AN ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN SOCIAL CONDITION IN THE
MIDDLE OF 20
THCENTURY VIEWED IN HARPER LEE’S
NOVEL TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
A THESIS
BY :
DIX WENDY SARAGIH
REG. NO 060705047
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS
UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA
MEDAN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The first time, the writer would like to say thank to God Almighty, Jesus
Christ for His great love, blessing, and mercy so that the writer is able to finish
this thesis.
There are so many steps has been done by the writer to make this thesis
complete and ready to be presented as a thesis of the first graduate. The writer
gets so many helps, supports, motivations, and suggestions from many people in
processing this thesis, from the beginning until the writer finish this thesis.
His particularly gratitude must go to the lecturer, the writer would like to
say thank to incredible lecturers, Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.hum as his
supervisor and Drs.Siamir Marulafau, M.hum as her co-supervisor for their
guidance and suggestion in accomplishing this thesis, the writer appreciate all
they contributed during the process of analyzing and writing this thesis. May God
bless them.
Then, the writer would like to give thanks to the dean of faculty of letters,
University of Sumatera Utara, Prof.Syaifuddin, M.A, Ph.D., the head and the
secretary of English Literature Department, Dra.Swesana Mardia Lubis, M.Hum,
Drs.Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum, all the lecturers, and the staff of English
Literature Department who have given all the opportunities and facilities during
his study in this university and in completing this thesis.
His best and deepest appreciation and love would be presented to his great
family, his beloved father, P.Saragih and beloved mother A.Purba and also his
Saragih, and Radovan Saragih, who have given him great love, affection, care,
supporting, prayer, and financial in all my his life and during his study until
finishing this thesis. He always keeps pray for them so that God may bless and
give health for them. The writer aware that he cannot do anything without them.
Then the writer would like with the grateful thank to his roommates Rudy
Nando Siadari, Benri Barus, and Eko Julius Sitorus and all Forty-eighters of
Harmonika street whose names he cannot list one by one as his best friends for
giving him support and attention in whatever condition when did this thesis.
Thank you all..
At last but not least he would like to say thank to her best friend in his
collage, Hendra Simbolon, Rances Tampubolon, Joni Simatupang, Elpan
Simanjorang, and Giat Sijabat who always give him help, support, and spirit. He
doesn’t forget also to say thanks to all his friends in IMSI for everything
especially support and pray he got.
Medan, 15 Agustus 2010
The writer,
Dix Wendy Saragih
ABSTRACT
Skripsi ini berjudul The Analysis of American Social Condition in the Middle of Twentieth Century Viewed in Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Yaitu suatu analisis mengenai kondisi sosial masyarakat di Amerika Serikat pada pertengahan abad 20 yang terlihat dalam novel To Kill A Mockingbird karya dari Harper Lee.
Dalam analisis ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan historis mengenai sejarah Amerika pada pertengahan abad keduapuluh. Adapun metode yang digunakan adalah metode deskriptif dimana data dalam skripsi ini berupa paparan bahasa yang mengandung konsep yang menunjukkan kondisi sosial Amerika di dalam novel ini. Sumber data dalam analisis ini adalah novel To Kill A Mockingbird, dengan tehnik pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan cara membaca dan menonton novel tersebut secara berulang kali.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Analysis
1.2 Statement of Problem
1.3 Objective of Analysis
1.4 Significance of Analysis
1.5 Theoritical Review
1.6 Review of Related Literature
CHAPTER II METHOD OF STUDY
2.1 The Source of Data
2.2. Data Collecting
2.3. Data Analyzing
CHAPTER III CONDITION OF AMERICA IN THE MIDDLE OF 20TH
3.1 History of Black People’s Coming to America and Slavery
Era
3.2 Racial Segregation
3.3 Civil Right Movement
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN SOCIAL CONDITION IN THE MIDDLE OF 20TH CENTURY VIEWED IN HARPER LEE’S NOVEL TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
4.1 Social Class Stratification
4.2 Social Life Differences Between Black and White People
4.3 Racial Injustice
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
5.1 Conclusion
5.2 Suggestion
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES
Apendix 1 : Biography of the Author of the Novel.
ABSTRACT
Skripsi ini berjudul The Analysis of American Social Condition in the Middle of Twentieth Century Viewed in Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Yaitu suatu analisis mengenai kondisi sosial masyarakat di Amerika Serikat pada pertengahan abad 20 yang terlihat dalam novel To Kill A Mockingbird karya dari Harper Lee.
Dalam analisis ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan historis mengenai sejarah Amerika pada pertengahan abad keduapuluh. Adapun metode yang digunakan adalah metode deskriptif dimana data dalam skripsi ini berupa paparan bahasa yang mengandung konsep yang menunjukkan kondisi sosial Amerika di dalam novel ini. Sumber data dalam analisis ini adalah novel To Kill A Mockingbird, dengan tehnik pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan cara membaca dan menonton novel tersebut secara berulang kali.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of Analysis
Literature is the artistic expression of feeling and emotion which
poured into words. The word ‘literature’ derives from the Latin ‘letter’ which
primarily refers to the written or printed words. Literature grows from the
imaginative mind of the writers and by using their creative imagination,
everything happened around their community can be put into literary work.
( Kasim, Razali 2005 : 2 )
A literary work can move human’s feeling and emotion. A literary work
gives more lessons through the aspects of human life such as social, cultural,
moral and religious aspects. There is a close relationship between literary work
and society or real life that we are experiencing.
According to Wellek and Austin Warren ( 1967 : 1 ), Literature represents
‘life’ and ‘life ’itself in a large measure comes from a social reality, even though
the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the individual have also
should hold a mirror up to society and reflects what is happening there. Besides
using his creative imagination or the ability of writing, the writer should connect
his work to the real life or what he sees in the society. But sometimes, a literay
work doesn’t represent life directly but it just indirectly appeared that there is a
social life issue showed inside.
Novel as a genre of literary works can be defined as: “a work of
prose fiction, usually an extended narrative that tells a story or uses incidents to
dramatize human experience and individual characters” (Grambs,David 1925: 93).
