To Kill a Mocking Bird
Harper Lee’s To kill a mockingbird was written to portray the racism and the moral conscience of the mind within society. It is set in the 1930’s which is after the Great Depression and a starting movement for the Civil Rights fight in the USA. The novel was written in the 1960’s portraying the universal contextual issues of racism existed then and even now. Lee uses multiple narrative techniques to explore the major inequality and injustice of life but also allow the audience to know that these contextual ideas and issues can be broken and change.
Maycomb is set up by Lee to reflect the racism of society as well as its injustice and inequality that many ‘black’ men and women faced in the 1930’s – 1960’s. Tom Robinson, an African American that has been created by Lee to become the symbol of the injustice and inequality of Maycomb. The town ceases to acknowledge the equality and justice of life and conform to racism like most towns and countries at the time. “The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only…” Lee’s use of innuendo portrays Maycomb as an ignorant town, with racism mixed within their everyday lives and the racial inequalities that are given to all African American. Lee’s uses of dialogues distinguish the racial segregation between the white and black people of Maycomb and the social class that they are categorised as. Harper Lee shows the juxtaposition of the two different races by portraying it through their dialogues, this is most effectively shown through the court scene when Tom Robinson was being crossed examine by Mr Gilmer. Tom answers always start with “Yes, sir” whereas Mr Gilmer refers to him as a “boy”, this use of slang juxtaposes to the formal high classed words of Tom’s which conveyed the audience the contrast between a white and black American and suggests that a white skinned person is not any better than an African American. The juxtaposition also allowed the readers to sympathised with Tom Robinson
Maycomb is set up by Lee to reflect the racism of society as well as its injustice and inequality that many ‘black’ men and women faced in the 1930’s – 1960’s. Tom Robinson, an African American that has been created by Lee to become the symbol of the injustice and inequality of Maycomb. The town ceases to acknowledge the equality and justice of life and conform to racism like most towns and countries at the time. “The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only…” Lee’s use of innuendo portrays Maycomb as an ignorant town, with racism mixed within their everyday lives and the racial inequalities that are given to all African American. Lee’s uses of dialogues distinguish the racial segregation between the white and black people of Maycomb and the social class that they are categorised as. Harper Lee shows the juxtaposition of the two different races by portraying it through their dialogues, this is most effectively shown through the court scene when Tom Robinson was being crossed examine by Mr Gilmer. Tom answers always start with “Yes, sir” whereas Mr Gilmer refers to him as a “boy”, this use of slang juxtaposes to the formal high classed words of Tom’s which conveyed the audience the contrast between a white and black American and suggests that a white skinned person is not any better than an African American. The juxtaposition also allowed the readers to sympathised with Tom Robinson