An analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee:: Investigating the relations between gender, race and classism in Maycomb
Author
Krogsgaard, Merete
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2016
Submitted on
2016-05-30
Pages
77
Abstract
This thesis presents a close reading of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird to examine how sexism, racism, and classism shape the fictional town of Maycomb and to consider why the novel endures in schools and popular culture. The study reads the novel on its own terms, deliberately excluding comparisons with the prequel Go Set a Watchman (2015) and the 1961 film adaptation to maintain a pure reading. The framework combines historical background on slavery, Jim Crow, and the civil rights era with biographical context on Harper Lee, including the novel’s partly autobiographical elements; feminist ideals such as the Southern Belle and True Womanhood contrasted with Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble; a survey of racial ideologies from their origins to contemporary debates, including Black Lives Matter (2014–2016); and an analysis of class structures through the Finch, Cunningham, and Ewell families. These lenses are applied individually and then together to show how gender, race, and class sustain Maycomb’s social order and to assess the novel’s continuing relevance. The excerpt does not present findings, but the thesis aims to synthesize these strands to clarify why Lee’s portrayal of injustice remains accessible and resonant.
Dette speciale præsenterer en nærlæsning af Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird for at undersøge, hvordan sexisme, racisme og klassisme former den fiktive by Maycomb, og for at belyse, hvorfor romanen fortsat er udbredt i skoler og populærkultur. Værket læses på egne præmisser, med et bevidst fravalg af sammenligninger med forløberen Go Set a Watchman (2015) og filmatiseringen fra 1961 for at sikre en ren læsning. Det teoretiske grundlag kombinerer historisk baggrund om slaveri, Jim Crow og borgerrettighedsbevægelsen med biografisk kontekst om Harper Lee, herunder romanens delvist selvbiografiske træk; feministiske idealer som The Southern Belle og True Womanhood i kontrast til Judith Butlers Gender Trouble; en gennemgang af raceteorier fra deres oprindelse til aktuelle debatter, herunder Black Lives Matter (2014–2016); samt en analyse af klassestrukturer gennem Finch-, Cunningham- og Ewell-familierne. Disse perspektiver anvendes først hver for sig og dernæst i samspil for at vise, hvordan køn, race og klasse opretholder Maycombs sociale orden og for at vurdere romanens vedvarende relevans. Uddraget indeholder ikke resultater, men specialet har til formål at sammenflette disse spor for at tydeliggøre, hvorfor Lees skildring af uretfærdighed forbliver tilgængelig og vedkommende.
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