A novel can be analyzed in several points of view. It can be analyzed
from the moral, social and religious point of view. Social life has many aspects to
analyze, such as social history, social condition, and social cultural. Those aspects
are poured into literary works by writers to convey their messages.
Social condition of one period can be reflected by a literary work. In the
other words, A literary work is a reflection of one period when the literary work
written. By creating a novel, the author usually reflects his viewing about the
social condition he sees into his novel.
To analyze social condition of a novel, we need to know the relationship
between the background of the author’s novel with the condition of life he is
watching, because a novel which contains messages is appeared when the author
finds something wrong or unfair where he lives even in any other places. As the
form of his dislikeness toward this condition, he struggles and reveals his opinion
probably gets any responds from the readers who lives in any sides of the world
about the topic or issues.
To Kill A Mockingbird is Harper Lee’s realistic novel. It was published in
July 11, 1960. The novel was based on Lee’s researching toward family and her
neighbours, with the moments happened around in 1936 when Lee was 10 years
old. The story seemed to be set in the middle of 19th century in Alabama. To Kill
a Mockingbird was written and published amidst the most significant and
conflict-ridden social change in the South since the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Inevitably, despite its mid-1930s setting, the story told from the perspective of the
1950s voices the conflicts, tensions, and fears induced by this transition.
Every novel usually springs from the context of its time and place. Like
the personal experience of Harper Lee’s life, the social considerations must be
weighed more heavily in this novel than in others for the obvious reason that Lee
was more socialy conscious than others. The events at the time the novel is
written are reflected completely in this novel. In 1950’s black people in America
were rejected by white people who assumed that the black people is in lower class
than them . This was occured in any side of life at that time. There was a class
classification between black and white people where caused negative impacts to
the black people. Lee saw this as an issue and raised it into his novel.
To Kill A Mockingbird is an interesting topic to be discussed as it concerns
with Harper Lee’s experience on American social condition. It deals much with
them. The readers of this novel may have a good knowledge on the historical and
social background of the novel in order to understand it.
1.2. Statement of Problem
Based on the background of analysis above, Statements of problem to be
analyzed in this novel are :
1. Does social class stratification in society make gaps among members of
society?
2. Do life style differences between black and white people cause social
hatred?
3. Does racial injustice result conflicts in society?
1.3. Objective of Analysis
Objective of analysis stands for the object that is going to analyze based
on the statements of problem. The objectives of this thesis are :
1. To analyze social social class stratification that make gaps among
members of society.
2. To analyze social life differences between black and white people that
3. To analyze racial injustice that result conflicts.
1.4. Significance of Analysis
The analysis of this thesis is expected to be able to give significance for
the readers. Theoritically, this thesis is expected to be able to help the theory of
literature in understanding social condition, especially the relationship between
literary works and social condition. While practically, this thesis is expected can
give a reference in analysing social condition in society.
1.5. Theoretical Review
Theoritical review I use in this thesis is Literature as a picture of social
condition in society. It means, that literature, as with any art form, holds a mirror
up to society and reflects what is happening in society.
Wellek and Austin Warren state that there are two approaching techniques
in analyzing the literary works. They are intrinsic and extrinsic aproach. Intrinsic
approach is a kind of approach technique which analyze literary works based on
the text and structural points of literary works; characters, plot, setting, style, point
relationship between the content and the other discipline of knowledge such as
history, religion, psychology, biagraphy, etc.
In this thesis, I use extrinsic approach by relating the story with the history
of America. Historical approach is the suitable way to understanding the novel. I
use American history as my reference to compare and find out the similar
condition in both of the novel and the history. I also relate my analysis with the
social condition in America during in the middle of 20th century.
The most common approach to the relations of literature and society is the
study of works of literature as social documents, as assumed pictures of social
reality. As H.A. Taine stated in History of English Literature (1863), “Works of
art furnish documents because they are monuments” ( Wellek and Warren, 1967:
95 ). Used as social document, literature can be made to yield the outlines of
social history. It means that literature is really not a reflection of the social
process, but the essence, the abridgement and summary of all history. A social
picture could be assembled for American life from To Kill A Mockingbird. Social
Class Stratification in American social life in the middle of 20th century and
Racial issues appeared in this novel.This approach makes us find that the picture
stands to the social reality. It is not only an expression of desire of the author but
it is a realistic observation.
1.6. Review to Related Literature
To be able to analyze the work, I have found many related literary
readings which are useful to produce literary analysis. As the main resources of
1. Racism in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird by Candice Mancini ( 2008 )
This book describes about history of Racism in America found in To Kill A
Mockingbird. As the related literature, this book gives me so many
information about the racial issues we can find in “To Kill A Mockingbird”,
and many quotes that related with racism.
2. Sosiologi Sastra by Robert Escarpit ( 2005 )
This book has a close information with my thesis especially in giving information
about literature sociology. As the related literature, this book explains about the
CHAPTER II
METHOD OF STUDY
2.1 The Source of Data
The sources of data for these theses are from some books and many other
resources that can be related to the subject matter being analyzed. I used Harper
Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” as the main source. The novel contents the
important information for the subject matter that is being analyzed. Others are
about America in the middle of 20th century.
In analyzing this novel, I have picked out many books to be looked into
other references and as guidance. The data is not fully copied, although there are
some quotations.
2.2. Data Collecting
In collecting the data, I need some instruments for this thesis. The
such as the information of condition in America at that time. Then i gathered all
the data from the library or from internet and other supporting material relevant to
the topic of the thesis as many as possible, then I begin to read the data carefully,
to take down notes and composes it properly. The whole data, the quotation will
be put in my thesis later on and find out the relations with the study. The right
data is divided into parts to suit the parts of the study. All of the data are read
carefully line-by-line to find out the relation with the study.
2.3. Data Analyzing
By writing this thesis, I have to combine the important data from many
other sources which have been collected and analyze them well. The kind of this
research is Library research. I collect the data from various books and internet.
