Lee uses rape as a shocking way to bring racism to the surface, because sexual relations between a white woman and black man were even more volatile than just about any other kind of racial contact. The whites could never accept this, which is why it would be impossible for them to acquit Tom Robinson at his trial. One critic sums up this mentality quite nicely. She writes, "Atticus Finch chided his son, Jem, for wondering why the jury did not give Tom Robinson a prison sentence rather than the death sentence by saying, '[He's] a colored man, Jem. No jury in this part of the world's going to say, "We think you're guilty, but not very" on a charge like that'" (Dorr 711). Lee shows the racial tensions of the South, and how tensions existed there that did not exist in other areas of the country.
She manages to make the southerners in the novel seem foreign and familiar at the same time, while portraying a way of life that many Americans had never seen or understood before. She does not make many of the southerners sympathetic, but she does make the Finch's and the blacks sympathetic, which adds to the impact of her novel. She crafts well rounded characters that demand respect and sympathy, which helps make the theme of racism all the more difficult to understand.
However, not all critics agree with the methods Ms. Lee used in her novel. One critic believes that the novel had less credibility because the author was white, and was attempting, not too subtlety, to gain sympathy for Black with her portrayal of stereotypical racist behaviors (Klein 2). In addition, other critics note that even many Blacks are not happy with the portrayals in Lee's novel. Another critic notes, "Although all the black characters are sympathetic and the novel exposes racism as abhorrent and white racists as ludicrous and hypocritical, to Kill a Mockingbird, like the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has frequently been challenged by African-American parents chiefly because it contains racial slurs" (Johnson 200). Yet another critic notes, "To be sure, the novel's earnest liberalism, so lavishly admired at the time, would come in for some vicious criticism by the end of the decade,...
Aunt Alexandra does not say "please" or "thank you," just a simple command forcing Cal into subservience. Cal has symbolized strength and authority throughout Scout's childhood, by acting as a mother figure in the Finch household. Scout has never seen Cal in such a low and submissive position Equality is not approved, segregation is traditional, and hate is accepted. Maycomb citizens believe that Tom Robinson is not, and should not be
Robinson being black and the alleged victim of the rape being a white woman. Finch then states that "I have nothing but pity... For the chief witness whose evidence has been called into serious question... The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is" (Lee, 1988, 231). What Finch is attempting to say is that the true guilt lies on the white woman who has accused Mr.
Kill Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that discusses race relations and the justice system in American culture. Atticus is a lawyer who defends a black man on trial for raping a white woman. As a result, the community is against Atticus and his family. Symbolism is one way that author Harper Lee discusses the sensitive issues in the novel, which was published first in 1960. At that
Atticus Finch's identity prevents Scout from thinking that all is lost in society because of the fact that everyone is inclined to commit immoralities. Atticus is the bona fide American individual who is unwilling to join the masses in discriminating black people and even goes as far as risking his position in society with the purpose of demonstrating Tom Robinson's innocence. From watching her father's determination, Scout learns that one
kill a Mocking Bird's Aticus Finch Defined as one of the best novel of the 20th Century, and selling more than "30 million copies around the world" having it's translation in more than 40 languages (Flood), the book "To Kill a Mocking Bird" has been considered as a true reflction of the American society in 1936. The story revolves around the story of the racial differences that exist in the
By allowing his children to address him by hist first name, Atticus is dismantling one of the many traditions that serve to reinforce and perpetuate traditions that ultimately only serve to delegitimize the experience and perspective of certain people. This forces the viewer to take Scout's recollections and narration more seriously, because although they are the memories of a relatively young child, the viewer cannot help but treat them
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