Preview

To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter 1-15 Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
473 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter 1-15 Analysis
What do we learn about Maycomb society in Chapter 1 – 15?

During the Chapters 1 -15 we learn a lot about Maycomb society especially since the novel is set in the 1930s and during the great depression. A couple of the points are: the rich rejecting the poor because of their economic level of life in the Great Depression and whites discriminating against blacks.
During the Great Depression Maycomb would have been hit hard, “Maycomb was an old town, but was a tired old town”. This is Scout talking and when she was young Maycomb was a rundown old town. Then she says, “when I first knew it”. This implies that Maycomb has changed since when Scout was a child. The court-house sagged in the square..." A court-house is normally the centre of these
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Allusions in To Kill a Mockingbird
    • 614 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Allusions in To Kill a Mockingbird

    This refers to the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression; People lost most of their life savings during that time. In Maycomb, there really is nothing to do but talk to the townspeople, go to school, and attend church. The townspeople are mostly poor and wouldn't waste their money on unnecessary items.…

    • 614 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird Passage Analysis
    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird Passage Analysis

    In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem demonstrates moral growth by understanding the way society works. Boo Radley never wants to come outside of his house, but then he starts to realize that Jem and Scout are in danger, and also that the community he lives in is never going change. After that he decides to come outside and to come to the kids’ rescue. Jem says, “Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time... it's because he wants to stay inside."(Pg. 259) Here, Jem realizes there is not one reason that stops Boo from coming outside, it is just because he wants to. This passage sticks out to one because one of the main characters has an aha moment…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Is Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What Is Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

    Discrimination is a prominent subject throughout the story as well as in today's world. Sadly, racism and stereotypes are still ongoing events, but in a different genre. A good example is the African American community. In the 1900’s it was more about rules discriminating against African Americans. In today's world, everything is about how aggressive or suspicious that young, black adult looks. Each category of racism lacks the respect and justice they deserve. Just like the modern day, Maycomb needs to find the dignity to respect others. The dysfunctional town goes through many instances ranging from trust and courage to standing up for what is right. Through Scout, the reader witnesses discrimination against gender, class, and race.…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird Character Analysis
    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird Character Analysis

    Jodi Picoult said, “Kids think with their brains cracked wide open; becoming an adult, I've decided, is only a slow sewing shut.” In the town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the middle of the Great Depression, six-year-old Scout Finch lives with her older brother Jem, and her father Atticus who is a lawyer. One year a boy named Dill spends the summer with his aunt. The three children become friends and soon become obsessed with a nearby house. The next year, Atticus is appointed by the court to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a poor, notoriously vicious white man named Bob Ewell. Atticus presents a powerful defense of Tom and makes it clear that Ewell is lying. Jem is convinced Atticus will win the case, but the all-white jury still convicts Tom. Jem…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Examples Of Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 138 Words
    • 1 Page

    Examples Of Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

    What is a very apparent concept in the story is the inequality and prejudice that exist in the small town. In Maycomb, the wealth of an individual is a way that consistently divided the social status of the townspeople. For example, The Finchers and other middle class people have more prestige and social status over the lower class townspeople, such as the Cunninghams and the Ewells. The most common and discriminatory inequality in the town is that the race of an individual would unjustly determine their social status. For example, the blacks, despite having more amiable qualities than the Ewells, still remain at the bottom of the social hierarchy for the only reason being their race. This lead to the Ewells exploiting the town’s racial prejudices…

    • 138 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Help To Kill A Mocking Bird Analysis
    • 1890 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Help To Kill A Mocking Bird Analysis

    “The Help” and “To kill a Mockingbird” are two astonishing reads. These novels are a must read…

    • 1890 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter 8 Analysis
    • 128 Words
    • 1 Page

    To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter 8 Analysis

    Chapter 8- Chapter eight takes place in a small town by the name of Maycomb, Alabama. For the first time in four years Maycomb is having a real winter with snow constantly falling. When the snow first started falling Scout nearly died. She thought the world was going to end. However Atticus confirmed it was just snow. One sad thing that happens in chapter eight is good old Mrs. Radley passes during the beginning of winter months. In chapter eight the children enjoy playing outside despite the cold temperatures. The craziest thing that happened in chapter eight was Miss. Maudie's house burnt down through fire. It was a crazy event at that time in Maycomb. These were some of the main events that took place in chapter eight.…

    • 128 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How does the setting contribute to the theme of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird"?
    • 614 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How does the setting contribute to the theme of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird"?