First, I read the novel then identify the data from the dialogues or statement of the
novel which support the main problem and I will analyze it to achieve what has
been planned in the objective of this thesis and finnaly a conclusion can be drown
CHAPTER III.
CONDITION OF AMERICA IN THE MIDDLE OF 20TH
CENTURY
3.1. History of Black People’s Coming to America and Slavery Era
. The black people’s coming to America is caused by white people’s need of
labors to be worked at their enermous farming land because the southern states of
America has developed as agriculture area while the southern has developed as
industry area. These african people are bought by English which at that time
colonized many countries in Africa.
The slavery period is started from here. The history stated that the first
black people’s landed at James Town in 1619, immediately after the first England
colony was established there. The black people were involuntary immigrants who
had been skipped by the slave traders to America. They were sold to the landlords.
Some of them brought from West Indies, but most of them were taken directly
from Africa to America.
These black people were mostly concentrated in the Southern, where the
colonial farms were larger. The land and climate in the South were very good to
support the plantation of cotton and tobacco. The Southerners developed their
plantation in those good condition, that many employees were needed for their
plantation. They needed many workers to keep their farms. The strong black
people seem to prove the most practical and profitable solution. As the time
South multiplied. The significant of development began with the success of
tobacco and cotton plantation..
The growing demand for cotton led many plantation owners further west
in search of suitable land. It was for this reason that slavery did not spread to the
north, instead spreading west. Historian Peter Kolchin wrote, "By breaking up
existing families and forcing slaves to relocate far from everyone and everything
they knew," this migration "replicated many of horrors" of the Atlantic slave
trade. ( Kolchin, P. 96 ).
Historians have estimated that one million slaves were moved west and to
the Deep South from the Old South between 1790 and 1860. Most of the slaves
were sold or transported from
changes in agriculture decreased demand. Originally the points of destination
were
Border States joined in selling "excess" slaves. This corresponded to the massive
expansion of cotton cultivation in that region, which needed labor.
In the 1830s, almost 300,000 slaves were transported, with Alabama and
Mississippi receiving 100,000 each. Every decade between 1810 and 1860 had at
least 100,000 slaves moved from their state of origin. In the final decade before
the Civil War, 250,000 were moved. Michael Tadman, in his 1989 book,
Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South, indicates
1820 a child in the Upper South had a 30% chance of being sold south by 1860
( Berlin, I. 168-169 )
To the whites, slavery were very important profit. The landowners had a
slavery system to control them from escape. This system was done perfectly
especially in the South. They built neither fence nor paid bodyguards but, they
kept the slaves in foolishness, knowing nothing depending on the whites and
frightened. Most of the slaves could neither read nor write A number of the South
regions regarded that to teach slaves was a crime. Slaves were effected to staying
in their dependence to the owner in getting their food, clothing, living and their
condition in a regular way. In short, slaves were trained to work but whites
prevented them from learning how to arrange themselves.
Slaves who worked and lived
punishe
his wife, children (white males), and most often by the overseer or driver. Slaves
were punished with a variety of objects and instruments. Some of these included:
metal collars, being hanged, or forced to walk a treadmill. Those who punished
slaves also used weapons such as knives, guns, field tools, and objects found
nearby. Slaves were punished for a variety of reasons, most of the time it was for
working too slow, breaking a law such as running away, leaving the plantation
without permission, or not following orders given to them. By this way, many of
the young generation of the blacks were not initiative. They worked only for
Relation of men and women among the slaves was limited. They could not
do a close relation because the whites regarded it would arise the racial solidarity
between them, so the owner forbid them to get married. When the patrol found a
couple of blacks were marriage, their marriages did not hold on. When they had
kids, the owner separated their parents from the family. The owner of the slaves
sold them to another white people.
The slavery is existed too in Alabama, where the story of To Kill A
Mockinbird took places.As of statehood in 1819, slaves accounted for more than
30 percent of Alabama's approximately 128,000 inhabitants. The slave population
more than doubled during the 1820s and again during the 1830s. When Alabama
seceded from the Union in 1861, the state's 435,080 slaves made up 45 percent of
the total population. The largest numbers of slaves were held in bondage in
counties located in either the Tennessee River Valley. Slavery, however, existed
in every county.
The slavery period is end in the beginning 1960 through civil war. After
the war, The
in April 1864, and by the House of Representatives in January 1865, by a vote of
119 to 56.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for
crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
The outcome of the American Civil War ended slavery in United States.
The Thirteenth Amendment permanently abolished slavery in the United States in
1865. American freedpeople welcomed emancipation but endured continuing
hardships because of the prevailing and pervasive racial prejudices of the state's
white inhabitants. There is still differentiate between white and black people in
America that seen in social life. These two people often assumed each other as
“other”. American’s slavery era were replaced by a postbellum social and legal
system of separating citizens on the basis of race that remained intact through the
middle of twentieth century.
3.2 Racial Segregation
After Congress passed the
the
right to vote, and the
accommodations, Federal occupation troops in the South assured blacks the right
to vote and to elect their own political leaders. The Reconstruction amendments
asserted the supremacy of the national state and the formal equality under the law
of everyone within it. However this radical Reconstruction era would collapse
because of multidimensional racialism related to the spread of democratic
focused on issues of equal access to public activities and facilities would by 1910
have spread throughout the south, mandating the segregation of whites and blacks
in the public sphere. The collapse of the reconstruction amendments and what
alluded to racial segregation was also a political move that emerged in the
Southern states.
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the
such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along
racial lines. The expression refers primarily to the legally or socially enforced
separation of African Americans from other races, but can more loosely refer to
voluntary separation, and also to separation of other racial or
from the majority mainstream society and communities. The concept of racial
segregation was Blacks and whites would be separated in all public
accommodations such as schools, hotels, trains and streetcars, restaurants, and
even cemeteries in an effort to underscore the inferiority of blacks.
