Boundaries in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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Boundaries in To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird revolves around human behavior and the boundaries that it facilitates. The boundaries of the quiet little town of Maycomb, Alabama are constantly tested by the games that people play. In each game, distinctions evolve. The distinctions become the rules of the game, of life, and from them, different boundaries form for each new character. With each new drama, characters and distinctions change, as do the boundaries which form them. The "summertime boundary" introduces the first instance of boundaries. This serves as the area in which Calpurnia allows Scout and Jem to play before calling them back home for going too far. The setting of a boundary portrays what will come in the novel. The summertime boundary emerges as the area in which Scout and Jem's games take place. This also accounts for where they meet Dill, another player in their game. The main character, Boo Radley, lives next door to the Finches. None of the children have ever seen Boo, but from the image they construct emerges a vivid character. "Boo was about six and a half feet tall, judging him from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands are blood-stained - if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time." (To Kill a Mockingbird, p.13). The children test his boundaries as well as their own imaginations by constructing the image. It adds to the game and encourages Jem and Scout to develop distinctions for their boundaries. Children also learn about boundaries from other people's games where boundaries develop. Scout's teacher plays the game of a sympathetic southern school teacher. She appears to be the perfect gentle woman, set in tradition and very sympathetic to the less fortunate, such as the Jews in Germany who suffer persecution. She says, "Persecution comes from those who are prejudiced." (To Kill a Mockingbird, p.245). Miss Gates' part also includes the confidence in her higher stature, though she sensibly plays the part down. Many other towns-women also model themselves after the "concerned" character, such as Miss Caroline, Miss Merriweather, and Mrs. Perkins. The women then become parts for children to model themselves after; they become role- models.

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