Atticus Finch Stereotypes

Stereotypes in a small town spread very rapidly and tend to never go away. Maycomb has a widespread problem of giving people stereotypes that were not always true. Many people lend to those by not giving the people of that town a good representation. Characters in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, have stereotypes and give stereotypes. Maycomb has many problem but some of the main one are, Racism, family stereotypes and the Radleys.

Racism is a very apparent problem in all of the world, but especially in the southern states in America. Atticus Finch is the kind of man who will defend anyone not because he gets paid, but because he knows it is the right thing to do. Atticus says, “The one places 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 carving their resentments right into a jury box” (Lee 252). Additionally Atticus states, “Whenever a white man cheats a black man like that, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he come from, that man is trash” (Lee 252). Atticus shows to all the people of the Jury and Maycomb that he is pro-human rights, by defending Tom Robinson like no other human would. Atticus also brings up

how whites treat blacks and completely annihilated the normal way whites treated blacks at that time. Atticus Finch hates stereotypes and tries vehemently rid Maycomb of them even when he does not always win.
Additionally when racism creates a divide like it had in the South, people suffer at the expense of others.

Tom Robinson was a strong black man who was accused of rape, and convicted on the ideology that all strong black men can not be trusted. Tom explains to the court why he ran from the crime scene: “Like I says before, it weren’t safe for a n----r to be in a fix like that” (Lee 225). Tom Robinson was scared for his life because he was a strong black man in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tom has done nothing wrong, but is accused because the Ewells know that he will be convicted because of who he is. Black strong men have never fully been trusted especially at this time period, and that is the only reason Tom Robinson

dies.
On another note, family is very important in the south and all across the world, but outside of family many are given false stereotypes. Aunt Alexandra is a typical southern woman she dresses nicely, goes to church, socializes, and most importantly she gossips. When Aunt Alexandra gossips about people in Maycomb, she also uses old stereotypes to put others below her and her family. Aunt Alexandra explains, “Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you cannot play with him” (Lee 256). Aunt Alexandra, is a woman who will do anything to make her look better. She has a stereotype for everyone who lives in the town, and degrades almost everyone. Aunt Alexandra is the type of person who like to put people in categories, even when it is derogatory towards other people.
Even though family is important in the south some people have a complete disregard to family life. Bob Ewell destroyed his family by drinking and being a racist and lier. Atticus tells scout how awful of a parent Bob Ewell is: “is is certainly bad, but when a man spends his relief checks on green whisky his children have a way of crying from hunger pains. I don't know of any farmer who begrudges those children any game their father can hit” (Lee 34). Bob Ewell is the kind of person who pins stereotypes on other people to better himself, like when he thought he would receive fame for causing Tom Robinson to go to prison. Bob Ewell is a nasty person, who only looks out for his own good, not that of any other human.
Many people in Maycomb have come to the ideology that any story that is heard is true.
The Radleys are seriously misunderstood people who have suffered at the hand of Maycomb, just because they are different. Calpurnia says when Mr. Radley died: “There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into,” (Lee 13). Miss Maudie explains, “As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities,” (Lee 12). People in Maycomb seriously take the Radley situation far out of perspective, the Radleys just want to be left alone not tormented all the time. There is nothing wrong with Boo Radley, he just like to stay inside because he does not know how to deal with people outside. The Radleys are completely misunderstood people, and the people in Maycomb only think they are dangerous because the live inside all the time.
People have problems, towns have problems, towns of people have more problems, and Maycomb is not an exception especially with racism, family stereotypes, and the Radleys. People in Maycomb are not that different from people today they still have lives go to work and have social gatherings, and they also like us have issues of race and stereotyping. We still call people names based on who they are and we still have trouble with equality between whites and blacks. However in the end, we are not that different after all we can't change who we are, we can't change what our skin color we are, or how we look, we can only change how we act.