When Aunt Alexandra calls Walter Cunningham "trash", Jem starts thinking about the types of people in Maycomb county. He categorizes them, saying, "There's the ordinary kind like us and neighbors, there's the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes." (302). I disagree with his assessment; he lumps together the Atticus type with Mrs. Dubose and the Radleys, Mayella and Bob Ewell, Calpurnia and Lula. In doing so, he ignores the personalities and views of each individual but rather focuses on the overall rankings of power in society. The basic roles of "mockingbirds", victims, defenders, and assailants are the key parts that he is missing. This shows how he believes himself to be more mature than he is, as he says, "You know something, Scout? I've got it all figured out, now." (302). Once again, Scout shows her deeper understanding as she questions Jem's reasoning when he says, "I've seen Atticus pat his foot when there's fiddlin' on the radio, and he loves pot liquor better'n any man I ever saw -" (303) to which Scout responds, "Then that makes us like the Cunninghams" (303).
Another view Jem once had when he was Scout's age, is that "there's just one kind of folks. Folks." (304). A point he raises is that if everyone is the same, or equal, why can't they get along with each other? Here, both he and Scout miss how strong the segregation and discrimination is in Maycomb. Why does Jem go into a decline towards this part of the story? Why does Jem start categorizing based on social rankings as he grow older? Why is Scout not as affected yet?
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Jem is probably maturing and becoming more like Aunt Alexander, who is always categorizing people by their social/economic class. He is beginning the believe the things that Aunt Alexander tells them. Unlike Scout who is still young and not yet affected by the maturity stage of her life. This relates back to the idea of the power of children and what they are capable of when young, and Scout being the youngest in the family feels that there is only one type of people in Maycomb County, their world, and that being: Folks. I agree with Nic, I feel that in the book there is only one real type of people who just live separate ways of life.
ReplyDeleteSo a question that comes up is, if the people of Maycomb all lived the same lives with the same social/economic status, do you think racism would cease to exist?
I do not think racism/prejudice would exist, as the scenario states that everyone is the same as everyone else. However, if one person in this scenario were to have different views than everyone else, the system would then evolve into the current Maycomb, with people of different opinions, races, and social statuses.
ReplyDeleteI found a really clear symbol in the book. when Cal is looking at the coffee pitcher, she says "This coffee pitcher's a curiosity...they don't make 'em these days." This is a clear sign of how whites without racist views (Atticus, Scout, Jem) are fewer than there used to be, and more of the similar "coffee pitchers" exist currently in Maycomb.