{"id":66187,"date":"2021-03-17T12:28:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T12:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essays.homeworkacetutors.com\/2021\/03\/racism-in-to-kill-a-mockingbird\/"},"modified":"2021-03-17T12:28:04","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T12:28:04","slug":"racism-in-to-kill-a-mockingbird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/racism-in-to-kill-a-mockingbird\/","title":{"rendered":"Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Since its publication in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird <\/em>has become one of the most widely-read novels in all of twentieth century American<\/p>\n

literature, and a salient work of social realism. Despite this universal appeal, it is a novel grounded in a particular time and place. Although published<\/p>\n

in the 1960s at the height of the American civil rights movement, the novel is set in the 1930s. This may be read as a decision on the part of Lee, the<\/p>\n

author, to distance the novel from contemporary racial issues, or alternatively as a means of providing historical context for those issues and ongoing<\/p>\n

problems. The social milieu which emerges out of this context is one in which race and racism are central issues. However, the extent to which racism is<\/p>\n

integral to the novel\u2019s meaning and import is something which has been the subject of some debate in the critical literature. This essay will argue that<\/p>\n

racism is one of the lenses through which Lee explores some of the more central themes in her novel: namely, the idea of community, belonging and personal<\/p>\n

development. In particular, it will be argued, following Meyer (2010) that the idea of the \u2018Other\u2019 is central to the novel\u2019s characterisation, and that the<\/p>\n

process of \u2018Other-ing\u2019 is something which takes place both through racism and apart from it. The novel, narrated from the perspective of Scout, takes the<\/p>\n

form of a Bildungsroman <\/em>in which identity is negotiated by way of reference to the self and to communities. Race is one aspect of this process,<\/p>\n

but other elements in the story, such as the character of Boo Radley, demonstrate the degree to which the novel is about other forms of social \u2018Other-ing\u2019<\/p>\n

and personal identification. <\/p>\n

Indeed, the issue of race is something which is not foregrounded until relatively far into the novel. The central narrative tension of the trial of Tom<\/p>\n

Robinson is something which emerges only after the initial narrative of the relationship between and games played by Scout, Jem and Dill, and their<\/p>\n

fascination with the Radley Place and the ambiguous character of Boo Radley. The device of the unreliable first-person child narrative is one which allows<\/p>\n

Lee to explore the tension between nature and nurture, between that which is innate in human behaviour and that which is learned. One element of Scout\u2019s<\/p>\n

characterisation which enables her to have an impact on the lives of the adults around her is her naivet\u00e9. Her interaction with the mob that comes to<\/p>\n

lynch Tom Robinson before his trial is an example of how childlike behaviour can have a greater impact than the actions of adults in such contexts, as the<\/p>\n

adult characters are shamed into discontinuing their violent behaviour when they are made to see it from the perspective of a child. The relationship<\/p>\n

between the social mores and codes surrounding race and the ideas and desires of the children in the novel is one of the central tensions in the novel, as<\/p>\n

Scout (and vicariously the reader) examine the value systems of the community and interrogate them vis-a-vis her (and our) own. What emerges is an<\/p>\n

increasing awareness of how her father\u2019s and later her own values do not coincide with those of the social groups and institutions of which she is a part.<\/p>\n

This conflict between familial and social values is made explicit in an exchange between Scout and her father early on in the novel: <\/p>\n

\u201cDo you defend niggers, Atticus?\u201d I asked him that evening. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I do. Don\u2019t say nigger, Scout. That\u2019s common.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018so what, everybody at school says.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom now on it\u2019ll be everybody less one\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWell if you don\u2019t want me to grow up talkin\u2018 that way, why do you send me to school?\u201d (Lee, 1960: 77) <\/p>\n

Atticus has an atypical understanding of the racist value of epithets which are considered standard usage by almost all the white characters in the novel.<\/p>\n

