Both women and children are granted no voice, no bodily integrity. If they are lucky like Claudia and Frieda Macteer, they will learn resistance strategies from their parents. But, if they are unlucky like Pecola Breedlove, they will learn various kinds of disempowered response. The novel also shows not only the suffrage of racial oppression, but also the tyranny and violation brought upon them by the men in their lives. The theme of male oppression over the women in the novel reaches its brutal climax during Pecola's father rape for her.
She is eleven years old black girl who is trying to conquer her self-hatred. Every day she faces racism, not just from white people but also from her own race. Pecola believes that her ugliness bring her miserable "long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness. The ugliness that made her ignore or despised at school by teachers and classmates alike" (The Bluest Eye p.45). Pecola is very lonely and a shunned girl and the most important reason for her desire for blue eyes is that she wants to treated differently from her family.
She constructed the character of the old woman using words tailored to make us dislike her. Her antagonistic actions toward Jem and Scout cemented our idea that Ms. Dubose was a “bad guy” in the scheme of this story. Atticus, however, shows us that she is actually very brave. Atticus said, “I wanted you to see what real courage is… It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what… She was the bravest person I ever knew”(149). She had the strength to fight her addiction despite having the knowledge that she would die and without the pain medication she had become addicted to it would be a painful way to go.
The narrator is also very protective of her mother, which can be read as an sign of affection. When other people appear to have bad thoughts about her mother, she becomes protective. “My mother is now diseased, according to the girl’s eyes, and until the moment her mother takes her and the form to the front of the auditorium, the girl never stops looking at my mother. I stare back at her.” (Jones, 30) Even though she knows staring is rude and should not be done, she is willing to break these rules of politeness to protect her mother. The narrator also values her mother’s presence quite a lot.
In the book, he is assigned to defend a black man in court who is accused of raping a white woman. When Atticus’s daughter, Scout, talks about what happened at school, she says that “...the school buzzed with talk about him [Atticus] defending Tom Robinson, none of which was complimentary” (Lee 92). The racist people of Maycomb, Alabama were all annoyed and horrified at Atticus for taking the case. Many people at the time believed that all black men were criminals. The townspeople did not feel like Atticus should be defending a negro.
Dubose. Mrs. Dubose was an elderly woman who lived on the same street as Scout, Jem, and Atticus. She constantly reprimanded and complained about Scout and Jem’s behavior and Atticus, so Scout and Jem disliked her. However, Atticus constantly reminded them to be nice to her; she had a lot more happening than she let on. He told Jem, “‘She’s an old lady and she’s ill. You just hold your head high and be a gentleman’” (Lee.100).
Though the residents of Maycomb, Alabama were quick to judge their African American counterparts, Scout’s father, Atticus, knew better than to agree with them. Although Scout was curious about the truth behind her classmates harsh words, she quickly disregarded their meaning after digesting her father’s advice and began to form her own mature beliefs and thoughts about race at an unusually young age. For instance, in To Kill a Mockingbird, “‘...My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an’ that n****r oughta hang from the water tank!’ I drew a bead on him ,
In this section I will however only address the centrality of racism and white supremacy as theme of CRT in the context of the book. Racism Charles Lawrence asserts that American racism is prevalent and is unconscious .After Mr Radley fired his gun, the neighbors assumed that “Mr Radley shot a Negro in his collard patch.” They made this conclusion without solid proof that it was indeed a black man. Racial prejudice runs so deep that even the children have come accustomed to it. Scout was teased by her classmate and cousin Francis because Atticus was defending a black man. Although Calpurnia has been useful to the Finch family, Aunt Alexandra refuses Scout to visit Calpurnia and incites Atticus to fire her because she is black.
"I don 't shout or jump about, Or have to talk real loud when you see me passing, it ought to make you proud"(48-51). With this quote, you are able to picture calm women that do not want to attract attention, but people still look and wonder what she is about. Williamson stated, "Angelou was raped by a friend of her mother." When thinking of someone being raped you would naturally think of someone that keeps to them self. Being raped would make anyone lose all confidence in them self and definitely not make them feel beautiful.
Knowing how her mother really thought of her gave Penny the impression that her teammates had a similar opinion, which made cheering more miserable. Concerned for her daughter’s lack of social ability and constant isolation, Penny’s mother states “I don’t think you really appreciate the good in your life. You are always unhappy” (Wilson 166). Wilson uses this situation to show that Penny gains a spiritual awakening by confronting her mother and accepts herself. Penny argues with her mother, “I don’t like what you think is good.