The Extent To kill a Mockingbird critiques the cultural values of Mayco

To kill a Mockingbird is a strong reflection of Harper Lee, the authors, upbringing. Having been brocaded in the small town of Alabama in the 1920s she was frequently exposed to prejudice and this inspired her to write a book, her only to date, loosely ground on her early days. Tom Robinsons trial, set in Maycomb County, is a parallel to the Scottsboro Trial, which was an infamous case during Lees childhood, where a negro was impeach of rape. However the emphasis is based more on the lawyer, Atticus Finch, who defends him, as the book is written from the perspective of his daughter, Jean Louise, known as Scout. Throughout, an splendor is placed on the fact that its a sin to kill a mockingbird as they only sing their hearts out for us and dont feed in up peoples gardens. This is a comment on the fact that Maycomb society victimises Tom Robinson, despite the fact that he is harmless and only does good, just like the mockingbird. This exemplary meaning resulted in the title To Kill a Mockingbird rather than the initial name Atticus as the publishers felt the book was not wholly based on Atticus as a person. On the contrary, they felt the value of Maycomb society such as social division and status, racial prejudice, picture standards, integrity and courage were the focuses of the book. It is important to appreciate the advantages a child narrator brings to a novel of this kind, due to Scouts innocence and youth she does not understand certain social infrastructures which complicate the adult world, thus exposing Maycomb in a way that an adult narrator could not. This allows Harper Lee to critique the values of Maycomb society in a more subtle homophilener, for example Scout does not judge people, but instead explains... ...ociety to a vast extent. It comments on the foundations of Maycomb as an isolated and inward looking society which allows racial prejudice to grow. The social division, stereotyping and prejudice are also emphasized as each family has a move and Tom Robinsons case is as simple as black and white Harper Lee also exposes the double standards and hypocrisy of the citizens of Maycomb, by development irony and giving the referee a perspective that the charters cannot see. At the forefront of all of the happenings in this book is Atticus Finch, who is represented as an honest man with strong values, he is a contrast to most people in Maycomb, and he shows us what it is to be a gentleman. Although Harper Lee does allow the reader to see some hope for Maycomb society and the changing racial attitudes within it, she generally criticizes their values to a much deeper extent.