Racial segregation in the United States has meant the physical separation
and provision of separate facilities, but it can also refer to other manifestations of
Everyone, theoretically, would receive the same public services (schools,
hospitals, prisons, etc.), but that there would be separate distinct facilities for each
race. In practice, the services and facilities reserved for African-Americans were
almost always of lower quality than those reserved for whites; for example, most
African-American schools received less public funding per student than nearby
white schools. Segregation was never mandated by law in the northern states, but
a "de facto" system grew up for schools, in which nearly all black students
attended schools that were nearly all-black. In the South, white schools had zero
blacks (and no black teachers), while the black schools had black teachers and no
white students.
The rise of segregation in the South came as it did in the North with the
development of the most advanced technologies of the day–the railroad. Once
segregation began, it was difficult to stop. Segregated cars, then depots, water
fountains, bathrooms, beaches, pools, lunch counters, voting booths, and the
others. Like a cancer it metastasized, moving silently into unexpected places. By
the 1950s segregation had become deeply entrenched in the South, a pattern of
thinking and behavior, a wall of racial categories and divisions, a series of daily
practices enacted with such consistency that few could comprehend how to
challenge them.
Moreover, Ku Klux Klan, the white supremacist group did racist actions
that culminated in 1950-1960s decade. Ku Klux Klan is known as an extrem racist
clan in USA created on December 24 1985 after civil war. This clan assumed that
The Ku Klux Klan started after the Civil War with a group of white Southerners
who were very angry when the war ended. They were angry because the Blacks
had won their freedom from
slavery meant their lives had changed and they felt threatened. In this first Ku
Klux Klan period, another their purpose to do violence worked to suppress black
voting. More than 2,000 persons were killed, wounded and otherwise injured in
1868. Alt
after the murders, no Republicans voted in the fall elections. White Democrats
cast the full vote of the parish for Grant's opponent. The Ku Klux Klan members
killed and wounded more than 200 black Republicans, hunting and chasing them
through the woods. Thirteen captives were taken from jail and shot; a half-buried
pile of 25 bodies was found in the woods. The Ku Klux Klan made people vote
Democratic and gave them certificates of the fact ( Du Bois, W.E.B, 680-681 ).
Back to the racist action they did in 1950-1960s, there were so many racist
actions against black people. Beginning in the 1950s, individual Ku Klux Klan
groups i
place began to resist social change and black people improving their lives by
bombing houses in transitional neighborhoods. There were so many bombings in
Birmingham of black people’s homes by this Klan. In some cases they used
physical violence, intimidation and assassination directly against individuals.
Among the more notorious murders by Klan members:
• The 1951 Christmas Eve bombing of the home of
• The 1957 murder of
jump to his death from a bridge into the
• The 1963 assassination of
In 1994, former Ku Klux Klansma
• The
Klan member
• The 1964 murders of three civil rights workers
was convicted of manslaughter.
• The 1964 murder of two black teenagers
confession of Klansma
reputed Ku Klux Klansman, was convicted. Seale was sentenced to serve
three life sentences. Seale was a former Mississippi policeman and
sheriff's deputy.
• The 1965 Alabama murder of
rights march. At the time of her murder Liuzzo was transporting Civil
Rights Marchers.
• The 1966 firebombing death of NAACP leader
Mississippi. In 1998 former Ku Klux Klan wizar
convicted of his murder and sentenced to life. Two other Klan members
were indicted with Bowers, but one died before trial, and the other's
indictment was dismissed.
3.3 Civil Right Movement
Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) refers to the movements of black
people struggling in the United States aimed at outlawi
against
After the
White people in the South regained political control of the region, after mounting
intimidation and violence in the elections. Systematic disfranchisement of African
Americans took place in Southern states from 1890 to 1908 and lasted until
national civil rights legislation was passed in the mid-1960s. For more than 60
years, for example, blacks in the South were not able to elect anyone to represent
their interests in Congress or local government.
During this period, the white-dominated
political control over the South. The
Lincoln"which had been the party that most blacks belonged to, shrank to
insignificance as black voter registration was suppressed. By the early 1900s,
At the same time as African Americans were being disfranchised, white
Democrats imposed racial Violence against blacks
mushroomed. The system of overt, state-sanctioned racial discrimination and
oppression that emerged out of the post-Reconstruction South became known as
the
early 1900s is a period often referred to as th
While problems and civil rights violations were most intense in the South, social
tensions affected African Americans in other regions as well.
Racist characteristics viewed in this period such as :
• Racial segregation
By law, public facilities and government services such as education were
divided into separate "white" and "colored" domains. Characteristically,
those for colored were underfunded and of inferior quality.
•
When white Democrats regained power, they passed laws that made voter
registration more inaccessible to blacks. Black voters were forced off the
voting rolls. The number of African American voters dropped
dramatically, and they no longer were able to elect representatives. From
1890 to 1908, Southern states of the former Confederacy created
constitutions with provisions that disfranchised most African Americans
•
Increased economic oppression of blacks, Latinos, and Asians, denial of
economic opportunities, and widespread employment discrimination.
•
Individual, police, organizational, a
(and Latinos in the Southwest and Asians in California)
American black people and other racial minorities rejected this regime.
They resisted it in numerous ways and sought better opportunities through
lawsuits, new organizations, political redress, and labor organizing. The
1909. It fought to end race discrimination thr
The situation for blacks outside the South was better. In most states they
could vote and have their children educated, though they still faced discrimination
in housing and jobs. From 1910 to 1970, African Americans ( American black
people ) sought better lives by migrating north and west. A total of nearly seven
million blacks left the South in what was known as the
In the middle of 20th century, African Americans still suffered from many
disadvantages, including poverty rates that were much higher than those among
white people and physical health that was much worse, and there’s still different
rights between black and white people where the blacks used to be suffered. This
Many of those who were active in the Civil Rights Movement, with
organizations such as
Freedom Movement" because the struggle was about far more than just civil rights
under law; it was also about fundamental issues of freedom, respect, dignity, and
economic and social equality.
By January 1957, Martin Luther Ki
of which King is made the first president. The SCLC becomes a major force in
organizing the civil rights movement and bases its principles on nonviolence and
civil disobedience. According to King, it is essential that the civil rights
movement not sink to the level of the racists and hatemongers who oppose them:
"We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and
discipline," he urges.