Indeed, even characters such as Calpurnia adopt the racist language of the white characters. Moreover, Calpurnia demonstrates the degree to which racial<\/p>\n

logic impinges on language by moderating her own according to the people she is with (Lee, 1960: 120). Interestingly, Atticus\u2019 critique of the racist<\/p>\n

epithet \u2018nigger\u2019 is a class-related one: he describes such speech as \u2018common.\u2019 This suggests that Atticus associates racist language with a lack of<\/p>\n

education, and Scout is quick to identify the irony in her going to school only to learn ill-educated or common speech. The commonality of this sort of<\/p>\n

racist language is made clear when Scout notes that it\u2019s what everybody says at school. The association between institutions and racism is evident, and<\/p>\n

this relates also to the idea of ostracism and \u2018Other-ing\u2019 of those who are excluded from such institutions. For a number of years after the time during<\/p>\n

which the novel is set, and until the successes of the civil rights movement, institutions in the American South such as universities and public transport<\/p>\n

were divided along race lines. It is therefore unsurprising that much of the mechanics of the racism depicted in the novel should operate along<\/p>\n

institutional lines. <\/p>\n

Heims (2009) has argued that the relationship between Scout\u2019s development and the \u2018Other\u2019 is at the centre of the novel, and that she negotiates a complex<\/p>\n

process of self-discovery which at times in the novel involves casting the self as \u2018Other.\u2019 This is seen at various stages in the novel when Scout finds<\/p>\n

herself identifying with those who, according to the values of the community, are considered inferior and different. Her identification with the victims of<\/p>\n

racism and prejudice over the course of the novel demonstrates the apparent illogic of the behaviour. As Dare (2001) has argued, Scout\u2019s innocence is a<\/p>\n

central element in the narrative, and serves to highlight the ways in which racism and class division operate in Maycomb. Wilson (2005) notes that Tom<\/p>\n

Robinson\u2019s guilty verdict is demonstrative of a wider lack of social justice for black men, but it is the developing moral framework of the first-person<\/p>\n

narrative \u2013 that of a white girl \u2013 which throws light on this failure (Shackelford, 1997). Scout\u2019s judgement anticipates the developing moral<\/p>\n

framework in which the case for civil rights was being articulated at the time of the novel\u2019s publication, but the social context in which the novel was<\/p>\n

written was one in which justice was still more difficult to come by, at least in some parts of the United States such as the South, for black people than<\/p>\n

for white people. Jackson (2003: 277) has identified how the novel \u2018skilfully uses the device of seeing events through the eyes of children,\u2019 and racism in<\/p>\n

particular is an ideology which is presented as something that Scout eventually comes to reject. Much of this understanding of the nature and practice of<\/p>\n

racism comes through Scout\u2019s learning about the meaning of certain derogatory terms which are addressed to her and her father in the light of his defending<\/p>\n

Robinson. Atticus describes the term \u2018nigger-lover\u2019 to her as something that\u2019s \u2018hard to explain\u2019 and that \u2018ignorant, trashy people use it when they think<\/p>\n

somebody\u2019s favoring Negroes over and above themselves\u2019 and that it is used when those people \u2018want a common, ugly term to label somebody\u2019 (Lee, 1960:<\/p>\n

112). Atticus has understood the degree to which such racist terms are employed by people who see their personal interests as being under threat. It<\/p>\n

becomes apparent as the novel progresses that racism among the white characters is above all a product of fear and concern for their own interests. Racism<\/p>\n

becomes a means by which black people can be oppressed through language and discrimination. The violent reaction against Atticus, therefore, can be<\/p>\n

understood as coming from the fear among the white community that someone of their number, an educated man and a lawyer, might be acting in a way which<\/p>\n

favours other people\u2019s interests. <\/p>\n

However, there is a paradox inherent in the idea that the novel presents the maturation of the children and their increasing sympathy for the Other as they<\/p>\n

mature, whilst the white adults of the novel are highly prejudiced and largely unsympathetic to the \u2018Other.\u2019 This paradox centres on the figure of Atticus<\/p>\n

Finch, who carries a great deal of moral weight in the novel as one of the few white males in the text who oppose the racist logic of the novel\u2019s social<\/p>\n

milieu. Atticus\u2019s decision to defend Tom Robinson is one which immediately alienates him and his family from the community. Much has been made in the<\/p>\n

literature of the role of Atticus Finch, and the status of the character as an American hero: \u2018the story of the Robinson case, the anecdotes and the<\/p>\n

impressions help to explain how Atticus Finch is a hero, and how lawyers become heroes in America\u2019 (Shaffer, 1981: 181). The closing speech that Atticus<\/p>\n

delivers before the jury is a central set-piece in the novel and in its treatment of racism. The speech is notable for its focus on the moral codes of the<\/p>\n

society which have been broken, and the relationship between these codes and the idea of criminality. Atticus notes that Mayella used the rape accusation<\/p>\n

