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Under the constitution all men, and women, are created equal. Unfortunately what the constitution reads and what the general population practices in every day (southern) society differs greatly. Most people have a predilection for how they feel towards other people and how they must act, depending on your rank in the ever-present caste system. The predetermined preference is one that is instilled in humans from the day they are born and it is near impossible to shake a person of these beliefs.
Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird this very caste system is clearly depicted through the eyes of a young girl and raises the question of how willing, or not so willing, people are to accept change or differences in one another. The stereotypes of Boo Radley being a dreadfully scary man whom is feared by all have drifted all the way down to even the young children of Maycomb. Scouts description of the Radley's home is as if she knew for a fact that the devil himself lived there. The Radley place jutted into a sharp curve The house was lowland ago darkened to the color of the slate gray yard around it Rain-rotted shingles drooped oak trees kept the sun away the remains of a picket drunkenly guarded the front yard (Lee 8). Her opinion is most likely a colored one, the Radley house may be in slightly more disrepair than the other houses on the street, and it may even appear gloomy with the lack of flowers and such. No where in Scouts description of the Radley home is there any mention of the house being even somewhat normal, she hardly even makes it sound like a house.
Everything in the picture she gives the reader is on the sub, or lower lever. The house is low, the colors are dark, and she even throws in alliteration to make it sound more disgusting with the rain-rotted shingles. Then there is the metaphor comparing the sunshine of Boos life, Jem and Scout concerning the hole in the tree, to that being blocked out when Nathan filled it in with cement. If these stereotypes were to stop at the level of visually dissecting another's home then it wouldnt be such a bad thing, but they dont! The thought of a caste system is usually related to the old Hindu culture in India, oh how very wrong this is. As with many small towns where everybody knows everybody there is a very defined level of who is on top of whom.
In Maycomb the Finches are on the top then, in descending order, the clergy, Miss Made Atkinson/Mr. Avery/Miss Stephanie, the Radley's, the Cunningham's, the Ewells, and on the very bottom the black community. It is because of this caste system that blew even the slightest chance that Tom Robinson ever had of getting a not guilty verdict. I felt right sorry for her With the Maycomb caste system how is possible for a pathetic black man to feel sorry for any white person, even a Ewell? It isnt possible, and Tom knew it as soon as he said it.
Tom knew the way things worked and where her stood, on the bottom. Jem being much like Atticus infers that Atticus was probably much like Jem. When Atticus was a child and lived in Maycomb and then proceeded into the real world to become a lawyer saw what things were really like out there. Its like bein a caterpillar in a cocoon, that what it is. Like somethin asleep wrapped up in a warm place. () That statement by Jem is the connection of generations. Lawyers, I suppose, were children once. (Lamb) They were children once and this is why Atticus has the mentality that he does about the way he views society.
Jem was able over come the stereotypical attitudes, even his own, and see what Atticus saw. This is why Atticus did everything the way he did, even though his parental methods seemed odd to Aunt Alexandra, there was reasoning. Atticus was a boy just like Jem at one point and he could see that Jem was seeing what he saw as a boy. He brought Jem out of the cocoon. Caste systems and stereotypes are the make up of Maycomb.
Even if Jem is the only person who Atticus can steer then that is one more person to guide Maycomb through the soon to come battle with the Civil Rights Movement. Atticus is ahead of his time, that is why he is at the head of the food chain. From Boo Radley to the Ewells and Tom Robinson, they each have stereotypes held against themselves by everyone except Atticus, because he, and now Jem, are the only ones who understand the concept all men being created equal.
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Research essay sample on Boo Radley Tom Robinson