April, 16, 1963, Martin Luther King was arrested and jailed during
anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Alabama. While during civil rights protests
in Birmingham, Alabama, Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor
used fire hoses and police dogs on black demonstrators. These images of brutality,
which were televised and published widely, were instrumental in gaining
August. 28, About 200,000 people join the
Congregating at the
delivers his famous
anyplace. The most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, the
Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color,
religion, or national origin. The law also provides the federal government with the
powers to enforce desegregation. In the next year, he signe
1965.
But, in April. 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, at age 39, was shooted by the
murdere as he stood on the balcony outside his hotel room. Escaped convict and
committed racis
inciden
The civil rights movement had forever changed the face of U.S. law and
politics. It had led to legislation that gave greater protection to the rights of
minorities. It had also greatly changed the role of the judiciary in U.S.
government, as the Supreme Court had become more active in its defense of
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN SOCIAL CONDITION IN THE
MIDDLE OF 20
THCENTURY VIEWED IN HARPER LEE’S NOVEL
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird was published during the time
of social class stratification existed in United States after the ending of slavery era
which followed civil right movement led by Martin Luther King. The racial
segregation was also existed, while people Blacks and whites would be separated
in all public accommodations such as schools, hotels, trains and streetcars,
restaurants, and even cemeteries in an effort to underscore the inferiority of
blacks. In other words, separate facilities would serve as a constant reminder to
blacks that they were unequal to whites.
In this middle of 20th century an extrem racist organization called Ku
Klux Klan was still doing their racist violence action because of their angryness
didn’t agree with the fact that black people had won their freedom from slavery.
After the civil war, slavery era in America was wipe out. But it was replaced by
postbellum social and legal system of separation citizens or social class
stratification.
We consider that To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel primarily concerned
and conflict-ridden social change in the South since the Civil War and
Reconstruction
Harper Lee in her novel focuses on racial injustice against black people in
United States especially in Maycomb, Alabama. In her novel, Harper reveals a lot
about the society of Maycomb and the norms and values of the small town. The
reader is constantly able to see throughout the book what Harper Lee’s conception
of Maycomb’s society is. Some black people worked as domestic servants or had
poorly jobs. And the worst thing that happened was that if they were charged for
doing something to a white person and it was not true, the court would find the
black person guilty over the white person, just like Tom Robinson’s trial.
Maycomb’s society is one deeply filled with racial injustice, social jealousy, and
social hatred.
4.1 Social Class Stratification
In sociology social coating is known as social stratification or social class
stratification. The words social stratification come from Latin language. Stratum
means grade and socius means society. Literally, social stratification means
grades in the society. Paul B.Horton and Chester L.Hunt ( 1999 ) give the
meaning of social stratification as status difference system existed in society.
There was a strong social stratification in the town of Maycomb by the
time of To Kill A Mockingbird story. Four groups among the society were
stratificated in a class degree. At the top is the Finch family, due to Atticus’
as the Cunningham’s, who are farmers, and Ms. Maudie who babysits for Scout.
Next are the white trash families like the Ewells. Despite being treated like crash,
all of these white people still have a higher status than any of the black people.
“You know something, Scout? I’ve got it all figured out, now. There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.” ( Lee, 1960 : 226 )
Each group has its own place to live, where one could not live in another
circles. Finch, as the ordinary kind stayed in the common place of the city,
Cunningham was out in the woods, Ewells was at the dump, and Negroes was at
the corner of the city.
Strengthtening this social class stratification in Maycomb is viewed in the
second chapter of this novel. It impacted each group’s economy condition to be
different. In a moment, Jem asked his father whether they’re as poor as the
Cunningham, and Atticus answered no.This explains that Finch was in the upper
class than Cunningham, but among the groups, Negro was in the lowest. But It
showed also that different class was happened even among the white people
“Why does he pay you like that? I asked. “Because that’s the only way he can pay me. He has no money. “Are we poor Atticus?” Atticus nodded. “We are indeed.” Jem’s nose wrinkled. “Are we as poor as Cunninghams?” Not exactly. The Cunningham are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them hardest. ( Lee, 1960 : 21 ).
The black people worked as domestic servants or poorly paid job like
people belong to the lowest class.White people are still considered something of
an upper-class and have higher incomes and education than black people.
Mrs. Dubose lived alone except for a negro girl in constant attendence, two doors up the street from us in a house with a steep front steps and a dog—trot hall. She was very old; she spent most of each day in bed and the rest of it in a wheelchair. It was rumored that she kept a CSA pistol concealed among her numerous shawls and wraps. ( Lee, 1960 : 99 )
“Were you acquainted with Mayella Violet Ewell?” asked Atticus. “Yes suh, I had to pass her place goin’ to and from the field every day. “Whose field?” “I picks for Mr. Link Deas.”“Were you picking cotton in November?” “No suh, I works in his yard fall an wintertime. I works pretty steady for him all year round, he’s got a lot of pecan trees’n things.” ( Lee, 1960 : 190 )
The class stratification in Maycomb result gaps among the society. In the
common place, white people and black people were segregated. In the novel,
when people come to the court to see Tom Robinson’s case, they take their place
based on their skin colors.
The colored balcony ran along three walls of the courtroom like a second-story vuranda, and from it we could see everything ( Lee, 1960 : 164 )
“I know where they are Atticus.” Mr, Underwood spoke up. “They’re right up yonder in the colored balcony- been there since precisely one-eighteen P.M. Our father turned around and look up. “Jem, come down from there,” he called. Then he said something to the judge we didn’t hear.We climbed across Reverend Sykes and made our way to the staircase. ( Lee, 1960 : 206 )
Another case of social gaps in Maycomb caused by social class
Their church namely First Purchase African M.E Church was a church where
Negroes worshiped in it on Sunday. A woman who saw both Scout and Jem
entering their church told Calpurnia that she shouldn’t bring the white people to
the church, because it is belong to the black people.
