA, Alabama. At that period, slavery had already been made illegal. But people in the south were a bitter about it because they still believed that they needed the slaves to maintain their cotton farms. They didn't treat the blacks as though they had the same social status as them and basically still treated them as though they were still slaves. This unfair prejudice was widespread throughout the south. "Maycomb", didn't actually exist but was meant to be the embodiment of a typical town in the south at that time. In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, she has created characters who seem a little different and thus, isolated from the rest of Maycomb's mainstream society. Prime examples of this isolation are Atticus and the Ewells; particularly Bob Ewell. Probably one of the most important and obvious point to Atticus Finch's isolation is his lack of prejudice towards black people. Although this might not be seen as something unusual at the present day, it was at that time. More obviously so because the story was set in the south where prejudice against the blacks was something that was taken for granted. The people in Maycomb knew that prejudice was wrong and yet, they didn't think that prejudice against the blacks was wrong. They saw it as a separate matter. An example of this would be the teacher telling the children that "Over here we don't believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced." The irony in it is that the reader knows that the majority of Maycomb are prejudiced against the blacks and to say that Hitler was wrong in being prejudiced was hypocritical. Atticus though, wasn't prejudiced and this was what made him different. He lets Calpurnia, a black woman, take care and act as a mother to his children. This though is not really seen by the people of Maycomb. To the people of Maycomb, Calpurnia is merely a housekeeper; but she's actually much more than that. As he told Aunt Alexandra when Aunt Alexandra wanted to dismiss her, "She tried to bring them up according to her lights, and Cal's lights are pretty good." Unlike others, he appreciates what Calpurnia did for him. "We couldn't operate a single day without Cal, have you ever thought of that? You think how much Cal does for you?" He says this to Scout when she wanted Atticus to