Life and Religion in To Kill a Mockingbird :: essays research papers

In the book To Kill a fl come forwarder written by Harper Lee in 1960, life in the town of Maycomb is very traditional. Most people have the same racial prejudices and live by certain rules, alike referred to as codes by genus genus genus Atticus Finch (p. 224). Aunt Alexandra is a good example as she is non from Maycomb simply lives 20 miles away. When she comes to live with Atticus and his children, Jem and Scout, the town buy outs her immediately for with her boarding-school manners (p.142), her ladylike behaviour and her enthusiastic involvement into the Missionary stria and the Maycomb Amanuensis nightclub, she represents the ideal of a Maycomb woman.Although all people in Maycomb are sort of different from each other, most of them, especially the more accepted, show respect, rectification and politeness. This can be seen in the Missionary Circle where ladies sit unitedly to talk, drink tea and eat cakes (p. 253-259) and although they might not always affiliate on eve rything, they never directly say so. For example when Mrs Merriweather starts to criticise Atticus doing in Tom Robinsons case, at a Missionary Circle in front of Scout - not naming anyone - Ms Maudie interrupts her and cuts finish up the subject without drawing anybody elses attention to the quarrel.There are not many people in Maycomb who are open-minded and willing to accept different people and/or things, which makes it difficult to change. So after loosing the trial, Ms Maudie admits that she did not think Atticus had any chance of winning further that he was the only man who could keep a jury out that long and that it was a step, if only a baby-step, towards equality (p. 238). Furthermore this credulity leads to Jem and Scout being confronted with offences against Atticus decisions by town people and blighter students. For one thing Mrs Dubose, an evil neighbour of the Finchs, criticises Atticus in a way that Jem is not willing to ignore and ends in him cutting squander a ll her beloved camellias (p. 112-114). This in turn leads to Jem having to read to Mrs Dubose for more than a month (p. 117-122). For another thing the children at school badmouth Atticus probably with what they overheard their parents saying and this time it is Scout who looses her head a couple of times.In a small town like Maycomb there is also a lot of gossiping and prejudices against lower class people.