To Kill A Mockingbird Life Styles Essay

, Research Paper

A child in 1930’s Alabama had a life much different than the life of a child growing up in today’s modern society. As opposed to today’s standards, education was less civilized. Their home life was not as privileged or as entertaining, and their place in society was much more trivial, and planned out. The lifestyles of a 1930’s Alabama youth were much different than today’s modern child.

In Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill A Mockingbird, three youths struggle to grow up in post depression Maycomb, Alabama. Their school is, by today’s standards, much less evolved. Not only were special needs not embraced, they were ignored. Whereas today’s society has no problems adapting education so that everybody could learn. There were less career options for children as well. We live in a time where the idea is “You can be whatever you set your mind to.” However, the slogan 70 years ago was more like “You will be what we want you to be, and when we want you to be it, but only if you’re white.” Luckily, education criteria have changed since then, as well as home life and society.

Home life in the novel is very foreign to us. First of all, we don’t have a cook or servant unless we are very wealthy. The Finch’s had Calpurnia to fix their meals. There was more of a family closeness attitude back then too, whereas today families are often split up, and kids can become less and less attached to their families. Independence is a common denominator in both time periods. Rites of passage again, were another similarity in both time periods.

Children had a very limited role in society back in post-depression Alabama. They hadn’t much of a say in what they were going to be, nor their activities, opinions, or much else in life. When Jem and Scout passed by Mrs. DuBose’s house, they were to be proper and polite when she was rude to them, where in today’s society, there is a possibility that the youth could be rude, and suffer no consequences.

Hence, life for a youth in 1930’s had a different lifestyle than young people today. Education was not as systematic, home and family life was dramatically foreign, and they had a trivial place in society. Times have changed since then, and they will in the coming years.