Social Issues In To Kill A Mockingbird

Nell Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird(Warner Books,1982) is an acclaimed sociological novel set in Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression. Scout, the narrator who is directed by the wisdom of Atticus, her father, and a neighbor Miss Maudie, assesses the racial inequalities, social institutions, and difficulties of maturation in the South. With her friend Dill and her brother Jem, she leaves the idealism of her childhood and begins to see the problems of the adult world. As her narrative draws to a close, she states, ”Jem and I would get grown, but there wasn’t much else left for us to learn except possibly algebra”(279). Through their experiences with the accepted social norms of the South, the children learn the importance of understanding

During their early childhood, life in the neighborhood shelters them from many of the accepted social norms of the South. Scout has not liked school since the very first day when her teacher told her that she learned to read wrong. This is just one example of how education is satirized. In the third grade Scout’s teacher talks about how Hitler is terrible for discriminating against jews when she discriminates against black people. Discrimination also plays a part in social hypocrisy. Mrs. Merriweather talks about how she fully supports J. Grimes Everett for helping a poor tribe in Africa. However, she does not care about the injustice that was done to Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella because Bob Ewell wants the town to see him as a hero. Due to his extreme poverty the town forgets about Mr.Ewell as soon as the trial is over and he goes back to being a social

After the children receive air rifles for christmas Atticus says ”.... Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(90). Scout does not understand what Atticus is telling her at first so she asks Miss Maudie about it. Miss Maudie tells her “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, They don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us”(90). From Atticus and Miss Maudie Scout learns that a mockingbird symbolizes the innocent. In this book one of the ways a mockingbird is interpreted is through Boo Radley. Throughout their lives the children come up with elaborate plans in an attempt to see Boo. At the time they don’t realize it but Boo was watching them grow up and leaving them gifts in the knothole of a tree. When the children are being attacked Boo sees that “his” children need him and comes to the