The Significance of the Setting of To Kill a Mockingbird

An Analysis of the Significance of the Setting of To Kill a

Mockingbird

Set in Maycomb County, Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is

set in a town where racism is prevalent. Harper Lee’s novel raises key

themes to instil into the reader many ethics to combat these racist

attitudes and inculcate other moral values. These themes are enforced

by the setting and it is through the setting that Harper Lee

emphasises the principles laid down by the novel. The setting is also

used metaphorically to describe the themes in To Kill a Mockingbird.

So it is necessary to analyse the significance of the setting and

realise how events are portrayed through the setting which in turn

emphasise key themes of the novel.

The street is an important part of the setting, where key themes are

emphasised. In the street, Scout and brother Jem alongside friend Dil

are able to have fun through their childhood games whilst not

compromising their safety and playing in a safe environment. Though

the people within the street do not compromise safety, the street is

not protected from outside attack. In fact, this flaw is exposed and

safety is compromised when a dog, from outside the street, is found to

have rabies. After panic within the street, Atticus Finch, an outsider

(as he works outside the street) is the one who protects the town from

attack. This episode draws a parallel to an event later in the novel

when Bob Ewell, an outsider compromises the town’s safety in an

attempt at Scout and Jem’s life. Again, it is someone who can be

viewed as an outsider to the street (as he was in recluse), Boo

(Arthur) Radley who is able to restore safety to the street. In both

instances, the outsider is not part of the problem and object...

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...ism

is highlighted. This them is enforced when the court is seen to be

central to the town and court is found to be racist, the town is

depicted as endemically racist. The extent of the prejudiced views

upheld by much of the white community is exposed when the racial

groupings show the black community to be forced to live in “trash”.

When outsiders mistake people with wrong impressions, deceptive

appearances are found to be common in Maycomb. The idea of learning is

enforced by a change in setting, through the attack and when viewing

events from Boo Radley’s point of view. When a reader pictures the

attitudes of racists in the 1930s (when the novel is set) they are

able to understand how racist people can be and how wrong

discrimination can be. So Harper Lee uses a number of different

settings to convey various key themes central to To Kill a Mockingbird.