To Kill A Mockingbird Social Lens Essay

Brooklyn Hansen Ms. Pearson English 10C May 20, 2024 TKMB Rough Draft The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is an informative book on how society was in the 1930’s. There are many lenses in which to view this book, but the most useful one is the Marxist lens, which is viewing text with structural powers. In the book, the Finch family shows how they use their influence to either help or criticize the less fortunate people inside and out of their family, who are underprivileged because of their age, race or social class which fits with the times stereotypes. A prevalent minority in the book is Scouts. She isn’t a minority in society because she is white, but she is a minority in her family because she is the youngest child. Harper Lee

Scout got so angry with him that they started fighting. She said, “His maddening superiority is unbearable these days” (Lee 184). This small but detailed quote shows that being older in a situation may be the cause for someone to feel like they can boss others around. Jem Finch used his age to criticize and bully the “less fortunate” in this scenario. Sometimes the younger kids don’t like how the older children treat them, and can react poorly, showing the power of age, and why older people hold their age over younger people. Yet, oftentimes, it isn’t just children holding power over the other kids. It is generally seen in adults as well. Older adults hold “power” over younger adults, often expressing how much they are wiser because of their age. An unfortunate and terrible “norm” in the book was racism. Most people in Maycomb used their race as a way to bully and harm the minority race. All the same, while many used their force for good, the Finch’s used their power to help black people. At trial, when Atticus was defending the accused black man, Tom Robinson, Atticus’s children, Jem and Scout, were

It is learned that the jury wouldn’t let Tom Robinson off the hook just because he was black. Clearly, the jury uses their power for their personal agendas. But because of the power they possess, not many people question them for their decision. The way the jury felt about certain people, specifically black people, meant that racism influenced their vote. They didn’t really listen to the evidence because they wanted to declare Tom Robinson guilty only because he was black. The jury knew that Tom Robison was not guilty, but they still convicted him because of his race. In the book, during the last day of summer, Aunt Alexandra had her girlfriends over for tea. Scout was invited in to sit with them, so she obliged. Scout heard them talking about a place a little ways from Maycomb, where people lived awful lives, but no “good” Christian would help them. All the ladies did was talk about the poor families as if it was going to help their situation. One of the ladies said, “Not a white person’ll go near ‘em but that saintly J. Grimes Everett” (Lee