Examples Of Panopticism In To Kill A Mockingbird

The article “Panopticism and the Use of ‘the Other’ in To Kill a Mockingbird” discusses the idea of the Other and the presence of Panopticism within To Kill A Mockingbird. In the article, Claudia Durst states that “the work invites the conclusion that we reach some sense of self-identity by our encounters with other forces, that is, with forces alien to our commonplace lives. As a result of these encounters, we break the cultural and psychological barriers that imprison us and come to embrace a larger world” (Best 1). To Kill a Mockingbird is a story of coming of age of primarily two characters: Jem and Scout. In the novel Jem and Scout are raised by their father and develop a sense of morality by seeing the negative parts of Maycomb such as racism and discrimination. At the beginning of the story Jem and Scout view life on a single plane of existence, which is from their class, but their perspectives

In the article Best elaborates on the idea of the panopticon in To Kill a Mockingbird by saying, “Jem and Scout find themselves in a ‘wing’ of the Panopticon with Atticus, Aunt Alexandra, Miss Maudie, Mrs. Dubose, and their other close neighbors. This wing is further divided into subsections by age and gender.” While Jem and Scout live in the same social class as their neighbors, many factors still divide how they view society. Best uses Jem’s organization of the classes to form the wings of the metaphorical panopticon within Maycomb. The first wing consists of his neighborhood and class. The second is represented the black community. The third is made up of hard-workers that are poor, which is shown by the Cunningham’s. and the last wing is represented by Ewell’s, who are morally deprived individuals. When Jem and Scout witness these other wings, they try to empathize with the people in those wings so that they can understand why they view social issues