To Kill A Mockingbird Compare And Contrast Essay Sample

“To every disadvantage, there is a corresponding advantage” W. Clement Stone. The book To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee took place in Maycomb Alabama where the two main characters “Scout” and “Jem” are raised during the time of the great depression when the disease of racism was running rapidly. Jem and Scout experience many advantages and disadvantages while living in Maycomb Alabama.

Jem and Scout experience advantages while living in Maycomb Alabama. Firstly, Jem and Scout get a first-hand view of how people have different perspectives on how people are supposed to be treated. Jem and Scout's father Atticus Finch states, “‘you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’”(39). For example, this is a good thing because although people have a lot of different opinions on how people should be treated they are getting to experience firsthand how their father treats people no matter the color of their skin and this is important because they will grow up to treat people kindly and with respect. Secondly, Maycomb is a small town where the citizens all try to watch out for one another. For instance, “‘neighbors bring food with death and sickness and little things in-between'’” (373). This is important because the neighborhood they grow up in will highly influence the type of person they will become because they spend the majority of their time there. So just by their neighbors being kind, we get a glimpse of how they will treat future generations or even their own peers. Scout and Jem experience many advantages while living in Maycomb Alabama. Thirdly, Jem and Scout have access to a good education. For instance, when scout started the first grade and she already knew how to read and write. Harper Lee states, “she would set me a writing task by scrawling the alphabet firmly across the top of a tablet, then copying out a chapter of the bible beneath it” (24). Not many people had access to a good education during the time of the great depression and Scout was already ahead of what they were learning in the first grade. This is important because it shows that Atticus and Calpurnia “the maid” care and want to make sure the children are not sent into the world like a lot of the people in Maycomb. Scout and Jem have many benefits while growing up in Maycomb.

On the other hand, Scout and Jem experience many disadvantages while living in Maycomb Alabama including racism and segregation. For instance, Scout and Jem have to deal with people in Maycomb who still live by their old prejudiced ways and continuously make comments about people in the “Black Community”. This is illustrated by, Mrs.Dubose when she states, “‘your fathers no better than the niggers and trash he works for ’” (135). The kids are faced with this struggle because a lot of people in Maycomb Alabama are prejudiced against black people so they reticule the children for Atticus Finch trying to make the world a better place. This shows that some people stick with beliefs that they were raised with while some people who are raised with racist beliefs change and raise the children they have to treat everyone fairly no matter the skin color. In addition, Jem and Scout have to deal with the segregation between whites and blacks. Lula states, “‘you ain't got no business bringin white chillun here– they got their own church, we got our’n it is our church ain’t it, ain’t it miss cal?’”(193) This is crucial because the whites and black have been segregated and have such a long history that she is starting to ‘resent’ the white community for how they treat the black community. She is now taking it upon herself to return the treatment of how other people in Maycomb treat black people and give that treatment back to Jem and Scout who are innocent bystanders in the “race war”.  People should try to break generational racism because it only continues throughout society and makes future generations resent each other already because they will expect that racism from them and be skeptical if they aren't racist or prejudiced. In addition, Jem and Scout are put at a disadvantage because the people and Maycomb are judgemental and spread rumors about people who don’t fit into the idea of what they think is normal. To illustrate, Scout states, to Mr.Raymond, “‘making yourself out badder’n you are already–’' and in response, Mr.Raymond says,“‘it ain't right but it's mighty helpful to folks’”(268). This shows that the people in Maycomb are judgemental and Mr.Raymond would rather give them a false reason to talk about him because they are going to do it anyways and that is the only way they can rationalize the decisions that he makes.

To summarize, Scout and Jem experience many advantages and disadvantages while living in Maycomb Alabama. “‘To every disadvantage, there is a corresponding advantage” W. Clement stone. Scout and Jem experience many advantages while living in Maycomb Alabama such as, Being close with their neighbors and getting to see a different perspective of the world. Scout and Jem face many disadvantages while living in Maycomb For example, segregation and being ridiculed because they don’t think in the same prejudiced ways as many of the people in Maycomb. So when will the advantages of the world outweigh the disadvantages? Take a look around and see what advantages and disadvantages are around the world.