To Kill a Mockingbird - Part One

This is the first of a LOOOONG series of posts about the book "To Kill a Mockingbird". This first post details chapters 1-8.

 

I have begun reading the book To Kill a Mockingbird. The book is set within the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the height of the Great Depression. It is told from the point of view of the young girl by the name of Scout Finch, and the chapters within display very clearly what Maycomb is: a very traditionalist and prejudiced society, very focused on roles within the community and extremely oppresive towards those who would deny such.

The first few chapters alone are enough to quite prominently display this information. Many of the town's residents take great ditaste towards Scout's choice of clothing - overalls and a shirt - as they believe that such clothing is unladylike, and does not fit their vision of how a member of the Finch family should look. The Finches are a very successful family in Maycomb, and as a result, everyone believes they should look "proper". Though this does not nescessarily coincide with the forward-thinking views of her father, Atticus Finch, the many people still look down on her.

This prejudice is shown moreso in their opinions of black people, however. Throughout the chapters, it becomes abundantly clear that, like the majority of places in the United States at the time, "negroes" are treated with extreme disdain. Even Scout uses "the N-word" at one point in the chapters. In fact, it seems like the only person in the town who isn't prejudiced is Atticus, who, aside from making his sentiments perfectly clear in numerous conversations, also agrees to defend a black man in a trial.

I chose this picture to represent these chapters because of the significance of Boo Radley. Boo Radley lives in Maycomb, and is widely regarded as being insane - his windows are always shut, the door is always closed, and no one has ever seen Boo Radley leave the house. This provides a source of amusement for Scout and her friends, as they enjoy tormenting Boo in severl ways. Though it does not have to do with the greater theme of the chapters, it does provide a sub-plot within the story itself.