Racial Ideology In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

In the quiet city of Maycomb, there lie loud rumblings of racial ideology. Maycomb is more than just a small town that is known for its racism. Maycomb is personified so that it takes on the weight and importance of characters such as Scout, and Tom Robinson. Scout's qualities might not fit into the town's dynamic as he's not old and tiring, though his youth brings a dynamic that changes the way Maycomb is perceived. Alternatively, Tom Robinson fits into Maycomb, but not in the way that many would think. Being a black male in a predominantly white area is a bad thing. Not that the setting has anything to do with racism, but racial ideology is understood with injustice, social class, and gender bias, in the small, dynamic town of Maycomb.

There

In TKAM, women are restricted by societal expectations, as men's roles depend more on skin color than anything else. Calpurnia is a black housekeeper who works for Atticus, and takes care of Jem and Scout. Throughout the book, Calpurinia experiences racial encounters that illustrate Maycomb's racial ideology. In relation, African Americans are always on the suffering poor side. Tom Robinson is a victim of white leaders using their power to make false decisions that result in negative life changing events. Money relates to racial ideology in Maycomb, by creating certain stereotypes to associate with someone. Calpurina states her hardships with gender bias when she says, "It's right hard to say, she said. Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks' talk at home it'd be out of place, wouldn't it? Now what if I talked white-folks talk at church, and with my neighbors? They'd think I was puttin' on airs to beat Moses."(127) Shown to have clear discrimination on behalf of Calpurnia when relating gender to race. Another girl, similar to Calpurnia, is struggling with gender bias. Scout, when she was younger, was bullied by her older brother Jem. Jem not wanting Scout to play games with him and Dill, Scout experiences gender bias. This is clearly shown when Jem says, "See there? Jem was scowling triumphantly. Nothin’ to it. I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl it’s mortifyin.''(39) Jem

Injustice is shown throughout the book, as it appears in many scenes. It is most prominent when talking about Tom Robinson's case, and Boo Radley's family. As Tom Robinson's case is more prominent, Boo Radley's situation has an underlying situation of injustice. Tom Robinson is a struggling black man fighting for his freedom in a court of white racist judges.His injustice is shown when, "Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed." (245) Clearly, Tom Robinson's case is unfair, and injustice is distinctly shown. In this regard, Boo Radley is being treated unfairly because he is not considered to be a normal person in Scout's eyes. As the town of Maycomb blames Boo Radley for anything negative that happens, it shows the racial ideology in Maycomb. This is displayed when Jem says, "I hope you’ve got it through your head that he’ll kill us each and every one, Dill Harris," said Jem, when we joined him. "Don’t blame me when he gouges your eyes out. You started it, remember." (15) With Boo Radley being treated unfairly, injustice is clearly shown, bringing out the main point of racial ideology in