Attitudes In To Kill A Mockingbird

Q: Discuss how and why Atticus challenges the dominant attitudes and values of the time. Back in the 1930s, racism was not abnormal in the society. In fact, racism often happened in America in the 1930s. The white people would always rule over the people of colour, known as African Americans. The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” consisted of many discriminatory remarks against others, which would not be accepted anymore in the 21st century. However, Atticus is fully against discrimination and follows the principle of justice. Atticus challenges discrimination and injustice of the 1930s in America. Many supportive pieces of evidence show this. He defends innocent people and allows Scout to be herself. On top of that, Atticus is also sympathetic and understanding towards poor people. In this novel, Lee conveys to her

In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Atticus allows Scout to be herself because Atticus realises that at this age, Scout becomes more of a tomboy. Despite other ladies picking on Scout to be more “ladylike”, Scout simply ignores their requests. Although Atticus listens to Aunt Alexandra’s nagging of making Scout more “ladylike” and getting her to “wear a dress”, Atticus does not do anything about it to solve it. Atticus does not care about how Scout looks. So, if Scout is concerned about wearing a dress, Atticus will not bother about it because it is up to her whether she wants to wear a dress or not. Uncle Jack also asks Scout whether she wanted “to grow up to be a lady”. Scout replied, “Not particularly”. “Not particularly” shows that Scout doesn’t want to be a lady, although Atticus doesn’t fret about the situation. He wants Scout to grow up in freedom of what she wants to be. The freedom of this leads to equality of people. But the main reason behind what Atticus intends to develop in both Scout and Jem is to be a strong, compassionate and just adult. Lee conveys the theme of equality Atticus treats to