Stereotypes In 1930s

Alyse Hall
December 11, 2007
English 11
N. Costa
Why Not To Kill a Mockingbird Life in the Southern states during the 1930’s was full of racism and bigotry. Whites were seen as being superior over African-Americans and African-Americans were treated as less than equals. Since the 1930’s, society has made numerous strides to improve the racial inequality of the past and to bridge the gap between the two races. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird revisits the South in the 1930’s. The language used helps to make the novel more realistic. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that should be read by all high school students. It explores the idea of racism and shows how it affects people of all ages, races, and social classes. The novel To
Everyone, not only African-Americans, is stereotyped because of their attire, history, race, age, residence, etc. Children are stereotyped everyday because of what brand of clothes or shoes they have on. People are not seen as being cool if they do not have on the latest fashion. To Kill a Mockingbird offers an excellent example of stereotypes in the 1930’s. African-Americans were seen as being less than Whites and illiterate because of their race. Tom Robinson was pronounced guilty after his trial because he was a Black man. His word weighed less than Mayella and Bob Ewell’s because they were White and because he was Black. Before the trial even began the citizens of Maycomb made assumptions that Tom was guilty. Atticus’ response for Jem about the trial was “As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash” (218). Another prime example of stereotyping from the novel is Boo Radley. The children and some adults believe because Boo stays confined to his house all the time that he is crazy or should be feared. Stories and myths are made up about him and his house because no one really knows him. In the end, both Tom and Boo are seen for who they really are and not for
She also shows the consequences and repercussions of the choices the characters made. When Mrs. Dubose says to Jem “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for” (102) his reaction is violence. Instead of doing as his father requested, “whatever she says to you, it’s your job not to let her make you mad” (100), Jem instead ruins her camellia buds with Scout’s new baton. His consequences were to “…come every afternoon after school and Saturdays and read to her out loud for two hours” (105). Another example is when Bob Ewell spits in Atticus’s face and tells him he will get him if it takes the rest of his life. Bob’s reaction to Atticus implying that he was the one who had beaten Mayella was one of anger and hatred. Atticus’ response to Bob spitting in his face was calm. When Bob Ewell asked if he was “too proud to fight…” (217) Atticus simply replied “No, too old” (217). He later explained his reasoning to Jem. “He meant it when he said it….Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does. So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I’d rather it be me than that houseful of children out there.