To Kill a Mockingbird, is a tale containing the everyday prejudice faced in the 1930’s. It is set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Harper Lea has used the idea of the settings to accentuate the specific types of prejudice, such as the class segregation in Maycomb, the racism in the courthouse and the sexism in the home. The novel is narrated by Scout, a child at present. This leaves the reader to see the 1930’s through an unfiltered lens.

In the state of Alabama lies a small fictional town of Maycomb, where the tale of To Kill a Mockingbird takes place. Maycomb is harshly divided along class and racial lines. The thriving families composed of white Americans, live in big houses, near the town center. The lower class citizens, such as the Ewells, live in a derelict cabin near the dump. The only other dwellings in the area are the black peoples cabins. This creates the basis for the setting of Maycomb, to reinforce the idea of class segregation. The Author’s intent was to reinforce this prejudice by associating and having the lower class – the Ewells – reside near the dump with the black people. They are “absolute trash”. Then indicating that there is indeed, “…four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.”. Scout, still young and naive didn’t understand this class segregation. She disagreed with her brother when she said “Naw, Jem, I think there’s just one kind of folks.”. So, in-turn, she invited Walter Cunningham over for a play day. This scene was induced by the setting, as Maycomb socially functions on the class prejudice. This allowed Aunt Alexandra to quickly shoot down Scouts invitation, “Because— he—is—trash, that’s why you can’t play with him.”. A reader’s reaction to this would likely be one of shock, as this does not occur in our everyday society and is, therefore, not acceptable. However, during the 1930’s, in a setting such as Maycomb, it was socially acceptable and expected of Aunt Alexandra. Her reaction, filled with such venom to correlating with people of lower class, only supported Jem’s other realisation that, “our kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the colored folks.”. The four social classes dislike the one below them and try to differentiate themselves.This rift between the classes would have only grown during the great depression, due to the differing financial situations of each class.This does not allow them to ‘mix’. Overall, the people of Maycomb segregate themselves and have a class and racial prejudice between them.

The prejudice of racism is most strongly displayed in the courtroom. Here, it is allowed to rear its ugly head, without the intervention of equality. The setting reinforces the idea of racism because the court functions in a racist manner. This is a system that has been corrupted by racist beliefs, but is upheld by things such as the Jim Crow Laws. With a white Jury, innocent black men, such as Tom Robinson, can’t get a fair trial. Atticus explained to the narrator, “The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box.”. This moment in the book was orchestrated by the author to accentuate, to the reader, that there is no point in a black man going to court. Due to the winning argument being based upon their skin color, not the evidence in front of them. As a black man, Tom Robinson could have had the best defense attorney, with the best argument, but even then he would never stand a chance against a white man, “when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.”. Tom was undoubtedly innocent, “we’ve won it… Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard”, said Jem. He, amongst the other untainted views of the children there, could see the evidence for what it was, not yet blinded by Tom’s skin colour. A reader’s reaction to this would be one of surprise, and possibly outrage, that a jury would convict someone based on their skin color. This scene would quickly become an enlightening moment, for the reader. A window has been opened, in the courtroom setting – as was intended by the author – to provide a better view to people and their racist beliefs. The setting of the courtroom is not, however, the only setting that reinforces a specific prejudice.

The setting of Scout’s home is a place filled with sexism. Here, Aunt Alexandra would talk about her ideals for the children. Many of these opinions are sexist. The home is a place where sexisim is reinforced. Harper Lea has done this through the common expectation, in the 1930’s, that a woman’s place is in the home, or more specifically barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. Although this does not yet apply to Scout, this expectation of her, is tattooed into her brain. This ideal from society is demeaning towards young girls. It began to erode Scout’s tomboyish personality, as it was apart of Alexandra’s campaign “to teach me to be a lady”. When a gathering of women, for tea, was held in the home, they were quick to ask Scout what she wanted to be when she grew up, “Don’t you want to grow up to be a lawyer?” Miss Maudie’s hand touched mine and I answered mildly enough, “Nome, just a lady.”. With the pressure of the looks from the women, Scout could say nothing, accept to ‘become a Lady’, as was expected of her. The Author added this crucial moment in the book, because it redefines how the setting allows the prejudice of sexism to come through and reinforces it through the expectations of a woman, that would occur in a home; The expectation for Scout to become a Lady, and heed her future husband’s demands. This increased the pressure on her to answer correctly, as the setting was in ‘woman’s place’, where they expect other women to mindlessly bow down to this sexist expectation. Scout looked up to the women around her and tried to act as they would, to satisfy her Aunt and Atticus, “We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence.”.  Aunt Alexandra’s pestering for Scout to be a Lady, in the home, quickly installed a new belief in her, “I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life.”. This was a common belief, amongst girls, in the 1930’s, but as a reader from a different time period this ‘belief’ is irrational and practically unheard of. Although things were different in the 1930’s, and the home was a sexist place, full of sexist ideals. The world was an unfair place. Women, of the 1930’s, recognized this inequality, and were only just beginning to band together. The First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, was a big activist and championed for feminism, amongst other things. Though Scout was too young to be aware of this and understand, it would still have a lasting impact upon her day to day life, in her feature years. She was born and raised into a world of men; a world that is being run by men. She was bound to feel the pressure of the sexist prejudice in the world. Her home is supposed to be a place of safety, away from the harsh ideals of prejudice, but this was not the case. Instead Scouts home started to reinforce the ideals of sexism, as a woman’s place is in the home and in the kitchen.

There are differing types of prejudice surrounding everyone each day. To Kill a Mockingbird has enlightened the reader and opened their eyes to the world of the 1930’s. Some would say that the books main purpose was to explore prejudice of class segregation, race relations (racism) and sexism in the South of America. The Author, Harper Lea has used three settings, the town of Maycomb, the courtroom, and Scout’s home to illustrate the everyday prejudice that is reinforced by these settings. She has used a child, Scout, as the narrator. This allowed the reader to see the characters daily lives and the challenges they face, through an unfiltered lens. Now their eyes have been opened to the world of prejudice, known as the 1930’s.