Character Development In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird sets place in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during the prominent period of racial inequality in the mid-twentieth century. To Kill a Mockingbird explores the transformations that follow one’s coming-of-age alongside the ambivalent morals of the 1950s. Changing the setting would affect the character development, conflict and atmosphere developing a new theme.

The setting affects the character development of Scout as she faces the troubles of acting like a “girl” (4.41) because she dislikes acting in the ladylike manner that is expected of women in the 1950s. Furthermore, Scout fears that acting like a “girl” would lead Dill and Jem to stop interacting with her due to the feeling of the subtle

Scout witnesses the injustice and the unfair discrimination of “negroes” as “basically immoral beings” (20.204) but her father stands against his cruel treatment for what is right even in the face of danger. He reasons with the people that not all “negroes” are evil because of their color and points out the flaws in the testimony only to no avail. After Atticus loses the trial, the children lose their innocence as they see that the good being sentenced to death in essence and the bad winning the trial. However, a valuable lesson is taught to them that it is wrong to “cheat” another person because by acting in that manner is “trash” (23.220). The definition of “cheat” is to be dishonest in order to gain an advantage and taking such an advantage makes one no better than “trash” or useless. If the setting were to be set in modern day, then the trial could have gone differently and as opposed to displaying the wickedness of racial inequality; the theme would have been the impartiality in the justice

In addition, his description describes him as a “bloodstained” (1.12) monster from the kid’s point of view. The description of “malevolent phantom” conveys that Boo is an evil creature full of mystery and “bloodstained” serves to add to the creepy atmosphere. However, the initial perception changes as the story progresses where Jem believes after the trial that Boo “wants to stay inside” (23.227) of his home to avoid seeing the true evil that people can do to each other. In addition, Scout’s impression of Boo transforms when she decides to “stand in his shoes” seeing that he knew they “needed him” (31.279). The atmosphere around Boo Radley no longer remains evil but rather one of a protective guardian when Scout empathizes with Boo. The setting made it possible to see the difference between one’s expectation and one’s reality through the importance of empathy. If the setting did not take place in Maycomb with the Radleys, then it would not have been possible to understand the error of false