The Horror Within Society By Harper Lee Essay

In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, a young white woman from Maycomb, Alabama, named Mayella Ewell is charging Tom Robinson a black man of rape. Mayella Ewell is not powerful in the sense that she is classified within class, race, and gender.

Calpurnia, or “Cal”, was the Finch’s African-American housekeeper and cook. Her being a black, middle-aged woman in a white dominated society, we can already infer she has experienced great racial injustices. Throughout the novel, we see significant and noticeable changes in the main characters, but little development in Calpurnia´s character. Before you discard this essay on what was supposed to be about a chosen character changing due to social and racial injustices throughout the book, give the thesis some thought. Scout is the narrator of the book, therefore we are seeing changes through her point of view; so we only see Calpurnia changing through the eyes of Scout, but they were not in actuality

After Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to church, she tells them, “You’re not gonna change? any of them by talkin’ right, they’ve got to want to learn themselves, and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language,” (Lee, 1960, p. 167). This statement Calpurnia tells to Scout and Jem proves in Maycomb she has no right to having one life. She either has to act more smart and sophisticated, or she must act like her friends and family in the black community. Calpurnia having to go back and forth between lives shows the readers the way most African American woman had to act to be able to fit in without being discriminated or treated unequally by others.

First impressions of people are not always accurate, but observing their mannerisms and behavior with others can reveal many sides of their personality. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird, after the death of his wife, Atticus Finch, a respected lawyer, moves to Maycomb County with his two children, Jem and Scout. Calpurnia, an intelligent black woman, moves with them as their caretaker, providing support for the Finch family. Calpurnia not only takes on the role of the mother in the Finch household, but she also respects others and shows moral strength in the Maycomb

After Tom Robinson is convicted guilty of raping Mayella Ewell, Atticus begins to explain to Jem that they did not win the case because of having an all white jury. Atticus explains that once the children grow older, they will realize that white men do not treat black men with respect and “no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family comes from, that white man is trash” (187). Atticus does not try to hide his disagreement of racism, which displays that he is socially aware and knows that everyone deserves to be treated equally. Scout starts her first grade year at school and comes home complaining to Atticus that she never wants to go back to school, like Walter Cunningham. Scout’s father makes her feel compassionate by saying “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view– until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (22). Atticus making Scout understand that everyone may have different hidden conflicts to deal within their life reflects Lee’s views of treating everyone fairly. Atticus’s sister, Alexandra, moves into the Finch’s house and does not approve of having Calpurnia, a black maid, around the children. Angered by Alexandra’s disprovement, Atticus tells her that Calpurnia is “a faithful member of this family and you’ll simply have to accept things the way they are” (115). Atticus standing up to Alexandra’s remarks about not wanting to have the children raised by a black maid show’s Lee’s views on how all races should receive the same treatment. The characterization of Atticus emphasizes Lee’s strong feelings about how standing up for the equality and justice of people makes our society

Calpurnia plays one role in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Calpurnia is the maid or nanny you could say for Jem and Scout since they lost their mother at a young age. She is black but often shows a side of her that would not resemble a black person for example: the way she talks, who she spends her time with the most, and how she is treated. Although Calpurnia is around white people for majority of her time she also has another side to her that the kids do not often see.

Mayella Ewell is powerful in Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. When it comes down to class, race, and gender, Mayella holds a great quantity of power. Mayella Ewell is a poor, white woman that lives in a run down house by a dump. She has to care for her six other siblings because her mom left when she was very young and Mayella’s father Bob, is an alcoholic. Bob physically, emotionally, verbally, and sexually abuses Mayella. Mayella uses her class, race, and gender to her advantage to try and get herself out of her living conditions at home. She drags Tom Robinson, a black male, into a whirlwind of accusations of him raping her. Mayella has a huge advantage in the trial because of her class, gender, and race.

