In chapter 23 Jem and Scout are having a discussion, and Jem acts much older than he actually is. He comes out with a formula, for how the people in Maycomb are organized. “There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.” (302) Jem has a point that in Maycomb, that is an effective way to separate the people into similar groups. In Maycomb there are people of a higher class, which would be them and their neighbors. Then there would be the people like the Cunninghams who do nobody any harm, don’t take any charity and are kind to the people around them. The Ewells are similar in a way, but are also very different in that they are rougher. They are not afraid to be stronger and more forceful to get what they need.
This does not however apply to the whole world. It is most definitely true of Scout and Jem’s whole world but in the grand scheme of things, they have never experienced anything other than Maycomb, so Jem cannot make a general assumption about the whole world. Do you think when Jem goes out into the world he will completely change? Do you think Atticus should be exposing them to more of the world?
Responding to Julie's post, I agree that the generalizations do not apply to the whole world, but I believe that they can fit many people into the categories. When Jem says "us and the neighbors," I think higher class, as Julie pointed out, but, I also think moral and higher understanding of right and wrong. Though that is directed more at Jem, Scout, Atticus, Dill, Miss Maudie, etc. and not people like Miss Stephanie who spread rumors and gossip. With the Cunninghams, I also agree with Julie's assessment because they are kind, they don't take charity, and they are hardworking. We can tell that they are hardworking because earlier we see Atticus talking about how, even though the Cunninghams have very little money, they still pay off their debts by giving food and wood and other necessities. I don;t agree with Julie's statement that the Ewells are similar to the Cunninghams. Their only similarities in my mind are that they are quite poor and they are both racist towards the black community. The Ewells are in the same type of economic situation as the Cunninghams, yet they don't work hard to pay off debts, they don't go to school, the don't attempt to keep clean, and they accept money and food and help from Maycomb, and don't do anything back. The Cunninghams don't need special privileges to survive, and that is the main difference. The Cunninghams work to maintain their lives, whereas the Ewells just take advantage of the kind hearts in Maycomb. The Negroes, in my opinion are those people who are considered lower class than all the other people, including the Ewell type people, but most of the Negro community is hard working, respectful, and honest. Even though they are like that, they are still unequal to everyone else, even though without them, the three other groups would have a hard time maintaining their lifestyles. I don't think that Jem will completely change, but I believe that he would have a ton of heartbreak and his naivety would be totally shattered. In Maycomb, he experiences hard things, such as the verdict of the trial, but he has Atticus to help him, he has Scout, Dill, Aunt Alexandra, Miss Maudie, and so many more, but in the real world he would be left alone to fend for himself. Do you think that the town of Maycomb is like the real world, or do you think that it blocks out some harsh realities that the kids would otherwise be facing? Are the four types of people stated the same today in the modern world? Or are there different type of people now? Can people really be categorized at all? Or do people just have too many different personalities?
ReplyDeleteHis assessment is sad but true. There are four types of folks in Maycomb. He may be right but he forgets this fact in the courtroom. He forgets that to the majority of Maycomb there are only two groups, and these groups have nothing to do with money or background, it has to do with the color of someone’s skin. Scout is innocence and understands little of Jem’s ideas, but by the end of the chapter she begins to catch on. Even Jem with his new ideas does not apprehend the scale at which Maycomb want to protect its old way of life. “Jem was jumping in excitement. “We’ve won, haven’t we?””(276) Jem believed that Tom Robinson would be acquitted in no time. After Robinson was found guilty Jem was in tears, but Atticus and the black community was proud to have made the Jury think a while before they accused an innocent man of rape, and sentencing him to life in Prison, and or the electric chair.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Christian L. about the assessment of the groups of people by Maycomb. As we all saw, Mayella Ewell was considered "trash" along with her family, but once she accused a black man of rape, the people didn't care who she was, they heard that a black man raped a white girl. Jem is in tears because his thoughts of justice and equality are shattered. He is also a "mockingbird" in this trial because though he was not killed or sentenced, racism shattered his innocence and brought evil into his world. Do you think Jem is a "mockingbird"? This trial was perhaps the start of a breakthrough for black people because it was rare that the black man opposing a white girl would even be considered not guilty, and the jury spent several hours deciding. Even though Tom Robinson was said to be guilty, it opened the eyes of many people in Maycomb to the inequality of the country.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julie that Jem cannot make the generalization that there are four groups about the whole world. However, to Jem, Maycomb is his whole world. Every thing he knows in it life is in Maycomb, so in his mind, he is not making a generalization about the world. The world that Jem knows does just consist of his family, the Cunninghams, the Ewells, and the Black People. In Jems point of view, there is nothing more than the people around him. Responding to your question, I think Jem will change once he sees the rest of the world. Although he has heard what it is like, once he sees it with his own eyes his views of everything will be changed. Also, I believe Atticus should have shown Jem and Scout more of the world, but it is harder then it seems. Since their whole life is in Maycomb exposing them to more of the world would cause him to have to move with Jem and Scout and leave Maycomb, a place where Atticus is ready to raise his chilren.
ReplyDeleteJem is right. There are four basic types of people in Maycomb. There are the deep down nice but passive people. There are the rude and abrupt people who always want their way. There are the people of color who must live with the fact that they are scrutinized, and there are the common townspeople who live in suburbs and spread gossip. These four groups are the foundation of the society that Jem, Scout, Dill, and everyone else in Maycomb have taken to heart as the way people do live their lives. Since this is all they have ever known, the children extrapolate the lives of the people of MAycomb to the rest of the country, which they one day might realize, has many more possibilities.
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