To_Kill_a_Mockingbird_Conflict_Essay

Discuss how your text portrays conflict: Conflict is a process that can take place throughout days, months or years. It is a form of disagreement that evolves from an opinion and quality different from others. To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, is an authentic novel that portrays conflict in many forms of difference, such as race, gender, family and health. When Tom Robinson was claimed guilty for rape though there was enough clear evidence to leave him innocent, this took a form of racism. The Maycomb people had been racist towards Tom Robinsons race; creating an unpleasant conflict between the black and white people. “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed”, Chapter 25, pg. 244. This conveys the conflict by explaining that as soon as someone would blame a black person, that would be the end of their life. The black people in Maycomb differed from the rest of the people because their colour on their skin wasn’t accepted; different physical appearance wasn’t accepted in the opinion of the white people. To Kill A Mockingbird was set in the 1930’s; this was a time when many men viewed women incapable of being equal to them. Scout was the only female in the Finch family and she considered herself similar to men in the novel. “It nearly knocked the breath out of me, but it didn’t matter because I knew he was fighting, fighting me back. We were still equals”, Chapter 14, pg. 152. Scout was lived in a sexist era, although Atticus raised her as an equal. Living as an equal in the Finch family full of men made Scout look different towards the rest of the women in Maycomb, which lead to an unspoken conflict between the Maycomb families. Jem was six and Scout was two when their mother passed away, leaving Atticus behind as a single man who hadn’t remarried. In the 1930’s it was considered unusual for a single parent to raise children, as when Atticus’ wife died he appeared different and abnormal to the rest of the families in Maycomb. “After supper, Atticus sat down with the paper and called, ‘Scout, ready to read'”, Chapter 3, pg. 32. The result of not having a mother in the Finch’s home resulted in a father daughter relationship for Scout, the only relationship she would ever know. Unknown relationships concluded in conflict for the Finch family to the rest of the Maycomb families in the 1930’s, which seemed abnormal when people didn’t put themselves in their shoes. People don’t realize that when someone has an uncommon health condition, they feel different to the rest of their community; this is how it felt for Boo Radley (Arthur). Boo was in a state that prevented him from leaving his home regularly, and from surrounding himself in a crowd. He was in a state where people didn’t understand what person he truly was, resulting in many tangled lies that spread across Maycomb. “They were white hands, sickly white hands that had never seen the sun, so white they stood out garishly against the dull cream wall in the dim light of Jem’s room”, Chapter 29, pg. 298. It was unknown why Boo behaved like he did. This was why he differed from the surrounding people; he didn’t have the same views as everyone or live the common ‘Maycomb way’, which left him as a unfortunate man in an unhealthy condition, hiding away from his difference in order to shy from conflict. In conclusion, To Kill A Mockingbird has uniquely portrayed conflict as many views and topics on the difference in race, gender, family and health in a society in the 1930’s. It described difference from various views of unique people that created conflict in the small town of Maycomb.