(Tab)When living in a racially divided community, who and what someone is surrounded by can affect their personality and identity. Someone can not only have one identity, they can express themselves in many different ways. Whether that person is naturally strong but can often soften up or could also be strong and bring out a more masculine side, as shown in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Calpurnia is Atticus, Scout and Jem’s housekeeper but she also takes in the role of a positive motherly influence in Scout's life. Worried that she won't be accepted for who she is, she presents her actions in different ways based on her position. Calpurnia tries to avoid experiences of judgment even from her own community in church, and rejection from the white citizens in her town, this influences her to alter herself to what she believes would please her surroundings. However, in the Finches home Calpurnia is not afraid to express herself. Since Atticus is free from the confinement of racial discrimination, he treats Calpurnia with respect and makes her feel welcomed and like family. But now even with the comfort from Atticus, Jem and Scout Calpurnia still feels the urge that she wouldn’t be accepted. In Maycomb County, the racial discrimination forces Calpurnia to adopt a dual identity depending on her environment.

Though Calpurnia and the people involved in Calpurnia’s life are greatly impacted, Jean Louise Finch, a.k.a. Scout, deals with more confusion and frustration brought on by racial discrimination. During a day at school, Scout encountered Cecil Jacobs and his ignorant mind. “Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more… I soon forgot. Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defends niggers”(Lee 99). Scout did not realize what this meant, but she was hurt by it any way. Scout is affected by a copious amount of racism, she just has no clue what is zipping around her. When she confronted Atticus about him defending Negroes, he said of course he does, and to not use

In To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, a young and hardworking African American is accused of raping a white women. To Kill a Mockingbird is about two young children going through their journey to adulthood, Jem and Scout. Jem and Scout’s dad, a lawyer, is appointed to defend Tom Robinson in a court case that cannot be won because of the prejudice of those in the jury. Mayella Ewell, the women he is accused of raping, is a young woman who has had hardly any interactions with others and has a good heart despite her being part of the Ewell household. Mayella Ewell is worthy of compassion but not at the cost of Tom Robinson’s life despite her economic, social, and familial difficulties.

In this movie “To Kill A Mockingbird” there was a guy named Tom Robinson that had to go to court because he was accused of raping this girl named Mayella. Tom Robinson went through a lot because of what he was cussed for, and he didn’t even get to live the rest of his life because he was shot by a guard. Mayella’s dad was the one who actually did everything because he wanted to get Tom in trouble. Atticus was the one who was trying to defend Tom and everything that Atticus did was to protect and win over Robert Ewell, but Atticus didn’t win. While Calpurnia is sitting in the backseat they aren’t being racist they are trying to help and protect her, but there are some people who don’t see it that way.

The cruel nature and intentions of people can either hurt or harm individuals or it can bring about resilience and determination. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee revealed that humans often have other motives in life; some are born to be evil in nature, some are naturally innocent and then there are some that are born to protect the innocent. Lee utilized a variety of symbols and themes that correlated with each other and thus had the ability to create questions in the minds of the readers. Are humans calculatedly cruel or is there some moral good in each of us? The impiety of a few can create a movement, imprison the innocent or reveal the sincerity of others.

In the town of Maycomb speech distinguishes the Whites from the Blacks. Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her church one Sunday and Scout notes that her maid is using different speech when talking to the other people of the Black community than when she talks to Atticus or others of the White community. This is because she knows that she would be ridiculed and judged in the black community for talking as she talks to the white community and vice versa. We also see how racial injustice has affected her when the people of the black community leave food at the Finch house. She explains that they had done it as a thanks to atticus for standing up for them. She speaks for

In this novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is told in a child's point of view in the early 1930’s. Scout and Jem Finch are raised by a single father and lawyer, Atticus Finch. When Atticus is sent to defend a Black man, the entire town is skeptical about it. The theme levels of Society appears in the novel when Tom Robinson is treated unfairly in the courtroom, when Scout’s teacher is frustrated because she already knows how to read, and when Boo Radley saved Jem because no one ever seems to notice

Calpurnia, or “Cal”, was the Finch’s African-American housekeeper and cook. Her being a black, middle-aged woman in a white dominated society, we can already infer she has experienced great racial injustices. Throughout the novel, we see significant and noticeable changes in the main characters, but scarce development in Calpurnia´s character. Before you discard this essay on what was supposed to be about a chosen character changing due to social and racial injustices throughout the book, give the thesis ample thought. Scout is the narrator of the book, therefore we are seeing changes through her point of view; so we only see Calpurnia changing through the eyes of Scout, but they were not, in