Scout is confused because Miss Gates said that she was against persecution and what Hitler was doing to the Jews was terrible, yet she was in favor of Tom Robinson being persecuted. Miss Gates is saying that something is not right in the world, but she herself is doing exactly what she is saying needs to be changed. Scout didn't want to bother Atticus so she talked to Jem about what she was thinking: "Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home" (Lee 331). Scout is describing hypocrisy when she asks this because it shows that people can be two-faced. Harper Lee includes this because even Miss Gates doesn't believe that prejudice exists among society but when the trial took place it was common knowledge that Tom Robinson would inevitably go to jail. Harper Lee is trying to show us that there is always prejudice and unfair persecution in the world and it was an important connection where black people in this community were treated lesser and Jews were being killed in Germany because they were thought to be far worse than the Germans. Miss Gates explains that the United States is a Democracy, "Over here we don't believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced" (Lee 329). This is another example of something that people might believe in but is an untruth. Miss Gates supports the Jews and believes that what is happening to them is unfair and horrible and she believes that what happened to Tom Robinson was alright because all the blacks should be taught a lesson. The Jews are white and that feeds her thinking that the situation is different from what happens to the black people, for example Tom Robinson.
Sorry I meant to say chapter 26&27 and it came out like this because I copied and pasted it from where I wrote it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with everything that you have said in your post. Scout does not realize why Miss Gates can say bad things about Hitler and then say bad things about people right at home. While Scout is in school one day, and the class is talking about current events, Miss Gates says, "Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced"(Lee 329). Miss Gates, while talking about prejudice against Jews in Germany, is not thinking about the prejudice happening against African Americans in America. Scout recounts that on the day of the Tom Robinson case, Miss Gates was talking bad about African Americans, and she doesn't know how Miss Gates can be prejudiced while saying that being prejudiced is wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statements you made in your post. Scout is clueless to the fact of why Ms. Gates can put others down, such as Hitler and then say mean things about the citizens of Maycomb. This relates to when Ms. Gates claims during one of Scouts school days "Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced"(Lee 329). Ms. Gates is explaining to the children about what the Jewish people in Germany are experiencing. Although, Ms. Gates has a fairly good understanding of the situation thousands of miles away from her, she is not aware of her own prejudice to African Americans in Maycomb.
ReplyDeleteI think that this also relates to Scouts maturity. She is growing older and beginning to see connections between different concepts, although she is not yet old enough for the prejudice and racism to influence her decision and thoughts too much. This stage of Scout's life is what Atticus refers to when he says "maybe we need a police force full of children"(Lee 210).
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