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

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird written by harpist Lee in 1960, life in the town of Maycomb is very traditional. roughly people have the same racial prejudices and live by reliable rules, also referred to as codes by genus genus genus Atticus Finch (p. 224). Aunt Alexandra is a well example as she is not from Maycomb but lives 20 miles away. When she comes to live with Atticus and his children, Jem and sentinel, the town accepts her immediately for with her boarding-school valet de chambreners (p.142), her ladylike behaviour and her enthusiastic social function into the Missionary Circle and the Maycomb Amanuensis Club, she represents the ideal of a Maycomb woman.Although each people in Maycomb are quite different from each other, some of them, especially the more accepted, show respect, discipline and politeness. This can be seen in the Missionary Circle where ladies sit together to talk, drink tea and prey cakes (p. 253-259) and although they might not always agree on e very liaison, they never right off 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 off the subject without drawing anybody elses attention to the quarrel.There are not many people in Maycomb who are open-minded and unbidden 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 but that he was the provided 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 intolerance leads to Jem and Scout being confronted with offences against Atticus decisions by town people and fellow students. For one thing Mrs Dubose, an vileness neighbour of the Finchs, criticises Atticus in a way that Jem is not willing to ignore and ends in him cutting down 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 epoch it is Scout who looses her head a couple of times.In a infinitesimal town like Maycomb there is also a lot of dish the dirt and prejudices against lower class people.