The Extent To kill a Mockingbird critiques the cultural values of Mayco

To kill a Mockingbird is a concentrated reflection of Harper Lee, the authors, upbringing. Having been raised in the small town of Alabama in the 1920s she was frequently exposed to prejudice and this inspire her to write a bind, her only to date, loosely based on her earlier days. Tom Robinsons trial, set in Maycomb County, is a parallel to the Scottsboro Trial, which was an ill-famed case during Lees childhood, where a negro was accused of rape. save the emphasis is based more on the lawyer, Atticus Finch, who defends him, as the book is written from the office of his daughter, Jean Louise, known as Scout. Throughout, an impressiveness is placed on the fact that its a sin to kill a mockingbird as they only sing their hearts out for us and dont eat up peoples gardens. This is a comment on the fact that Maycomb cabaret victimises Tom Robinson, despite the fact that he is harmless and only does good, on the nose like the mockingbird. This symbolic meaning resulted in the ti tle To Kill a Mockingbird rather than the initial name Atticus as the publishers mat the book was not solely based on Atticus as a person. On the contrary, they felt the values of Maycomb hunting lodge such as affectionate division and status, racial prejudice, double standards, integrity and courage were the focuses of the book. It is outstanding to appreciate the advantages a child narrator brings to a novel of this kind, delinquent to Scouts innocence and youth she does not understand original social infrastructures which complicate the adult world, thus exposing Maycomb in a way of life that an adult narrator could not. This allows Harper Lee to critique the values of Maycomb society in a more subtle manner, for example Scout does not judge people, but instead explains... ...ociety to a vast extent. It comments on the foundations of Maycomb as an isolated and inward looking society which allows racial prejudice to grow. The social division, stereotyping and prejudice are also emphasized as each family has a streak and Tom Robinsons case is as simple as black and white Harper Lee also exposes the double standards and guile of the citizens of Maycomb, by using irony and giving the reader a perspective that the charters cannot see. At the forefront of all of the happenings in this book is Atticus Finch, who is represented as an honest man with strong values, he is a bloodline to most people in Maycomb, and he shows us what it is to be a gentleman. Although Harper Lee does allow the reader to see some look forward to for Maycomb society and the changing racial attitudes within it, she generally criticizes their values to a much deeper extent.