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How Does Lee Use Setting In To Kill A Mockingbird

697 Words3 Pages

Harper Lee uses setting and characterisation to reveal values such as social justice, attitudes such as racism and fears that exist in relationships within the town of Maycomb County during the 1930’s. In this essay I will discuss these aspects that exist in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Maycomb County is a small town in Alabama which is very much set in its ways. Time goes by and nothing seems to change, everyone’s business is publicly known. As Scout quoted ‘ He liked Maycomb County, he was Maycomb County born and bred; he knew his people, they knew him’. This was refiring to his father Atticus Finch, the town lawyer who was highly regarded and respected. It confirms a small town mentality where knowing everyone’s business …show more content…

It is the centre of attention within the town of Maycomb, and is seen as an evil haunted place where secrets are kept and only bad things happen. At one point H.Lee portrays a sense of fear in the passage ‘ The shutters and doors of the Radley House were closed on Sundays, another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways: closed doors meant illness and bad weather only’. This fear is evident when Scout, Jem and Dill continue their adventure whilst exploring the Radley House with great caution and trepidation. H.Lee provides further evidence that the house’s occupants are also evil when she states, “Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom.” The inhabitance of Radley House brought mystery to the town of Maycomb. Boo Radley a reclusive teenager is seen in the eyes of Scout, Jem and Dill as this creepy phantom. H. Lee successfully portrays the Radley property and its occupants as suspicious, creepy and …show more content…

She is looking back from an adult perspective and portrays Scout as an innocent young girl growing up in a society that is divided by people’s races and culture. Her intelligence allows her to question her father regarding the issues of racism and she learns and develops an understanding about what is right and what is wrong. She highly values her father and has great respect for him. This is made clear in chapter 7 through the following quote where Scout makes use of her fathers advice, "As Atticus once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem's skin and walk around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning, my funeral would have been held the next afternoon. So I left Jem alone and tried not to bother

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Rumors embraced Jem, Scout and Dill as they acted out stories of Boo stabbing his father with scissors and imitated his sad, psychotic life. When the kids started to mature they received a sense of reality in Maycomb and how the citizens aren’t as innocent as they appear. While Scout and Jem began to realized this Jem stated, “...I think i'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed up in the house all this time … it’s because he wants to stay inside.” (Lee, page 304) When miss Maudie's house caught fire on the cold night, a blanket appeared over Jem and Scout while they sat in front of the Radley house. They later found out that Boo was the one who had placed it there.

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