To Kill A Mockingbird Essay
In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how racism, gender roles, and education caused a negative affect on everyday life during the 1930s. Maybe one has never dealt with racism but that someone in that person’s family has; reading Lee’s book may make them feel as if they are right there in the 1930s. The way people of any race in the community used to treat others compared to the way people are treated now is much different. Things have changes for all different races not just African-Americans or one such other group of people.
To start off, people judging others was a part of everything else one would see during a normal day in the 1930s. If there were any arguments or situations between blacks and whites, a white person would just about always be favored. “Mr. Gilmer smiled grimly at the jury. You’re a mighty good fellow, it seems- did all this for not one penny? Yes suh. I felt sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of em. You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her? Mr. Gilmer seemed ready to rise to the ceiling.” (Lee 197) In the quote Tom Robinson feels sorry for Mayella who is white and Mr. Gilmer is shocked that Tom would ever say such a thing because whites are better that blacks during the 1930s. Jim Crowe Laws were constantly reminded to the people and always seen in communities throughout the day. An example would have been African Americans having to drink from the colored fountains and using the colored people restrooms. African Americans also had to ride in the back of the bus and even give up their seat to a white person. Rosa Parks could be considered a great example of the Jim Crowe Laws. Rosa Parks is one of the most famous African Americans known for how she stood up for all the other blacks and helped change history.
To add on, gender roles have stayed very similar from ancient times to the 1930s for the better and for the worse. In ancient times women were to watch over the household while men were to protect and provide for the family. Women would obey the man and show them great respect as well as help them with some food and watching the children. Gender roles can be better for women in some cases because they can win certain fights over men in a lot of even little events that occur.
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