Education In To Kill A Mockingbird

In Harper Lee's famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, education is a very important theme in this novel that continues throughout the story. Even though the schools and teachers methods are very questionable. Although, most of the learning that has been going on in this book is not from attending school, but from listening to the adults around her. Atticus, Mrs. Maudie, Calpurnia, and a few others from around Maycomb are all great role models that Scout and Jem get many moral and knowledgeable lessons from throughout the book. These lessons could almost be considered more important than the education that they would get by going to school, because these are most likely the teachings that the children will continue to apply to their lives and
Maudie, Calpurnia, and some others that live in Maycomb all each have their own messages that play a meaningful role in the story. Atticus had taught the children that “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it” (Lee). Calpurnia teaches Scout to treat everyone with respect no matter where they come from, and helps her learn to write by copying Bible verses. Mrs. Maudie is the one who explains to the children what it means to kill a mockingbird, and the significance of it. Even realizing the small things that people like Judge Taylor, Link Deas, Dolphus Raymond, and Mr. Underwood do still makes an impact on them for the
Since this book takes place during the Great Depression there are a lot of financial struggles that are shown in the novel too. For example in the scene where Scout asks Atticus if they are poor and he talks about “ The Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them hardest” (Lee). This is referring to the stock market crash, which most likely explains why many people in Maycomb are poor at the time. As well as the fact that during this time many schools had a hard time finding teachers that were fully qualified for their jobs. Which might explain why Scout’s first grade teacher had failed in many ways. Not only this, but because racism was still very prominent at this time, that meant that African American children had no chance at getting a good education. Although in this book, Calpurnia was a rare exception. In real life scenarios, problems like this are what leads to many children lacking education because of not being able to afford it. This affects not only the economy, but the overall well being of a community as well. Racism, ignorance, and narrow mindedness are all examples of communities that have never grown, and in this case it has been the same way for a long time. When adding no education into the mix, this provides less opportunities, which means less room for change. Not only this but the productivity of a society can go down as