to invent criminality when all there had been was a flouting of conventions: \u2018She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society<\/p>\n

is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man\u2019 (Lee, 1960: 207). Although not a crime in itself, this behaviour<\/p>\n

would lead to such social ostracism and outcasting in the society in which the novel is set that Mayella accuses Tom of rape as a means of assuaging her<\/p>\n

guilt (Halpern, 2008). Again, the treatment of racism here is closely associated with a wider examination of social codes and behaviours. The sexual<\/p>\n

association between a white woman and a black man is particularly taboo, and here race impinges on other kinds of relations to create a complex situation in the public eye, although Atticus argues that the case is as simple as \u2018black and white\u2019 (Lee, 1960: 207). <\/p>\n

In the case of Mayella, the issue of social ostracism and the idea of \u2018Other-ing\u2019 recur as key elements. Mayella\u2019s relations with Tom would lead to her<\/p>\n

being made a social outcast, being excluded and exiled in the manner of Boo Radley, albeit for very different reasons. These different narratives of real<\/p>\n

or potential \u2018Other-ing\u2019 contribute to the sense in the novel of a clearly defined social code of conduct, the contravention of which leads to one being<\/p>\n

outcast from the group. Race is one of the key nexuses through which this strong tribalism is explored, but it is also something which is more widely<\/p>\n

treated in the novel in the context of property and ownership. The defence of one\u2019s property is a recurring theme, as in the case of Mr Radley and his<\/p>\n

firing after intruders. Here, notably, the action is emphasised as being indiscriminate and not racially motivated per se<\/em>; Radley is willing to<\/p>\n

use force to defend himself and his property from whoever it may be: <\/p>\n

\u201cShot in the air. Scared him pale, though. Says if anybody sees a white nigger around, that\u2019s the one. Says he\u2019s got the other barrel<\/p>\n

waitin\u2018 for the next sound he hears in that patch, an\u2019 next time he won\u2019t aim high, be it dog, nigger, or \u2013 Jem Finch!\u201d (Lee,<\/p>\n

1960: 55) <\/p>\n

This description of Mr Radley\u2019s indiscriminate defence of his property is indicative of the way in which other social concerns \u2013 money, ownership and<\/p>\n

so on \u2013 intertwine with racism but are not necessarily synonymous with it. It can be noted that racism during the period had a number of economic<\/p>\n

associations, and racism can be linked to the practice of slavery in the previous century (Wilson, 2005). However, the ability of white people to<\/p>\n

discriminate against other white people in the novel, and the degree to which self-interest motivates much of this discrimination, demonstrates how racism<\/p>\n

is but one aspect in the novel\u2019s mapping of social behaviours and actions. <\/p>\n

Race is undoubtedly one of the elements which distinguishes characters in the novel, and one of the social elements through which the residents of Maycomb<\/p>\n

identify themselves and others. The white community of the town is undoubtedly racist, and Atticus\u2019s decision to defend Robinson is one which leads to a<\/p>\n

process of \u2018Other-ing\u2019 by association, in which not only Atticus but also Scout and Jem are alienated and ostracised from the community by virtue of<\/p>\n

Atticus\u2019s decision. The residents racialise what is in fact a crime of a sexual nature by foregrounding the fact that the accused is a black man and the<\/p>\n

victim is a white woman. Race enters into the debate surrounding the incident and condemns Robinson to be judged guilty independently of the evidence<\/p>\n

against him. The binary terms which define racism as an ideology impinge on social relations between the Finch family and the rest of the community, with<\/p>\n

the residents identifying them with the \u2018black side\u2019 and therefore with that which is inferior or enemy. This \u2018Other-ing\u2019 of the Finch children and their<\/p>\n

identification with the black community is made explicit by Lee in the depiction of Calpurnia, and the fact that she takes the children to the local black<\/p>\n

church where they are met with a positive and welcoming reception. The topographical division of the community into black and white groups is made explicit<\/p>\n

during the trial, when the Finch children sit in the \u2018coloured balcony\u2019 (Lee, 1960: 166). The nature of pre-civil rights America was one in which<\/p>\n

communities were divided not just in ideological but in literal terms, between white and black institutions and spaces. The tension in the novel between<\/p>\n

local and foreign, known and unknown, safe and dangerous is one which is explored in racial terms. It is also, however, something which defines the<\/p>\n

