Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird shows characteristics of the changing face of southern society: specifically Antebellum South and Postbellum South.
Antebellum South reflects norms of a society where whites were dominant over blacks, but the culture of the African-American was extremely influential in that society:
By the mid-1800s, [r]esolved to control their socioeconomic order and continue slavery, southerners lived in a duality between their uncompromising position and the true biracial nature of the region. Whites controlled positions of power but black southerners influenced the region in countless ways. For example, slaves greatly impacted the language, folklore, religion, music, literature, and recreation of the South.
This can be seen in Calpurnia's influence in the raising of the Finch children. When Scout gets in trouble on her first day of school for already knowing how to write in cursive, we find that Cal was her teacher, and Scout's advanced knowledge is only because the housekeeper (who is like the children's mother) took the time to challenge Scout before she ever started school.
Calpurnia was to blame for this. It kept me from driving her crazy on rainy days...She would set me a writing task by scrawling the alphabet firmly across the top of a tablet, then copying out a chapter of the Bible beneath.
Not only did Scout learn to write, but we also understand that Calpurnia can read and write (cursive) herself.
Postbellum refers to the time after the end of a war. It is defined as being "of or during the period after a war, especially the American Civil War." The period after the Civil War in the South was marked by confusion and resentment. Landowners were forced to free their slaves, and slaves were the backbone of the South's agrarian society. During this difficult period of adjustment for all involved, the government attempted to enforce the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. With the changes of presidents and political majorities, common ground was never really found. Ultimately, oppression of the freed slaves became the law of the land once more—even though the law did not support it.
During Radical Reconstruction, which began in 1867, newly enfranchised blacks gained a voice in government for the first time in American history, winning election to southern state legislatures and even to the U.S. Congress. In less than a decade, however, reactionary forces–including the Ku Klux Klan–would reverse the changes wrought by Radical Reconstruction in a violent backlash that restored white supremacy in the South.
These attitudes can be seen with Bob Ewell and others in Maycomb (though not everyone) in their hatred of blacks and their perception that blacks were less than human. Consider Tom Robinson's trial for rape as the result of the false accusations of Mayella and Bob Ewell. Though there is no doubt that Tom Robinson is not guilty by all of the evidence presented, the white jury still finds Tom guilty. He was not convicted because he had done something wrong; he was convicted because he was black.
Then Mr. Underwood's meaning became clear: Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.
While many people in Maycomb (Atticus, Miss Maudie, Mr. Underwood, Judge Taylor, etc.) are more opened-minded, having compassion for the black community, and the practicing their belief that skin color has no bearing upon the value of a man or woman (which is a more Postbellum South vision), many others (including the Ewells and Mrs. Dubose) reflect the norms of the Antebellum South. While people from the North were supportive of changes to the South after the slaves were emancipated, the South found it much more difficult to adapt to the massive changes to their societal and economic norms. Maycomb was still deeply rooted in the past, even though many folks were progressively embracing new attitudes that were not popular with those with a firm and unshakable foundation in the norms of the Old South.
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