How Does Lee Use Societal Judgment In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, was released during the Civil Rights movement. Lee grew up in the racist South during the Great Depression which greatly influenced her novel. The story takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama during the 1930s and is told through the eyes of a young tomboyish girl named Scout. Atticus Finch, her father, is the defense lawyer for Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white women. In Maycomb, opinions rumors spread like fire and the town is quick to construct opinions about those who are different. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mr. Dolphus Raymond, to prove that societal judgment makes people perceive outcasts as monsters.

To begin, Boo Radley, as an

Tom Robinson, a black man with a crippled left hand, is an outcast in society due to the color of his skin. When accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a traumatized white girl, the town views him as an abomination to society. As Tom’s defense lawyer, Atticus Finch calls out the town on their racial judgments as he states, “...confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption-the evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings…” (Lee 232). A majority of the white community believes that Tom is a monster due to the color of his skin, therefore, when he is accused of raping Mayella, this intensifies. It is always a white’s word over a black’s word because of these conclusions that he is corrupt and a monster. Later, after being convicted for a crime he did not commit, Tom is shot 17 times by a guard in prison who claims Tom was trying to escape. Maycomb continues to view Tom as a monster after his death as they assume that all black men are criminals and bad people. One townsfolk states, “... that Robinson boy was legally married, they say he kept himself clean, went to church and all that…” (Lee 275). By his innocence, by his family, and by his life, Tom is a kind and honest man. Some saw Tom as the human being he was instead of the monster that Maycomb’s society created out of him. Innocent, Tom Robinson was not a horrid person,

Dolphus Raymond, seem like a monster. Being a white man with a black ‘wife’ and mixed children, Mr. Raymond prefers the black community where there is less apprehension towards him. Seeing him as a drunkard, the town combines this with his attraction to blacks to create the image of him being a monster. Everyone along with Scout feeds into this judgment. Scout narrates, “I had a feeling that I shouldn't be here listening to this sinful man who had mixed children and didn’t care who knew it…” (Lee 228). Based on his relationship with a black woman and their children, the whole town views Mr. Raymond as a repugnant person. To continue, Mr.Raymond tells the children that he is not an alcoholic, but he pretends so the town can justify his way of life to themselves. Explaining himself to the children, Mr. Raymond states, “... if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey-that’s why he won’t change his ways.” (Lee 228). Mr. Raymond is only human, but the town sees him as a sinful person due to his children, therefore, he creates an image of himself to cater to the town’s opinions of him. To deal with this judgment, he pretends to be drunk. He likes the life that he lives and will not change it because the town deems him to be a monster based on their racist