Life in Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee grew up in Alabama in a time when racism was rampant and the people were merely sustaining an adequate life due to the Great Depression. The story is set in the rural town of Maycomb, which is a place where, “there was no hurry, for there was no place to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with...” Maycomb is a slow paced, hot, poverty-stricken Alabaman town with outdated infrastructures where people had old-fashioned values and traditional views. These factors then spread an outbreak of fear, which dramatically steers the course of the novel. People in Maycomb generally stick to their daily routines and stay away from anyone who seems suspicious or out of place. Because of this ideology, Boo Radley a mysterious, seemingly sinister figure that never comes out of hiding becomes the subject of the town’s never-ending streams of gossip, accusations and fallacies.

It also suggests an unwillingness and lack of desire to change this fact. ‘Tired' also indicates that the town is very boring and new concepts are not welcome. There is also the repetition of the word ‘old' which gives the impression of a dirty decaying town. This emphasises how old fashioned and backward the town is. The paragraph also describes how the town is not looked after by anyone.

It is the center of the tradition because no matter how old and worn it gets, the villagers refuse to change it due to the tradition that it holds. The box has changed many of the villagers’s view of the lottery but no one can really remember how or why the tradition of the lottery began except to... ... middle of paper ... ...in the story, the reasons for holding the lottery are long forgotten and the rituals connected to it. Other than the making of participant lists, the use of the old black box and the swearing in, have mostly fallen by the waste side. All that really remains is a rigid adherence to the ancient tradition of the town. The black box became the ultimate symbol of death, as it is the messenger that delivers the unfortunate winner’s prize, which is death.

Scout and Jem Finch are introduced to the novel as well as the small town of Maycomb. “There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.”(5) In this introduction of Maycomb Scout expresses the slowness, the old southern values, and the lack of money during the Great Depression. In this small sleepy town Boo Radley is an excellent example of a mockingbird. Boo is a character which rumors constantly circulate around and who is actually feared without being known or even seen.

In short, the social order, much like the town itself, is in shambles, with little or no social solidarity. Gummo is meant to be entirely symbolic in one way or another. One of the more notable symbolisms is that of cats and their murder. The function of their deaths is rather straightforward: in a town such as this, there appears to be very little to do. In fact one thing that is never seen in Gummo is the playing of any kind of sport or recreational activity.

He isolated her in his home which was the eyesore among the town, “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street (Faulkner 308). By the description of the home, Emily was raised by a once wealthy man following the Civil War. During the time of the towns remodeling, only Emily’s house was left untouched, and was unfavorable to the townspeople. The refusal to update or clean up her home symbolizes the unwillingness of Emily to move onto bigger and better things; but her stubbornness does not end there... ... middle of paper ... ...lack of effort from the community, they allow Emily to believe she is superior, but also encourages her to continue living in her past. Emily is never forced to let go and move on by her fellow townspeople.

Family, racism, hypocrisy, poverty and hatred are just some of many. The novel is set in the sleepy town of Maycomb, which, although a fictional town, is based on Monroeville, Alabama and is a perfect microcosm of the ways and culture of people during the 1930’s Depression. Maycomb was not on any major routes. It was “an island in a patchwork sea of cotton fields and timberland” Harper Lee describes Maycomb as a “Tired old town”. The often-humid climate made summers almost unbearable, and the seasons couldn’t clearly be distinguished.

People generally considered the Middle Ages as very dark era, where nothing happened except for plague, famine, and the well-known black death. People considered this period as stagnation that they believe there was no growth in the socioeconomic prospective. For example, they believe there were no development of new technology and no expansion of towns and city. ... ... middle of paper ... ...ugh many people considered the Middle Ages as an era where nothing happened, my paper conveys that point that lots of territorial, demographical, cultural, economic, and scientific developments took place in the Middle Age. I hope that people could abandon their stereotype of the Middle Ages and could come to learn this colorful time period.

In the exposition of the novel, Jean Louise,(preferred to be called Scout) introduce Maycomb as a town where “nothing exciting happens”, although, throughout the novel we see many interesting situations which have directly impacted society and their views. Scout presents this town by describing it as “There was no hurry, for there was no where to go, nothing to buy, and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County”(Lee 6). By displaying that Maycomb poor town helps develop the plot because it creates a serious atmosphere with many rules which makes it difficult society to deal with a change that will affect them. Harper Lee enforces this to be able to understand the character’s emotions by creating an intense setting. Social Status is an important factor of where you stand in terms of class.

This type of suicide occurs when members of a group or community become so totally engrossed by the group tha... ... middle of paper ... ... no rules to govern everyday life, there was no moral compass. The loss of community was acutely felt by the former Buffalo Creek residents, who had previously been a very tight knit people. This was demonstrated by the fact that post-disaster euphoria was completely absent after the flood. Usually this euphoria arises when the survivors realize that the community is still existent and alive. However in Buffalo Creek there was not a shred of community left to cause celebration.