Although To Kill a Mockingbird takes place nearly seventy years after the legal end to slavery, Harper Lee’s coming of age novel clearly depicts the racial inequity that necessitated the emergence of The Civil Rights Movement. Many of Maycomb County’s characters confirmed the ubiquity of the deeply ingrained racist views of the American people in the early 1930s. These characters, along with Tom Robinson’s conviction for a crime he clearly did not commit, illustrate the truth about America in the decades between the ratification of The Thirteenth Amendment and The Civil Rights Movement: that true freedom did not exist for African Americans. To Kill a Mockingbird reminds us that African Americans in the 1930’s were not free to receive an equal education, to obtain equal housing, to avoid discrimination in America’s every institution, or --as was the case for Tom Robinson, as well as countless other black men living during this time -- to move about the world without the very real risk of death as the result of a wrongful, unjust conviction.
Scout, the main character in To Kill a Mockingbird, embodies many of the tensions of The Civil Rights movement, particularly in her point of view as a young child growing up in a racist, hypocritical world. Although Scout’s father, Atticus, insists, through his own example and in his direct teachings, that Scout learn to treat all people equally, regardless of race, Scout still, inevitably, is indoctrinated into America’s tradition of unfair and unequal treatment of black people. Although Scout does not exhibit overt racism, her narration often illustrates how deeply she has internalized people of color as “the other,” such as when she refers to Tom as a “good negro” during the trial, espousing a clear double standard of morality for black people. Scout does have moments of mature revelation, such as when she famously says to Atticus that it would be “like killing a mockingbird” to reveal the truth about Boo Radley’s killing of Mr. Ewell; still, she clearly struggles to completely overcome the racist views of the society she belongs to despite the careful teachings of her father, thus elucidating the immense challenge of achieving the Civil Rights Movement's goal for just world, free of racial prejudice.
Although To Kill a Mockingbird is set during the Great Depression, the racial tension in the novel is equally applicable to the climate of the civil rights movement; this tension highlights the absence of and need for racial equality in America. Tom Robinson's legal troubles were a common occurrence during the Jim Crow era, as many black males were unjustly accused of, and then harshly punished for, inappropriate conduct with white females. Beatings, lynchings, and worse were often inflicted upon black men at the hands of white men in the volatile racial climate of the rural south; Tom's legal predicament in the novel is similarly grave. The likelihood of a black man being acquitted by a white jury was small, so the accusations against Tom in To Kill A Mockingbird accurately reflect life both during the Great Depression and the civil rights movement.
Atticus Finch is respected by many people as an example of how a white ally should fight for equality; his courageous representation of Tom in court provides a moral example of how one should fight for what is right, even when the decision is unpopular. Although the civil rights movement was largely championed by people of color, white supporters also marched, boycotted, and contributed financially in many cases, and Atticus was undoubtedly a hero to white Americans who fought for racial equality. Atticus's respect and support for Calpurnia, the family's black housekeeper, demonstrates the importance of mutually respectful relationships across color lines; in many ways she is considered a part of the family more than an employee. The above character relationship provides a small but accurate snapshot of the issues and tension present both during the Great Depression and the American civil rights movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment