Parental figures in "To Kill a Mockingbird":
“Some negroes lie, some negroes are immoral, some negro men are not to be trusted around our women—White and Black. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and not to a particular race of men.” -Atticus Finch (Chapter 20, page 204)
Published in
1960, To Kill a Mockingbird is a staple in American literature, being taught in
schools for years. This book is a series of stories spanning three years, told
from the perspective of a six to eight-year-old girl named Jean Louise Finch,
better known as “Scout”, with her older brother, Jeremy “Jem” Finch, and her
Father, Atticus Finch. It takes place in rural Alabama in the 1930s when the
Great Depression hit American workers. The better part of the book covers a
trial of a black man, presumed to have raped a white woman, and Atticus, as the
attorney of the town of Maycomb was tasked to defend the negro man. Of course,
since this is rural Alabama in the 1930s, the case did not go as planned,
making Scout question the morality of adults in Maycomb. Even when there was
irrefutable evidence that he did nothing and that the girl is part of the most
freeloading family in town, racism bared its fangs and bit, demonstrating how
some people use their biased feelings to judge others, even if facts exist.
But putting
racism aside for a moment, this book heavily focuses on parental figures as a
monolith; they are the basis on which “Scout” comes to conclusion and
understands the adult world around her. People like Atticus Finch, Dolphus
Raymond, Robert E. Lee Ewell, Calpurnia, and Alexandra bring a certain type of
knowledge to our protagonist in some way, shape, or form. Although centered all-around racism and life in the great depression, this book has an underlying
dilemma rarely spoken of in any medium: parental guidance and the importance of
it while growing up in a world full of prejudice. There are good, bad, and
neutral adults giving advice to “Scout” throughout the stories, and here we can
lay down a foundation for how Jean Louise Finch will grow up to be in the
future. Did “Scout” learn something by the end of the book?
Let us begin
with Atticus Finch, father to “Scout” and Jeremy, defense attorney to Maycomb,
and finest shooter this town had. He was a simple man: you don’t mess with him;
he doesn’t mess with you; he lived to protect his children. He taught
them always to fight a non-confrontational war. Atticus represents the good way
of parenting in this book; he was not prejudice, harbored no hatred, and was
the kindest man willing to risk his job and defend a negro in an unwinnable
trial. Mr. Finch would always try to instill some wisdom on Scout and Jem, and
even read to them every day he could. He was the positive aspect of parenting,
and probably the only one to be found, however, it could be due to the century
it was written about.
On the
neutral side, Dolphus Raymond was an aspect of adulthood to shaped Scout
throughout the story. Dolphus was a pretend-drunker, who lived with a black
mistress and mulatto children. He knew this town was full of hypocrites but
understood that nothing could be changed. Although briefly introduced, as well
as solely directing wisdom to Dill (a friend of Scout and Jem), he is a
fundamental pillar in Scout’s life, albeit a small one. His rationale lies in
his deception and making others understand (falsely) their biases and
conjectures of his lifestyle; he is a man that means well, but in a roundabout
way, he comes off as delusional. A martyr, in sense.
“I
try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a
reason.”
“It
ain’t honest but it’s mighty helpful to folks.”
-Dolphus
Raymond (Chapter 20, Page 200)
Robert “Bob”
E. Lee Ewell, the most freeloading man in all of Maycomb, spiteful, alcoholic,
and a terrible father. Although poor, being white still gives him some
privileges to do as he pleases. He is so careless that his family tends to
multiply every time, birthing many more with his name. This man represents the
bad side of parenting, exemplified by how the trial went. The whole trial could
have been avoided if not for his prejudicated ways; he could not face reality
when he struck his daughter, so he falsely accuses a working negro man that
happened to be near the scene. Apart from domestic violence, racism, and false
accusation, this man threatened to kill Atticus; in a drunken spite-filled
rage, he decides to attack (and nearly kill) our protagonist, in order to
avenge his prideful ego. Fortunately, he died due to poetic justice, as he
killed himself with the weapon.
“Bob
Ewell’s lyin’ on the ground under that tree down yonder with the kitchen knife
stuck up under his ribs. He’s dead, Mr. Finch.”
-Sheriff
Heck Tate (Chapter 28, Page 266)
What about
female parental figures? There are two to name, these women forged somewhat her
feminine self, but not her outlook on society as a whole. Calpurnia, maiden to
the Finch household, was a sweet negro woman that cared very much for the kids.
However, she represents the justified hypocrisy in this story. Being black in
the 30’ entailed constant racism, and to avoid most of it, black people would
mold their language to fit the standards of white people. Calpurnia was no
different, in the presence of white people she would take a more formal speech,
while with other black people, mostly at church, she would use slang and
language characteristic to their culture. She knew it was wrong, but to live
like this was better than to be killed for being a “savage”. She equates this character change to survival. This is the first instance in which Scout comes
to understand how adults function.
The second
female parental figure to help Scout grow is her aunt, Alexandra Finch Hancock.
Sister to Atticus, Alexandra had an imposing figure towards how ladies should
act, and Scout, being the rowdy girl she was, would not lend an ear to her
speeches. Alexandra had subtle instances of racism but never actually vocalized
them, she merely insinuated them. Her demeanor towards Scout’s actions usually
came with scolding and reproach. The ultimate goal of her visit (which was
extended and unwanted) was to give tips on how to be a woman since Scout’s
mother passed away. Not having a mother, Scout took a more tomboy nature; Aunt
Alexandra despised that. She was the classic feminine woman that wants Scout to be
submissive and more lady-like, contrary to her rowdy nature. She is critical of
anything Scout does: her preferences, friends, actions, etc.
Uncle Jack,
much like Atticus, was a figure that cared and understood our protagonist. His
visit was short-lived but was well enough to imprint good morals.
Scout grasped
the concept of hypocrisy better than any adult could in the whole book, making
the simple comparison of Hitler and the blatant racism in their own backyard;
how the Jewish were mistreated being bad and seeing the townsfolk inversely
mistreat the negroes. Another subtle point being presented by the adults is
that no matter what, whites should not be treated badly, even if poor or from
another religion, if they are black it does not matter what others do.
Hypocrisy is a prevalent criterion in racism and adulthood, they blind
themselves in order to fulfill their bias.
It’s mostly a
subjective essay and there may be some discrepancies in what is good and bad,
but it does not disregard the fact that this all takes place in the 1930s. A
simple fact that evidently shows how difficult it was to live in the great
depression. In a subtle way, this book shows not naivete but that humans are
not born racist or prejudice; we are taught by adults how to act, how to live,
how to think, the youth is very impressionable. A book of injustices presenting
real-life issues that should be talked about in most recent times. Disregarding
childhood as ignorance when they are the ones that see an unobstructed view of
how humans look like, not from the outside with their skin, hair, and eyes, but
their hearts and minds. Wisdom is about perceiving with the soul, not with
sight. We are not born racist; we are made. Man is born equal but made
different.
“They’ve
done it before, they did it tonight and they’ll do it again, and when they do
it—seems that only children weep.” -Atticus Finch (Chapter 22 Page 213)
ISBN: 0-446-31078-6