A Murmur ran through the crowd. Don’t you fret. “Calpurnia whispered to me, but the roses on her hat trembled indignantly. When Lula came up the pathway toward us Calpurnia said, “Stop right there, Nigger.” Lula stopped, but she said, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here- they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Call?” ( Lee, 1960 : 119 )
This means that white people and black people worshiped in different
church. It was a stratification in the society that made gaps among the society
where people interacted just in their groups. It deals with the history told that after
slavery era, the condition of America was replaced by a postbellum social and
legal system of separating citizens on the basis of race that remained intact
through the middle of twentieth century.
Actually, as the lowest class of the society, black people respected the
white people. It was shown in the novel when Jem and Scout were entering the
church, the men stepped back and took off their hats while the women crossed
their arms at their waists.
By the history fact of slavery era, black people were in white people
slaves. After the era ended, most black people still worked for the white people
even not as slaves but as the workers such as cotton farming workers, domestic
servants, and other poorly jobs. This could be the reason why black people gave a
When they saw Jem and me with Calpurnia, the men stepped back and took off their hats; the women crossed their arms at their waists, weekday gestures of respectful attention. They parted and made a small pathway to the church door for us. Calpurnia walked between Jem and me, responding to the greetings of her brightly clad neighbors. ( Lee, 1960 : 118 )
4.2 Social Life Differences Between Black and White People
Because of social stratification among black end white people, the
members of society in in Maycomb had different social life. They lived in their
own circle and interacted just in their group only. In the story To Kill A
Mockingbird this was shown when Jem and Scout went to Negro’s church to
worship, They wondered to see when in the middle of the worship the priest
collected fund given by congregations that would be given to Tom Robinson
family, one of them who was in trouble. Jem and Scout, the white people
wondering about this showed that it was unusual thing to do in their church. This
is one of the different social life in the midst of society in Maycomb between the
black and white people.
Reverend Sykes shuffled some papers, chose one and held it at arm’s length. “The Misionary Society meets in the home of Sister Annete Reeves next Tuesday. Bring your sewing.” He read from another page. “You all know of brother Tom Robinson’s trouble. He has been a faithful member of First Purchase since he was a boy. The collection taken up today and for the next three Sundays will go to Helen- his wife, to help her out at home.” ( Lee, 1960 : 120-121 )
Another social difference among the black and white people was
found in the moment when Scout asked Calpurnia why did she talk in
white people in Maycomb had different language. Calpurnia answered
because she’s black and she thought that language using must be corrected
in any place. She used Nigger language when she interacted with her folk,
while she used white’s when she was in the white people circle. Language
different of both black and white people refer to their own history. Black
people had their own language because they came from Arica, and white
people who’re from Europe used their own language also.
“Call”, I asked, why do you talk nigger talk to the- to your folks when you know it’s not right?” “, in the first place I’m black-.“ “That doesn’t mean you hafta talk that way when you know better, said Jem. Calpurnia tiked her hat and scratched her head, then pressed her hat down carefully over her ears. “It’s right hard to say,” she said. “Suppose you and Scout talked collored –folks’ talk at home it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white-folks’ talk at church, and with my neighbors? They’d think I was puttin’ on airs to beat Moses. ( Lee, 1960 : 125-126 )
Social life of black people was very poor compared with the white people.
They lived in weak condition of economy. Most of them just the workers of the
white people. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, it was told that most of black
people lived their life by working as domestic servants like Calpurnia, who was
worked by Atticus as a cook/housekeeper since Scout's mother has long since
passed when the book begins, and as farming workers like Tom Robinson. The
condition where the black people worked at white people farming in
Maycomb has already existed long time ago after the slavery period was ended.
Dill leaned across me and asked Jem what Atticus was doing. Jem said Atticus was showing the jury that Tom had nothing to hide. “Were you acquainted with Mayella Violet Ewell?” asked Atticus. “Yes suh, I had to pass her place goin’ to and from the field everyday.” “Whose field?” “I picks for Mr. Link Deas.” ( Lee, 1960 : 190 ).
In the story, it was told also that most of black people could not be able to
read at all. In one part of the novel, Jem and Scout was astonished because there
was no hymn books in the blacks worship ceremony. They sang the hymns by
following the song leader voice line by line. Line for line voices followed in
simple harmony until the hymn ended in a melancholy murmur.
It was because most of the congregation could not be able to read.
Calpurnia said that there’s just four people in First Purchase who are able in
reading and she was one of them. This condition explained that they’re poor in
education. Most of them didn’t get the education in school, because the fact of
their social history told that they’re just the sons of slaves, those who didn’t give a
little care about education.
This condition was a contrary fact with the white people social life of
white people. Most of them were the owners of cotton farming lands in Maycomb.
It deals with the history fact that since the coming of European to America, while
the northern developed became industrial area, the southern area was developed
became enormous cotton farming area. All these faming were owned by the white
people. It was possibly that they lived in a better condition of economy than the
black people.
It was customary for the men in the family to remain on Gimon’s homestead, Finch’s Landing, and make their living from cotton. The place was self-sufficient : modest in comparison with the empires around it, the Landing nevertheless produced everything required to sustain life except ice, wheat flour, and articles of clothing, supplied by river-boats from Mobile. ( Lee, 1960 : 4 )
In education case, most white people in Maycomb were educational
person. It was explained in the beginning of the story, Atticus, the member of
Finch family went to study law and his younger brother went to study medicine in
Boston. It showed that Finch family, the white people took care about education
like the black people didn’t do.
4.3 Racial Injustice
In the slavery era, the black people in America had been victims of racial
injustice. The actions of white people as the owners over the slaves were
incompatible with human being. Thirty years after the civil war ended the slavery
era, the Southern of America include Maycomb, where the story of “To kill A
Mockingbird” took place, most relied on farming especially Cotton. The people
existed social segregation between white and black people and supported racial
injustice agains the black people.
The white people of Southern challenged the Reconstruction by using
their position in the central government in Washington. They found the ways,
controlling the nations in order to keep the white people domination. Then, social
segregation widely spread through all areas of Southern life aspects such as
restaurant, hotel, hospital, school and others. This started the racial injustice
existed. The example case of this was the black people should give his seat to the
white people in bus.