opposition between the understood and the \u2018Other,\u2019 and is seen in the mysterious and unexplored nature of the Radley Place as much as it is in the idea of<\/p>\n

racial division. <\/p>\n

Boo Radley serves as an effective corollary to the character of Tom Robinson by demonstrating that ostracism and the process of Other-ing can take place in<\/p>\n

the absence of racism. At the beginning of the novel, he represents the personification of the unknown, a local \u2018Boogeyman\u2019 and object of fear for the<\/p>\n

three children. The revelation that he might be more benevolent than this first impression, which manifests itself through anonymous gifts and gestures, is<\/p>\n

one which at first puzzles Jem and Scout. The children\u2019s emotional and intellectual development in the novel equips them with the understanding necessary<\/p>\n

to humanise Boo and turn him from this \u2018Other\u2019 figure into someone they can understand and sympathise with. The plight of Tom Robinson, and the children\u2019s<\/p>\n

increasing awareness of how he has been mistreated and misrepresented by the town\u2019s adults, educates Jem and Scout in the ways in which adults prejudice<\/p>\n

themselves against and behave discriminatingly towards those they perceive as \u2018Other.\u2019 Their increased understanding of Tom results in increased<\/p>\n

understanding of Boo, and enables them to see racism as one of many processes by which hate and prejudice can manifest themselves in communities. During<\/p>\n

the trial, Jem comes to understand that Boo\u2019s reclusiveness is not a sad exile but a conscious decision to distance himself from these processes and<\/p>\n

judgements: <\/p>\n

Scout, I think I\u2019m beginning to understand something. I think I\u2019m beginning to understand why Boo Radley\u2019s stayed shut up in the house all this time\u2026it\u2019s<\/p>\n

because he wants<\/em> to stay inside (Lee, 1960: 231). <\/p>\n

The narrative development of the novel is therefore one of a progression from ignorance to understanding, from fear to tolerance and acceptance. This is<\/p>\n

the central moral drive in both the Boo Radley and the Tom Robinson elements of the story. Racism is one form of prejudice through which ignorance and a<\/p>\n

lack of understanding manifests itself. It is also the means through which characters distinguish themselves from the perceived threat of the \u2018Other\u2019: by<\/p>\n

judging and condemning it. The trial therefore functions synecdochally as a component of this overall schema in which characters judge others who are<\/p>\n

different from them. The development of the relationship between the children and characters like Boo Radley and Calpurnia is one in which initial<\/p>\n

difference is overcome and what was originally perceived as a threat or a conflicting relationship is revealed to be one of common humanity. <\/p>\n

To conclude, it is evident that race and racism are central concerns in To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em>, and the status of the novel as a seminal work of<\/p>\n

realist fiction in American social history is a justified one. Its genesis at the time of the civil rights movement, and Lee\u2019s decision to set the novel at<\/p>\n

a time when this movement was in its comparatively fledgling stages, all point to this association. However, despite the centrality of the issue of racism,<\/p>\n

and its treatment through the character of Atticus Finch and his defence of Tom Robinson, it is one theme among many in the novel which address what this<\/p>\n

essay has argued is the integral motif: namely, the process of \u2018Other-ing\u2019 which is perceived as alien and different, and the narrative trend for these<\/p>\n

initial \u2018Others\u2019 to be reconciled and understood as the novel progresses. In particular, it has been argued that the character of Boo Radley, a white man<\/p>\n

who undergoes a similar, though considerably less extreme, process of ostracisation and \u2018Other-ing\u2019 in both the eyes of Scout and those of the community,<\/p>\n

demonstrates the degree to which this process extends beyond race. The treatment of racism is therefore highly subtle and important To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em>, but it is also part of a wider exploration of the mores and behaviours of individuals and communities in a particular time<\/p>\n

and a particular place. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since its publication in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird has become one of the most widely-read novels in all of twentieth century American literature, and a salient work of social realism. Despite this universal appeal, it is a novel grounded in a particular time and place. Although published in the 1960s at the height of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6364],"tags":[8666,8667,6963,8668,6862,8340,1383],"class_list":["post-66187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","tag-assignment-help-australia","tag-cheap-essay-writing-service","tag-custom-essay-writing","tag-dissertation-writing-services","tag-online-homework-help","tag-thesis-help-uk","tag-write-my-essay-online"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}