How Does Miss Maudie Use Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

Prejudice and discrimination had a major impact on societies, all around the world in the 1930's. Throughout Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird there is evidence that Maycomb citizens are morally blinded and are callously indifferent due to the social setting of the town. Lee uses the voice of a young girl names Scout Finch, to highlight the racist and judgmental perspectives of the white community towards the black, during the Great Depression in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the innocent girl matures she starts to learn of the reality around her through, race, gender discrimination, and social prejudice. Gender discrimination is a large issue in the plot of the book, especially when it came to people such as Scout. Scout

you want to grow up like a lady, don't you?'" (Lee 105). The statement is ironic because instead of telling Scout that it is inappropriate to use such words, she is told that if she wants to be a "lady" she should not. Which proves that if Jem were saying such words, aunt Alexandra would not react the same way. Another bias conversation in the book, is when Atticus talks about Tom Robinson and the case. Miss Maudie is a good friend of the Finch's and when Atticus is questioned about why she is not on the jury helping the innocent man, Atticus replies with '"For one thing Miss Maudie can't serve on jury because she's a woman.'" (Lee 296). At the time women were not treated the same as men, thus men were considered more dominant and powerful than women. By assessing the way Miss Maudie thought of the case, it is clear that sometimes a woman's perspective maybe more neutral than a man's. Women were not allowed to do any jobs that were mostly male directed and this may have put a different opinion in Scout's mind and may have made her feel more vulnerable, and insecure because she was not allowed to follow in her father's footsteps or do activities that her brother would