Miss Gates Foreshadowing

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‘“Hitler is the government,”’ said Miss Gates, and seizing the opportunity to make education dynamic… ”(328). The class discussion about Hitler is a peculiar moment in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Yet Harper Lee would never add this to the story without a purpose. Setting, diction, syntax, static characters and irony used in this passage creates Scout’s coming of age moment in realizing the prejudicial conception towards black people in Maycomb. Setting: The time period, culture, and values of the story. The settings role is to present why Scout has never noticed the irregularities between white and black people. For instance, when Cecil speaks of the Jews, “...but that ain’t no cause to persecute them. They’re white, ain’t they?” (329). The mention of white stereotypes is essential here because Scout has indirectly followed the white superior stereotype. Therefore, Scout doesn’t note this herself in the passage, but she will soon realize the problem of this stereotype later in the passage.
The use of diction and syntax sets a serious tone in this passage. In order …show more content…

By creating a static character known as Miss Gates. Miss Gates explains to the class the difference between America and Germany. “We are a democracy and Germany is a dictatorship...Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudice” (329). Harper Lee creates a parallelism between “persecuting anybody” and Tom Robinson. Miss Gates doesn’t believe in persecuting innocent lives. However, she supported Tom’s execution. Claiming that “it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson” (331). Scout is bothered by this irony. “Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home-” (331). Scout finally notices the negative preconception towards black people. Which she has indirectly followed since the beginning of the

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