TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - HARPER LEE - NOVEL - DISCRIMINATION AND CHARACTER IN TKAM

Discrimination and Character in TKAM

What is the accepted practice of discrimination (how the majority of people believe it is okay to treat someone; who you are allowed to interact with and how) in Lee’s fictionalised version of 1930s Alabama?

Make a list of all the social rules you can think of that are mentioned in the book or part of your understanding of the historical context.

Race:

If you are black: e.g. you must sit at the back of the bus and use separate taps, toilets, and schools; you must not offer to shake the hand of a white person.

If you are white: e.g. you must not allow a black person to call you by your first name; you must date and marry other white people.

Class:

If you are upper class/hold a job: you have higher status, you use money

If you are lower class/don’t hold a job: you keep to yourself, don’t mingle with society, you barter

Gender:

If you are a man: you must provide for your family; you ‘own’ the females in your family; you must be physically tough and not emotional

If you are a woman: you receive less respect and status in society; you must wear dresses

Work with your partner to determine which characters reinforce (acts in accordance with, or perpetuates racism or classism) these accepted practices of racial discrimination or discrimination based on class, and which characters challenge (acts or speaks out against discrimination, realises it is wrong, or is shown to be moral or kind despite being the victim of discrimination).

For each character, note down which type of discrimination they reinforce or challenge, and examples of how they do this. NOTE: characters may both reinforce and challenge accepted practice.

Reinforces	Challenges
E.g. Mayella Ewell: while Mayella challenges racial discrimination somewhat by seeking out sexual relations with Tom Robinson, her actions following their encounter help to reinforce these ideas. By going along with her father’s lie, Mayella assists in condemning a man for the colour of his skin. Because Tom is black, she and her father believe his testimony won’t stand up against theirs in court. Rather than admit she sought Tom out (and risk further social isolation), Mayella passively allows society’s preconceptions to condemn him. Mayella is also the victim of class discrimination. As a Ewell woman, she is left to her father’s cruel whims, with almost no outside contact or friendship and no prospects of a better life. She is a prime example of the role social status and gender play in determining the fate of Maycomb residents.	E.g. Atticus Finch: he acts against racial prejudice and discrimination when he represents Tom Robinson to the best of his ability despite society’s belief that his word means less than that of a white man/woman. He also teaches Scout to see things from others’ perspective, and not to judge someone until you know them (which can apply to not judging based on skin colour). He also tells Scout not to use terms like ’n***er’. Atticus’ gentle and respectful manner with the Cunninghams (allowing them to pay with goods instead of money, treating Walter like an equal at the dinner table) reveals that he also challenges his society’s class-based discrimination.
Aunt Alexandra	Calpurnia
Bob Ewell	Miss Maudie Atkinson
Mrs Dubose	Jem Finch
	Heck Tate
	Mr. Dolphus Raymond
	Link Deas

Mr Underwood

Tom Robinson

Mr. Walter Cunningham

Water Cunningham

Scout Finch

NOVEL - JASPER JONES AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - COMPARING TWO CHARACTERS

JASPER JONES AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD – COMPARING TWO SIMILAR CHARACTERS

Mad Jack Lionel/Boo Radley

Mad Jack Lionel: ‘Mad Jack is a character of much speculation and intrigue for the kids of Corrigan. No child has actually laid eyes on him. There are full-chested claimants of sightings and encounters, but they’re quickly exposed as liars. But the tall stories and rumours all weave wispily around one single irrefutable fact: that Jack Lionel killed a young woman some years ago and he’s never been seen outside his house since...A popular test in Corrigan is to steal something from the property of Mad Jack Lionel. Rocks and flowers and assorted debris are all rushed back proudly from the high dry-grass sprawl of his front yard to be examined with wonder. But the rarest and most revered feat is to snatch a peach from the large tree that grows by the flank of the cottage like a zombie’s hand bursting from a grave. To pilfer and eat a peach from the property of Mad Jack Lionel assures you instant royalty’. (pp. 3-4)

Boo Radley: ‘Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was high, and peeped in windows. When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. Any stealthy crimes committed in Maycomb were his work. Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions’. (p. 15)

What purpose do the Boo Radley’s and Mad Jack Lionel’s of the world fulfill?

In TKAM Scout and Jem are obsessed with the idea of touching the Radley place and passing a note to Boo; just as in Jasper Jones the children are obsessed with stealing peach pits from Mad Jack Lionel.

In what ways is the Jasper Jones character Mad Jack Lionel a Boo Radley parallel?

MAD JACK LIONEL	BOO RADLEY
a character of much speculation and intrigue for the kids of Corrigan	a character of much speculation and intrigue for the kids of Maycomb -  ‘a malevolent phantom’
No child has actually laid eyes on him.	No child has actually laid eyes on him.
claims of sightings and encounters	claims of sightings and encounters – Boo supposedly crept out at night when the moon was high and peeped in windows
Jack Lionel killed a young woman some years ago and he’s never been seen outside his house since...	Any crime that took place was Boo’s work
A popular test in Corrigan is to steal something from the property of Mad Jack Lionel – peach pits	Jem, Scout and Dill steal something from the property of Boo Radley – want to touch his place and pass a note to Boo
Rocks and flowers and assorted debris are all rushed back proudly from the high dry-grass sprawl of his front yard to be examined with wonder	Jem, Scout and Dill are fascinated by Boo Radley’s yard