Character Analysis: To Kill A Mockingbird

Sylvia Collier
Mrs. Voran
Sophomore English
6th hour
3-10-13

““Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. “Your father’s right,” She said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” “Why not kill a mockingbird? Why kill it? These small descriptions are what make the small picture that gets you hooked and helps describe the setting. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses a mockingbird to symbolize innocence combined with details that describe how it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird which persuades the reader to think about why a mockingbird and to picture how it is to live in a small town.
In the beginning of the book the author starts out with Scout as narrator showing how she grew up in a small town that’s quite and not a lot goes on but, small town settings, as seen in Macomb, Alabama, are constructed by emphasizing how old the town is or what goes on, on the inside. Like when scout talks about Macomb in the first chapter. “Macomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. IN rainy weather the streets turned to red slop... [s]omehow it was hotter then . . . bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men’s stiff collards were wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum . . . . 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 people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.” The author helps the reader realize the racial division in the town and the strict class system and makes you visualize the south during this period of time. The description in the book makes you think that Maycomb is a sleepy southern town and, helps the readers think about the settings. A small town setting attracts more readers because it’s more closed in. There aren’t too many details going on at the same time and it’s all in one general area excluding the fact that most of the town members are outsiders but, the people of Maycomb seem to have a genuine fear of the unknown, and the few outsiders mentioned in the story are subject to suspicion and ridicule. Scout tries to tell us that outsiders are not as bad we may think they are and that we should put ourselves in their shoes and live a day in there life and try to accept them, just like you would wish to when you are the outsider somewhere. Small towns such as Maycomb are archetypal because of the southern traditions they have. Things such as most people in the town of Maycomb value their privacy. But once something gets out it spreads around like a wild fire. Over the years Maycomb went from being a very quiet and pleasant town to a very corrupted, violent town because of the trial held at the local court house. But the people still can be friendly at times and get together when something goes wrong.
Furthermore, Abstract ideas also form an author’s vision of setting, such as the ideas of privacy and corruption.
The southern talk they use lets you know it’s a small town and everyone knows each other, and if you’re not from there then you will stick out. Values in Maycomb are the mockingbird and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. The most important is the value there gossip. If they didn’t have it what would Maycomb be? In this story as you read that people from big cities and major places look down on small towns as if they are just there for nobodies. They do this because they think I made it to the big cities and that no one needs the closure of a small town they need the real deal I am rich I need all these people. People who live in a small town have it easier they don’t have to worry about being mugged or getting killed because everyone knows each other. They say that small town America is a symbol of life because it is similar to a perfect society. And people expect life to be
perfect. Finally, Rural American settings have evolved into an archetype because a small town setting can create connections to readers by showing them what really goes on in a small town. How the people are and what they value. The small town setting Impacts the story from the beginning, so many people will want read about young kids getting into mischief in a small town but if the setting were in for instance New York city or someplace similar. People would just think it was a book about everyday life. The setting of the story To Kill a Mockingbird makes a big impact on how the reader perceives the book.