    Maycomb, a typical small town in southern Alabama, has the prejudicial attitude which triggers many incidents and also establishes the status of people. Most people have the same beliefs and values in the community of Maycomb. There is a strong division of classes within Maycomb and the rigid class structure has an extensive effect on the events. For instance, Scout condescends to Walter Cunningham when she is explaining to Miss Caroline about his situation. Scout judges Walter based on his family and she is labeling him as the "Cunningham family" which is seemingly meant to be poor and poverty. When Scout tells Miss Caroline about the Cunningham, she thinks it is "clear enough" (24) to the rest of the people. The story is set during the Great Depression, at a time in which millions of Americans lost their jobs. Many people lost their homes, their land, and their dignity. Burris Ewell is not accepted in Maycomb as well. The class says to Miss Caroline that he is "one of the Ewells" (31) and that the Ewells are "members of an exclusive society made up of Ewells" (35). Gossips can affect key events and even the smallest details because they make everyone to prejudge others. To some degree, it is all under Maycomb's definition system.…

    • 614 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Effect of Social Hierarchy in to Kill a Mockingbird
    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Effect of Social Hierarchy in to Kill a Mockingbird

    The society of Maycomb has four definite class structures, which the town’s people abide by. The fist and highest level is that of the white collar Caucasians, such as the Finch 's and their neighbours; they are well respected. Next, are the blue collar, white workers such as farmers, the Cunninghams or even Mr. Link Deas; the people who work but still struggle to make ends meet. In order for the narrator to understand their financial situation her father, Atticus, explains to her “… [P]rofessional people were poor because the farmers were poor. As Maycomb County was farm country, nickels and dimes were hard to come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers.” (Lee, 21). The last two levels, in order, are those of the white trash and the Negros; white trash, are people who are very poor and are not very respected or respectful. Although some Negros may be more respectful than white trash, they are still at the bottom of the system, and are treated worse than white trash. Even Atticus ' children understand these four levels as Jem explains "You know something, Scout? I’ve got it all figured out, now... There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird Dialectical Journal Analysis
    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird Dialectical Journal Analysis

    1. Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop . . . [s]omehow it was hotter then . . . bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum. . . . There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Expectations - to Kill a Mockingbird
    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Expectations - to Kill a Mockingbird

    The social setting in Maycomb County has a profound effect on the expectations in the novel. Initially, all individuals of Maycomb know about each other’s background and upbringing for instance the expectations from families like the Ewells and Cunninghams. An example of this in the novel is when Scout attends her first day of school; Scout’s teacher Miss Caroline, offers Walter Cunningham a quarter when he doesn’t bring any lunch. However, Walter does not take the quarter as he’s a Cunningham and they do not take what they cannot pay back; instead getting along with what they have. Scout tries to explain this to Miss Caroline who was not familiar with certain Maycombian ways.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Maycomb Present Social Iniquity In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 1682 Words
    • 7 Pages

    How Does Maycomb Present Social Iniquity In To Kill A Mockingbird

    People can be unfair, unjust, and downright cruel. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, there is a good demonstration by the members of Maycomb’s society of the theme of social iniquity that has very strong supporting evidence towards this opinion. Many different acts are shown to price the county of Maycomb is biased and unfair to its members. It proves things are not as they seem considering the fact that the county of Maycomb is a very proper and ‘classy’ group of people, to some extent. But, as many people read, they notice there are hidden things…

    • 1682 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Miss Maudie Show Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Does Miss Maudie Show Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird

    When living in Maycomb, you better have a thick skin and the patience of a saint. Maycomb is a small town during the 1930s depression, but events thrown at characters tend to spiral them into a struggle in which they must overcome. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys the theme that someone must have the willingness proceed spite of fear,shows courage through her inspiring use of setting, conflicts and events as literary elements.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Maycomb Bad Town
    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Maycomb Bad Town

    To start of, Maycomb is not a good place to live because of how non-accepting the town is. One example of how non-accepting the town is when Cecil Jacobs makes fun of Scout because Atticus is “defending niggers”(Lee,74). This is an example of how non-accepting Maycomb is because it shows that Cecil thinks it is wrong to help a negro and flat out make…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Effects Of The Great Depression In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Effects Of The Great Depression In To Kill A Mockingbird

    “Maycomb was a tired old town...there was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see...” The book To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Maycomb, Alabama around the early 1930s.The Great Depression was a troubling time for the unemployed.It not only affected the jobless but it had an effect on youth to the elderly. Children had to deal with changes in their education if they were able to attend school and most children suffered from malnutrition. The middle class had to make do of a life without money and security.…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics