Social Issues In To Kill A Mockingbird

In Harper Lee’s novel, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, characters and themes are constructed from the setting and time. The story takes place in 1933 to 1935, during the Great Depression. Maycomb, a fictional town in Alabama, has been used to explain and develop the idea of what it was like to live in a town with a strong sense of social status. Harper explores the extent of racism and social issues through the Tom Robinson’s case, using setting to connect with the inequitable decisions of the courtroom. During, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, we can get a clear understanding that Scout’s innocence through the setting of her upbringing has prevailed in her adult years.

Harper Lee created Maycomb to explain to readers the typical Southern communities that

Families like the Finch’s and their neighbours are classified as middle class. The Cunninghams are farmers. Therefore, they are viewed as the lower class, along with the Ewells. What readers can interpret from ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is that the Ewells are considered the lowest of the low amongst the white community. The only aspect that elevates them is the reality that they’re white. Harper Lee sets up the image of Maycomb’s black society to be restricted and inferior to that in the rest of the town. Negroes were always going to be regarded as lower than any white man. Throughout the

During the 1930’s in Maycomb, the mentality of many southern people reflected that of the nation. Harper Lee explores the idea that most people were racist and discriminatory through Jem and Scout Finch. The story writes, “Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen a Jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man”. This was said by the character Reverend Sykes and it outlines a major event in court. This was the first time, Scout and Jem got a real glimpse of the racial inequality, in Maycomb. The author, expresses the extent of this social issue, using the setting of the courtroom. Throughout the intense trial, we get to go on a journey with Jem and Scout, feeling the hope and faith that they have in their father. However, this quote creates another angle for readers consider. Jem and Scout grew up pure of heart and were taught by Atticus and Calpurnia. Calpurnia is a lovely black woman, and every day she helps the Finch family. She is a mother figure in the household, which suggests to readers that respecting a colored person is completely normal in the children’s lives. Growing up in an environment where it is normal to perceive Negroes as equals and respect them as you would a white person, separates Jem and Scout from the unjust and the provincialism world around