Examples Of Limitations In To Kill A Mockingbird

Limitations

“Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself”(Lee 6). The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s was a time of adversity between the blacks and the whites. It has impacted America forever in more ways than one. Racial injustice was caused by widespread stereotypes about blacks that were ingrained into the minds of the whites. Harper Lee was able to provide an excellent example of how racial injustice actually was in the 1930s. Tom Robinson’s trial in the novel was likely influenced by the Scottsboro trial. There is not only fear between blacks and whites but also within their own races. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson’s trial was based off of the Scottsboro trial in order

The obvious fear for the blacks is that they will get discriminated and segregated against. Those words are just another form of extreme bullying. But the fear that many overlook is the one that is within the same skin color. Mr. Dolphus Raymond is a perfect example of fear within the white community. Raymond explains,“‘I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason...folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey...that’s why he lives the way he does’”(Lee 268). The fact that Raymond needs to hide the fact that he prefers blacks over whites means that he fears criticism from the other whites. It is apparent that liking blacks is a negative thing in Maycomb. But why is that? Why must one human hate another solely based on skin color? The white people of Maycomb never give a solid reason for their actions. Those actions must have originated from times of slavery but later on evolved into Jim Crow Laws. According to Civil rights act of 1964, “Segregation in public settings in the United States—especially the southern states that comprised the former Confederacy—was still a fact of life for black Americans into the 1960s. ‘Jim Crow’ laws, enacted in the late nineteenth century, dictated a strict ‘color line’...”(“Civil Rights Act of 1964”). The word “Confederacy” is a direct reminder of the civil war which was a war over slavery. “Jim Crow laws” are the new form of slavery in a way because it was another attempt to oppress blacks. These laws spawned hatred towards the blacks long after the times of slavery. Lee used what was happening during the her life for inspiration for this novel. This can connected back to idea of fear because of the fear shown by blacks to the whites. Black express fear in response to the hatred shown by whites because it is one of their only options. Few are able to fight for true justice such as the Scottsboro Boys and Atticus. In