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How Did Maudie Speak Up In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird was set in the southern states of America during the interwar period, a place and period of time where racism and sexism were predominant. This story highlights the plight of those that acted out against the dominant ideology. Some brave people began to speak and act upon what they believed in no matter what society said. A few women began to speak up which was very uncommon. Miss Maudie Atkinson, Calpurnia, and Scout Finch showed very strong characteristics. Firstly, Miss Maudie Atkinson did not feel the need to view others misfortune as a source of entertainment. Scout asked her if she would be attending Tom Robinson’s trial and she responded saying “I have no business with the court …show more content…

She was hired to be the Finch’s families cook but she had put more into that job then required, she built a close relationship with these kids over the years of her working there, she became a parental figure to them. This was not very common in this time because most families had mom and a dad and if a white family both were white and if it were a black family both were black. Calpurnia was a black worker and was the closest thing the kids had to a mom in the family. During the time of preparation for the trial Atticus was gone a lot and was not able to take the kids to church one Sunday, Calpurnia decided she would take them to her church. As she is getting them dressed Jem asked why she is taking out fancy clothes and she responds, “ I don’t want anyone saying I don’t look after my children” (Lee, 157). This proved she did not only treat them as her own but also that she thought of them as her children. Taking the kids to her church was very brave of her because blacks would not want any whites coming into their church. Especially during this tough time of Tom Robinson’s trial, a man of their community getting charged for a crime he did not commit but is predicted to be guilty solely for the reason that it will be a white man's voice over a black mans. She brought them anyway because in the Finch family they did not believe in racism but equality. Calpurnia proved she had a strong personality because she was a black woman raising white children that are not

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Calpurnia is a Mother figure to Jem and Scout Calpurnia is a cook hired by Atticus. This is uncommon in the town of Maycomb since Calpurnia is a coloured woman and Atticus is a white man. Atticus has two kids, Jem and Scout whom Calpurnia not only cooks and cleans for, but also is involved in their life outside the home. Since Jem and Scout’s mother passed away when they were young, and Atticus needs to work, Calpurnia acts as a mother to the children, and a friend to Atticus.

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Calpurnia is Jem and Scouts mother figure, because their mother died due to a sudden heart attack. Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her church, First Purchase, and introduces them to the fact that not all black people are bad people. She shows courage because it’s nerve racking to bring 2 white children to an all black church. Calpurnia says, “I don’t want anybody sayin’ I don’t look after my children” (Lee pg. 118). Calpurnia takes pride in Jem and Scout and shows a massive amount of courage taking these children to her type of life, and to her church.

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In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee personifies the mockingbirds by saying that they have done no harm and that they are not pests (90). Atticus explains to the children after they get their airguns that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird (90). Miss Maudie further explains that all they do is sing beautifully and live peacefully (90). Harper Lee uses the mockingbird to represent innocence and goodness in the people of Maycomb which makes the trial seem even worse than it is.

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Chapter 12: 2. Calpurnia takes the kids to her church because she doesn’t trust Jem and Scout to go to church by themselves. There was a past incident involving tying up one of their Sunday School classmates in the furnace room. Atticus is away in Montgomery because he gets called into a special session of the state legislature and is away for two weeks. She takes pride in the Finch kids and wants this to be reflected when they visit church.

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As individuals in today’s society, we are privileged to not have to endure the prevalent societal differences and sexism that the characters in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, must. The readers, lead by the protagonist, Scout Finch, can truly begin to identify with her observance and simultaneous acceptance and defiance of gender roles. Evidently, Scout grows up with prominent gender roles impacting and influencing her opinion on how each gender “should” and “should not” behave, but when it comes to her behaviour, she does as she pleases. When Scout converses with her male cousin, Francis, about cooking, she laughs upon hearing his uncommon interest of the pastime.

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Judge Paul Heath Till’s explanation of Southern civility is reflected in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird in various ways. It is shown by the way the folks of Maycomb County Alabama dress and the way they speak. Southerners need to have respect for others and possess their social class. Their family name can have a good reputation when they address elders with respect and maintain a nice appearance.

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Harper Lee is known for her best-selling novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. This story was taken place in the 1930’s where there was prejudice in the Southern society. It’s told from the point of view of 6 year old Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout. Through Scout’s point of view, Harper Lee demonstrated how people were biasedly treated and to show us the reality of society back then. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee demonstrates the importance of justice, gender differences, and racial inequality in the South.

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Breaking Away Even though Letty Cottin Pogrebin, an American author and social activist, recently stated, “When men are oppressed, it’s a tragedy. When women are oppressed it’s tradition,” in recent times, women decades ago experienced even greater prejudice (Deborah, Golda, and Me). In Harper Lee’s 1930s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee discusses the tradition of inequality between men and women. The protagonist and narrator, Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout, lives in a time when women are expected to be perfect Southern ladies.

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Calpurnia does a lot more than what she is hired for. She cooks and teaches Scout how to write. The Finches are very grateful to have Calpurnia, however, since she is a black women in a white household, injustice rise. Aunt Alexandra is racist and because she is family, she has some authority in the Finches house. One day Aunt Alexandra overheard Scout telling a story to Atticus about the time she visited Calpurnia’s black church, and Scout was invited to go to Calpurnia’s house.

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Maudie. Having lost her mother at an early age, Scout does not worry over her lack of femininity; however, her Aunt Alexandra does not approve of her unladylike behavior. While Atticus shows indifference towards Scout’s tomboy-ish behavior, Aunt Alexandra makes it her mission to end Scout’s tomboy likelihood and turn her into a lady. One day when Aunt Alexandra host a Missionary Society meeting with all the other ladies in the neighbourhood. During this time, she mocks Scout for being a tomboy.

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What Gender Roles May Come to Maycomb? In the 1930’s Deep South, discrimination of many types, including sexism, is integrated into daily life in the tiny, tight-knit Alabama town of Maycomb. One of many expectations and roles that women were thought to be fit for during this time period was that many women were not expected to have office jobs, rather, staying home and baking, cooking, and cleaning. Scout’s community, which influences her greatly, includes her explicitly feminine aunt, Alexandra, her peers, including her older brother Jem, and her father, Atticus, who are both males.

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In multiple ways, Calpurnia is a better mother figure than Aunt Alexandra. Calpurnia is a good mother for multiple reasons. First, the children like her. This is important because they respect her as well. If they did not like her as much, they probably would not listen as well or want to do what she asks them to.

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To Kill a Mockingbird explores a number of contextual issues in Alabama during the 1930’s, Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird tells a tremendous story that touches on issues such as racism, injustice and gender bias in Alabama during the 1930s. She shines a light on the racist themes to show how people of that time spoke and behaved. She also uses language considered offensive to help illustrate the episodes of alabama's past. The prevalent themes during the 1930’s create the content of the novel and how it has caused controversy over time.

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Women’s rights and their social status, one of the most controversial yet concerned topics that keeps raising the society’s attention. Ever since the existence of inequality between male and female had been discovered, people had never stopped reflecting on it. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, gender bias, along with racial discrimination, are tied together to serve as the major themes of the story. By using the perspective of a misfitting tomboy Scout, Lee vividly painted out the reality of women’s role of life in a typical Southern town during the early 1900s. Through the struggles Scout faced growing up as a girl, one can see, from the eyes of an innocent kid, how “being a lady” was defined as and judged for back in the day.

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