Examples Of Tradition In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In 1960, Harper Lee released her masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird. On that day, the horrors of tradition were revealed. For many, tradition was a way to remember their loved ones. For others, tradition made their lives a living hell. As a result, tradition also divides society; slowly damaging society to bits by preferring one group of people over others. The thought of tradition creation problems and dividing society is clearly painted in To Kill a Mockingbird. Through the trials, Aunt Alexandra and Jem lectures shows tradition damages society by judging people based on their status in society. To begin the unraveling of the damage that tradition has created, the testament of Tom Robinson is a good stating point. The reason Tom was in trial was that he was accused of raping Mayella ,a white girl. The trial was going in his favor. Attitcus, his lawyer, proved that Tom couldn’t have suppressed her since one of his arms had a defect. However, when Tom was …show more content…

This makes old groups with old ideas stay on top and groups with new ideas stay in the bottom. The bottom ones are treated as lesser beings. This is shown perfectly in Aunt Alexandria conversation with Scout. As Alexandria states” “… you can scrub Walter …he’ll never be like Jem” (Lee 228). Due to the fact Walter is from a poor family he is treated like one. He may be smart but because he is part of a poor family he’s disrespected. The town is like this because of tradition. As Jem states “You know something… and who their family was…”(Lee 230). Every person is characterized by their family history and not by their induvial status. With this fact, it can be inferred that all power is held by the people who originally had power. This idea is dreadful. No new change can be done, for the people in charge will have outdated ideas. Any problems that arise with this ideology will not get fixed. This leads to a breakdown to

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