Racial Injustice deals with the situation there was a deadly racial attitude
towards the people who were different then the general public, which in this novel
belongs to the black people. Harper Lee, in her novel showed the racial injustice
happened in Maycomb, Alabama. This novel is a classic novel to teach and
discuss racial injustice.
Racial injustice appears when Tom Robinson, a sweet negro was accused
of raping woman, Mayella Ewell, Mr.Ewell’s daurghter. Atticus Finch becomes
lost his case and got sentenced to life in prison, because he was black. Mr.Ewell
told that he was really seeing Tom Robinson raped her daughter. But in fact, he
just told a lie.
Mr.Ewell look confusedly at the judge. “Well, Mayella was raisin’ this holy racket so I dropped m’load and run as fast as I could but I run into th’ fence, but when I got distangled I run up o the window and I seen-“ Mr.Ewell’s face grew scarlet. He stood up and pointed his finger at Tom Robinson. “-I seen that black Nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” ( Lee, 1960 : 172- 173 )
While, the town believes that Mayella Ewell, in all of her wrongness is the
victim, and Tom Robinson, who did nothing but help Mayella in the past, is a
rapist. Mayella also gave a wrong explaining to the Judge in the court.
Mr.Gilmer waited for Mayella to collect herself: she had twisted her handkerchief into a sweaty rope : when she opened it to wipe her face it was a mass of creases from her hot hands. She waited for Mr.Gilmer to ask another question, but when he didn’t, she sid “-he chunked me on the floor an’ choked me’n took advantage of me. ( Lee, 1960 : 180 )
In the end of the court session, Judge read the decision paper made by
Jury. That decision told that Tom Robinson was guilty. Despite Atticus Finch's
defense and all of the evidence that make it clear to the reader that Tom is
innocent, a white jury finds him guilty and he is sent to prison. This case showed
us that racial injustice of Maycomb was able to finds innocent person to be guilty
just because of different skin color only.
clerk who handed it to the judge.. I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury : “Guilty.. guity..guilty…guilty..” ( Lee, 1960 : 211 )
Racial injustice happened in Maycomb had already been existed since long
time ago. This deals with Reverend Sykes explaining to Jem when they talked
about assuming the court decision in the court. He said that he never seen the
black people won over the white. It explains that racial injustice in society of
Maycomb which represented the whole America was affected by slavery era.
The white people still assumed that they were in the higher position than the black
people.
Jem smilled. “He’s not supposed to lean, Reverend, but don’t fret, we’ve won it.” He said wisely. “Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard-“ “Now don’t you be so confident, Mr.Jem I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of colored man over a white man…” ( Lee, 1960 : 208 )
Another proof that explains that racial injustice had been existed
since long time ago in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird is when Atticus
who already defended Tom Robinson and became his lawyer told his son
Jem, that it was never happened black people testimony won over the white
people’s, and that was the fact.
In fact, the racial injustice was could be able to make the white people in
trouble also, if they’re known as the defenders of black people. This was occurred
to Atticus, he who’s already the defender of Tom Robinson in the court. He was
called Nigger lover. First, the name was told by Cecil Jacob to Scout in the
beginning of chapter nine of the novel. He said that her father was Nigger lover.
From this statement, it could be concluded that Nigger lover contained the
negative meaning given to the white people who defended the black people, and
the towns didn’t like it especially the white one.
Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy is Nigger lover. I denied it, but told Jem. “What’d he man sayin’ that?” I asked. “Nothing,” Jem said. “Ask Atticus, he’ll tell you.” Do you defend niggers, Atticus?” I asked him that evening. “Of course I do. Don’t say nigger Scout. That’s common. ( Lee, 1960 : 75 )
In another momen, Scout’s grandma said that Atticus was Nigger lover. In
their social life, it was a disgrace if there’s a white people defended the black
people, moreover he came from Finch family. It’s explained that it was equal
between defending black people with destroying family. It was better neglecting
son grow unauthorized than defending black people. At least it was the condition
of society in Maycomb.
Finally readers know that racial injustice existed in the midst of society in
Maycomb could result conflict among the member of society. The racial injustice
does not result conflict between black and white people only, but it could make
conflict in white people circle also if there’s among them known as black people
defender.
It is clear that racial injustice appeared because the white people still
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
5.1. CONCLUSION
After analyzing American social condition in the middle of twentieth
century that viewed in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, I have the
conclusion of this thesis.
1. As a whole, Harper Lee is successful in expressing his idea through this
novel. She successfully wrote the condition of Alabama in her novel as the
mirror of condition of America in the middle of twentieth century where
social class stratification, racial segregation, and racial injustice were the
most issues at that time.
2. It is certainly proved that social class stratification in Maycomb’s society
makes gaps among members of society. People in Maycomb were
segregated by the klan Finch, Cunningham, Ewells, and Negro. Negro was
always in the lowest class among the society because of their black skins
whom the white people knew as the sons of slaves.
3. It is drown that the social life between black and white people were
different. It could have been caused by their own social life history, so it
can be said that social life differences between black and white people
in the past where black people were the slaves while the white people were
the landowners.
4. With Tom Robinson, Lee seems to challenge his readers to see a side of
racial injustice that happened in the middle of society. Tom is just the title
character of this novel because Lee really focuses on the racial injustice
against black people. It is clear that racial injustice appeared because the
white people still claimed that they were in the higher prestige than the
black people. Finally it is proved that racial injustice result conflict not
among the towns between black and white people only, but also among the
white people community when there’s among them known as black people
defender, such as happened with Atticus, a lawyer who defended Tom
5.2. SUGGESTION
Harper Lee is very intelligent one to achieve her aims in order to reach his
readers what she wants to convey.
The novel which handles the theme of racial injustice has the close
relation to the social condition at that time. It involves the impact of slavery era,
so there’s still differentiation between black and white people. This condition
continued to racial injustice against black people.
