Thursday, May 23, 2013

to kill a mockingbird essay



Sometimes the setting and environmental surroundings of where you are can affect what you do. In this case, the setting of “To Kill a Mockingbird” helped keep the plot going. This book was set in an old age and time period so things were really different. They all live in a small town where everybody is known. In this part of time everyone was completely racist. So racist that it changed the ending of this book. These examples of factors can affect a plot of a story greatly.
The time period of this book effected how they acted. Since this is set in the olden days, children were grown to act very proper. They talk, act and handle situations differently too. One major key point is that there is no modern technology so for example; no DNA testing for crime scenes. This is something that would’ve been needed at the end of this book.   “Presently I picked up a comb from Jem’s dresser and ran its teeth along the edge” page 178. This shows how their Aunt Alexandria is teaching Scout and Jem to act mature, proper, to take good care of themselves and to have good hygiene.  The year that this book is set in effects the output on problems in the story, things could go differently if this book was set in more recent times.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” was also set in a small town where everyone is known or heard about and has lots of gossip. To prove how it’s a small town, some examples would be; Rumors are being spread about Boo Radley around town. Even though these rumors are not even true, still everyone believes what people tell them.  Another example would be that since it’s a small town the transportation is fast. Jem, Dill, and Scout can all hand out easily and can basically walk to each other’s houses. Scout makes a play about Boo Radley’s life even though she doesn’t really know anything about him whatsoever. “a s the summer progressed, so did our game. We polished and perfected it, added dialogue and plot until we had manufactured a small play upon which we rang changes every day.” Page52. This proves how word gets around even to children easily. This shows how everyone knows one another and children made up a play about a local man. You should be careful what you say because there are ears everywhere.
The last plot changer is the racism and unfairness in the town. They like to use the “N” word instead of saying African American which is very disrespectful and mean. Scouts dad, Atticus Finch supported a black guy named Tom Robinson in a court case, so people hated on him and looked at him differently just because he supported someone of a different color then them which is extremely unfair.  The major sign of racism is when the cruel jury pleaded the innocent Tom Robinson Guilty.  “This case is as simple as black and white” Page 271. This is a really good quote showing how people were predigest. Tom was obviously innocent but just because he’s black they just assumed differently.  He couldn’t Have raped anyone because he was crippled. Racism is very unfair.
As you can see the setting of this book affected the plot extremely. The time period It was set in, the fact that it was a small town, and the racism were a big part in the outcome of this book. If these factors weren’t included in the book, the plot would be very different. The book would probably not even be called this or even be about anything stated before.

Fin.