Southern Womanhood In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

Scout narrated, “I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with” (45). Basically, Jem is saying that Scout and him are no longer acting the same. Jem is insisting that if Scout asks like a girl, he will not play with her. In my opinion, this is childish of Jem to say. Throughout adolescence, there is a time when boys begin to enjoy different things than girls and vice versa.

They saw them as mistakes and was not afraid to fight to show that blacks were less in their minds. Although, Atticus did disagree he was shamed by others because he was supportive of a black man getting the same rights as a white man. Even Atticus’s family is getting grief from the case, “Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger- lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again” (Lee, 110). It shows how many people stubborn enough to ignore the idea of Atticus supporting a black man that was highly most likely

“Brownies” by ZZ Packer was a story focuses on the racial divide and prejudice between black and white girls in a brownie troop. Within the troop of black girls, Arnetta claims that she overheard a white girl say a racist remark which leads to her troop attempting to expose them; however, the plan failed. In the story, it states, “When you’ve been made to feel bad for so long, you jump at the chance to do it to others” (518). The quote implies that minorities will always hold a grudge towards white people, even though history is in the past. It also reveals why minorities may be disrespectful to them.

Another reason why Scout’s saviour is Atticus is related with her acknowledgement over the superficiality and restrictions of being a Southern female, for example when Mrs. Dubose tells Scout: “You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You 'll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn 't change your ways ...” (page 135; To Kill a Mockingbird). Meaning that if Scout does not ‘woman’ up she will forever be rejected.This quote is one of many illustrations in the novel where our narrator communicates to us Lee 's criticism of Southern women and their ignorance concerning gender roles. Even Atticus the man how abides by no social conventions, ridicules the women 's attitudes. There are multiple examples of this; one were he tells Alexandra that he prefers “Southern womanhood as much as anybody, but not for preserving polite fiction at the expense of human life” (page 196; To Kill a Mockingbird).

In the South of the United States in the 1930´s, the justice system was very unfair towards colored people. Colored people that were sent to court could not receive a fair trial because of the prejudice and racism from the jury. This happened all the time, especially in Maycomb Alabama. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a colored man named Tom Robinson was convicted of assaulting a white woman just because of the color of his skin. Tom Robinson should have been found not guilty for many reasons.

Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a novel that takes place in Southern America, focusing on the discrimination towards black people. My written assignment will be an additional passage after Chapter 26, focusing on Miss Gates, her realizing the problematic part about her opinions, and how she justifies it. The passage takes place in Scott’s class. Thus, it is narrated by Miss Gates herself. From the way she speaks, we can conclude that there is a hypocritical viewpoint present, and she doesn’t see the similarities between what she deems bad and what she does.

Although they are white, their poverty and bad reputation made their social status just a step above the black people. Bob Ewell is alcoholic and abusive, but he still wants to improve his family’s situation as a father. However, the fact that "he was the only man ever heard of who was fired from the WPA for laziness" (Lee 78) proves that he isn 't willing to earn it. But in accusing Tom Robinson, he finds what he believes is a brass ring. From his perspective, the town should think him as a hero for saving Maycomb 's white women from a ‘dangerous’ black man.

Mark Twain expressed through his characters how slaves were thought of as property and not human beings. This is evident at the slave auction and throughout the story as Jim fights to buy his family's freedom. Aunt Sally also drives home the message that blacks are not men when after the steamboat explosion she is told a "nigger" was killed and she replies, "Well, it's lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt!" (Twain 228). Earlier, Twain shows just how racist people are when Pap Finn actually gives up his right to vote because a black man has the right to vote.

and Atticus are examples of courage in To Kill a Mockingbird, demonstrated by their benevolent acts of kindness and equality, and how they didn’t let what the status quo at the time dictate their opinions. In the beginning, Walter Cunningham did conform to racist beliefs of the town and ignored the evidence that proved Tom's innocence, but he realizes he is wrong, and preaches that Tom be acquitted while he sits on the jury. Atticus is one of the people to sway Walter Cunningham to believe in equality. Atticus convinces him, and other people, to believe in the evidence that all proved Tom's innocence, and through him and Walter a small racist town begins to change little by little. The movement of equality has been going on since before the civil war in the 1860s, today, people would like to say we are equal, but with court cases like Trayvon Martin attracting so much controversy, it shows that society still has a long way to

They also portray historically accurate information with a bit of creepiness to the tale. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, she precisely recounts the 1930s south with a story of a young girl finding the truth about life and society. Other sources such as poems in the Southern Gothic genre also convey relatable stories that demonstrate the traditional southern culture. Violence in the 1930s were horrific especially towards blacks. Imprisonment was both figurative and literal not only in the South but everywhere.

The “jezebel” was a term that implied a black female slave was a primitive creature with uncontrollable sex urges which caused innocent white slave owners to lose self-control. The blame for the rapes of these women was transferred from the white slave owner to these black females’ slaves to satisfy their “insatiable lust”. The “mammy” was a stereotype label given to nonsexual, therefore a non-threatening, and an undesirable black female slave who cheerfully freed white women from their daily toil. CRT theorists show how these examples elevated white women as virtuous and desirable. At the same time it devalued black women as promiscuous and undesirable.

An ironic character is the black woman, who Julian and his mother encounter on the bus. The scene where black woman’s “fist swung out with the red pocketbook “was an unanticipated scene. Because she experiences discrimination and prejudice first hand she would know the pain and hurt it causes. From these instances you’d think she’d be the last person to puts her prejudice and misunderstanding upon somebody else but she isn’t. As Julian’s mother is playing with the black women’s son Carter, she reprimands her son for playing with the white woman.

Mr. Gilmer would have said it’s the jury duty to convict Tom Robinson for what he has done. That Mayella will never know peace until Tom is hung for his crimes. That with Tom running free no women would be safe. He would want to play up the stereotypes of savage black man that can’t be trusted with white women, because that would hit home with the men on the jury. This tact Mr. Glimer hopes to distract them from the lack of facts.

The children see how harshly Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor, treats a black man like Tom Robinson. The children become aware of the cruelty of racism when an innocent black man is found guilty of assaulting a white woman. Broken and in shock, Jem, Scout, and Dill try to forget the incident because they are unhappy with the result of the trial. The children try to let time pass and move on but are unable to forget some of the immoral reasons behind it, which is the racial discrimination against the blacks and the unjustifiable prosecution of a guiltless

The truth is that Mayella kissed Tom and Bob saw what she did. After Tom ran away, Bob was the one that beat up Mayella, and then called, Sheriff Heck Tate and blamed Tom for what he did to Mayella. Even though everything points to Bob being the one to hurt Mayella, the jury still convicts Tom guilty to the charges because the jury could not look past that he was African American. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the three characters that show prejudice behaviors are Aunt Alexandra, Mrs. Grace Merriweather, and Bob Ewell. One character that is prejudice is Aunt