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Conformity In To Kill A Mockingbird

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The quote by Martin Luther King Jr “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he made stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”. This quote means that a man’s personality/character is shaped and determined by the way he reacts and responds to the difficulties and hardships that he face’s. The way in which this quote by Martin Luther King” relates to the novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird” is the way Atticus feels when he defends Tom Robinson. From the outside he looks all confident and professional but from the inside he is very nervous and scared. Even though Tom Robinson is a black man it makes it difficult for Atticus because they were in the era of the Great Depression where there …show more content…

There are many occasion big and small in which Harper Lee is enlightening about Scout. Two large themes that play a big role and that are related to conformity. Scout is shown to conform through learning how to be a lady and act lady-like. “Aunt Alexandra looked across the room at me and smiled. She looked at a tray of cookies on the table and nodded at them. I carefully picked up the tray and watched myself walk to Mrs. Merriweather. With my best company manners, I asked her if she would have some. After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I.” This quote explains how Aunt Alexandra is telling Scout to copy what she does in order to look more lady-like and so that she can conform in to the society. Prejudice is another kind of conformity that is shown in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Tom Robinson was killed not because he didn’t conform into his own race or society but because he paid the price of another person that didn’t conform which was Mayella Ewell. Atticus was intimidated for defending Tom Robinson because he was a black man which wasn’t accepted to do in the white community. When Calpurnia took the children to the first purchase church she wasn’t conforming because of the fact she didn’t follow the way of coloured society. “Let's go home, Cal, they don't want us here". This quotes states the controversy between the coloured and white. The coloured believe that the white don’t conform into their society so jem tells Calpurnia to take them back home because they do not fit in with the African American Community. Both the quotes juxtapose to each other through the theme of Conformity, they portray the figure of fitting into each other’s society/race. They way in which conformity and racism relate to Martin Luther King’s quote is how there is controversy between the coloured and white. Conformity relates to the quote because of the difficulties

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