The writer realizes that the discussion in this thesis is still far from being
perfect. Due to this, the writer suggests the next students to carry out a deeper
analysis on this topic. The writer expects that the readers would widely explore
the information and the knowledge about the history of racial injustice against
black people in America in details so we can discover more parallels from Lee’s
novel To Kill A Mockingbird which maybe have been missed by the writer
because of lack of knowledge.
Finally, the writer hopes the readers would analyze other aspects of this
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APPENDICES
Biography of Harper Lee
Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. Lee
Harper is best known for writing the Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller To Kill a
Mockingbird (1960)—her one and only novel. The youngest of four children, she
grew up as a tomboy in a small town. Her father was a lawyer, a member of the
Alabama state legislature, and also owned part of the local newspaper. For most
of Lee’s life, her mother suffered from mental illness, rarely leaving the house. It
is believed that she may have had bipolar disorder.
One of her closest childhood friends was another writer-to-be, Truman
Capote (then known as Truman Persons). Tougher than many of the boys, Lee
often stepped up to serve as Truman’s protector. Truman, who shared few
interests with boys his age, was picked on for being a sissy and for the fancy
clothes he wore. While the two friends were very different, they both shared in
having difficult home lives. Truman was living with his mother’s relatives in town
after largely being abandoned by his own parents.
In high school, Lee developed an interest in English literature. After
graduating in 1944, she went to the all-female Huntingdon College in
Montgomery. Lee stood apart from the other students—she could have cared less
about fashion, makeup, or dating. Instead, she focused on her studies and on her
Transferring to the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, Lee was known
for being a loner and an individualist. She did make a greater attempt at a social
life there, joining a sorority for a while. Pursuing her interest in writing, Lee
contributed to the school’s newspaper and its humor magazine, the Rammer
Jammer. She eventually became the editor of the Rammer Jammer.
In her junior year, Lee was accepted into the university’s law school,
which allowed students to work on law degrees while still undergraduates. The
demands of her law studies forced her to leave her post as editor of the Rammer
Jammer. After her first year in the law program, Lee began expressing to her
family that writing—not the law—was her true calling. She went to Oxford
University in England that summer as an exchange student. Returning to her law
studies that fall, Lee dropped out after the first semester. She soon moved to New
York City to follow her dreams to become a writer.
In 1949, a 23-year-old Lee arrived in New York City. She struggled for
several years, working as a ticket agent for Eastern Airlines and for the British
Overseas Air Corp (BOAC). While in the city, Lee was reunited with old friend
Truman Capote, one of the literary rising stars of the time. She also befriended
Broadway composer and lyricist Michael Martin Brown and his wife Joy.
In 1956, the Browns gave Lee an impressive Christmas present—to
support her for a year so that she could write full time. She quit her job and
devoted herself to her craft. The Browns also helped her find an agent, Maurice
Crain. He, in turn, was able to get the publishing firm interested in her first novel,
Mockingbird. Working with editor Tay Hohoff, Lee finished the manuscript in
1959.
Later that year, Lee joined forces with old friend Truman Capote to assist
him with an article he was writing for The New Yorker. Capote was writing about
the impact of the murder of four members of the Clutter family on their small
Kansas farming community. The two traveled to Kansas to interview
townspeople, friends and family of the deceased, and the investigators working to
solve the crime. Serving as his research assistant, Lee helped with the interviews,
eventually winning over some of the locals with her easy-going, unpretentious
manner. Truman, with his flamboyant personality and style, also had a hard time
initially getting himself into his subjects’ good graces.
During their time in Kansas, the Cutters’s suspected killers, Richard
Hickock and Perry Smith, were caught in Las Vegas and brought back for
questioning. Lee and Capote got a chance to interview the suspects not long after
their arraignment in January 1960. Soon after, Lee and Capote returned to New
York. She worked on the galleys for her forthcoming first novel while he started
working on his article, which would evolve into the nonfiction masterpiece, In
Cold Blood. The pair returned to Kansas in March for the murder trial. Later that
spring, Lee gave Capote all of her notes on the crime, the victims, and the killers,
Soon Lee was engrossed her literary success story. In July 1960, To Kill a
Mockingbird was published and picked up by the Book-of-the-Month Club and
magazine. The work’s central character, a young girl nicknamed Scout, was not
unlike Lee in her youth. In one of the book’s major plotlines, Scout and her
brother Jem and their friend Dill explore their fascination with a mysterious and
somewhat infamous neighborhood character named Boo Radley. But the work
was more than a coming-of-age story, however. Another part of the novel
reflected racial prejudices in the South. Their attorney father, Atticus Finch, tries
to help a black man who has been charged with raping a white woman to get a fair
trial and to prevent him from being lynched by angry whites in a small town.
The following year, To Kill a Mockingbird won the prestigious Pulitzer
Prize and several other literary awards. Horton Foote wrote a screenplay based on
the book and used the same title for the 1962 film adaptation. Lee visited the set
during filming and did a lot of interviews to support the film. Earning eight
Academy Award nominations, the movie version of To Kill a Mockingbird won
four awards, including Best Actor for Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch.
The character of Atticus is said to have been based on Lee’s father.
By the mid-1960s, Lee was reportedly working on a second novel, but it
was never published. Continuing to help Capote, Lee worked with him on and off
on In Cold Blood. She had been invited by Smith and Hickock to witness their
execution in 1965, but she declined. When Capote’s book was finally published in
1966, a rift developed between the two friends and collaborators. Capote
dedicated to the book to Lee and his longtime lover Jack Dunphy, but he failed to
acknowledge her contributions to the work. While Lee was very angry and hurt by
That same year, Lee had an operation on her hand to repair damage done
by a bad burn. She also accepted a post on the National Council of the Arts at the
request of President Lyndon B. Johnson. During the 1970s and 1980s, Lee largely
retreated from public life.
She spent some of her time on a nonfiction book project about an Alabama
serial killer, which had the working title The Reverend. But the work was never
published.
Lee continues to live a quiet, private life in New York City and
Monroeville. Active in her church and community, she usually avoids anything to
