Compare the ways Harper Lee and RL Stevenson present towns of Maycomb and London in their novels Essay

Harper Lee and Robert Paillette Stevenson employ two completely different towns to supply the setting for their works of fiction. Harper Shelter sets “To Kill A Mocking Bird” in Maycomb in the The southern part of states of America in the 1930s.

Robert Louis Stevenson sets “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” in Even victorian London. Although these are two very different cultural settings in two several times of all time, there are equally similarities and a few contrasts in the manner the writers use a sense of location to develop the primary themes of their stories and provide an ideal world for the heroes they make. In this dissertation I will explore some of the ways in which they do this.

Maycomb is defined in the book since ” a tired old town”. There is a main sq and a county court house. The primary family available the Finches live on the key residential street. They sit down out on their very own front porte in summer and Shelter gives us a feeling of a closely-knit community where everyone knows everything about one another, roughly they think..

She goes on to display later that is not as idyllic mainly because it seems at first on the surface. In contrast, the London that Stevenson portrays in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde” is seen as a big, distant and impersonal community where there seems to be a lot of conflict and discomfort involving the characters and, in particular, the social classes as they go about their everyday lives. Stevenson describes the streets working in london as soiled, narrow and winding and the buildings while dark and oppressive to create a depressing atmosphere and provide a backdrop of gloom and evil to get Stevenson’s story. The character types in “To kill a Mocking Bird” overall appear on the area to be good, honest hard-working people who are friendly and consider everyday challenges in their stride.

This conceals, however , a deeply engrained hatred to Negroes and their way of life based on prejudice. Quite simply, everybody in Maycomb, by exceptions, is racist, looks at blacks because inferior to themselves and treats these people badly by giving them the toughest manual careers with the cheapest pay. This deep split in the community is usually reflected inside the physical segregation of dark-colored from white, with the blacks living in their particular poor real estate apart from the white wines.

In Stevenson’s London, there is also a sense of social section, but this time it is between rich and poor. Colour is definitely replaced by simply social school to separate out the different parts of the community. “In To Kill a Mocking Bird” The Finch Family present some of the central characters. Atticus, father to Jem and Scout is a good lawyer and a respected leader with the community which many people look up to and respect his views specifically his children Jem and Scout who he attempts to teach them from precisely what is right from precisely what is wrong simply by teaching these people important probe. In Particular, he won’t put up with racism and sees it as a destructive dividing series, which shouldn’t exist.

A good example in the book of racial discrimination is that Negroes had couple of educational possibilities. Calpurnia educated her child Zeebo to learn from the bible and a law publication. Zeebo’s task (Dustman) reveals the limited job potential customers for blacks but Zeebo considers his job as a good job for any Negro.

This kind of shows how long Negroes had been down the social spectrum and they accepted their lowly cultural position together low anticipations. The white-colored people likewise do not problem this sociable status quo as they feel outstanding. At the Missionary tea party all the females enjoy Calpurnia’s cooking but they treat Calpurnia as if she’s not even generally there, showing not any recognition toward her.

During the book Blacks were regularly derided and insulted, termed as “niggers” and practically viewed as immoral and potentially criminal. The worries which occur from this marriage between black and white in Maycomb is actually a main topic throughout the publication. There is a dividing line with regards to social category in Maycomb, with different types of people known as inferior to others i. e. blacks, as well as the poor whites.

The people who are viewed as poor and inferior usually are the ones that execute a lot of the hard working manual jobs to satisfy and provide pertaining to other affiliate s with the community. An additional poor community in Maycomb is the Cunninghams, who are typical farmers as well as the Euells who also are really poor and live next to the dump yard. The Negroes are seen while lower down the social spectrum even compared to the embarrassment for the town (The Euells).

What at first sight seems to be an ordinary community full of reputable moral persons is little by little revealed to end up being full of spite and bias. Harper Lee uses design of the community and the compare between living conditions to emphasise this point. The people in Maycomb who also are well away are the people with the good jobs and the power to govern the town.

There is also a concept of the social section in Jekyll and Hyde with points not always as respectable because they seem. “Jekyll and Hyde. ” There exists an upper class of people who have good, well-paid and reputable jobs exactly like Jekyll who had been a doctor and Utterson who had been a lawyer. Both had riches and good houses. But , there are two sides to the matter. Even though seeming respected, Jekyll had not been happy with his life, This individual even contacted prostitution to fulfill his requires, Even that wasn’t enough and this individual used his position like a doctor to make up a concoction to improve his looks for a short while so that this individual could encounter what it will be like to vary and poor on the murky streets of London.

The elements in “To Kill a Mocking Bird” is used to reflect the mood this town is in, and where the town is positioned it is usually very hot a lot of the time. Frequently , when the climate is identified as hot in the book there is generally some kind of conflict going on or some sort of pressure thus symbolising conflict. Lee also uses the changing seasons to emphasis some of the points your woman wishes to generate. When the weather is described as autumn it gives the impression of a uninteresting grey period. When it’s winter available it says it snows and this it doesn’t snow ever before.

This produces a kind of mystical cold sensation, which is connected in with Disapprove Radley. Once winter turns to springtime it emphasis new lifestyle and a warm secure feeling. These different seasons are used to stand for the act of time passing and each period represents diverse events which will occur in the novel.

The next thunderstorm in London is definitely somewhat of any strange ambiance. It is identified as a lot of the period as being foggy and devious, givingus the impression of a cold and dark situation occurring, London, uk is basically being described as depressing and risky which causes pressure and hindrance. Stevenson perhapsused the fog to hide the surroundings or to help to make it hazy like it can be not quite almost all there, “the next second the fog settled down again after that port” but over and above the fog shows the actual picture.

The fog is merely there to make a sense of duplicity, there is more than one area to almost everything. By Stevenson using these kinds of dramatic atmospheric devices, this individual wanted to show the readers that not everything is what it seems on the outside, you have to appear twice to find the reality. In “To Eliminate A Mockingbird” Maycomb the sleepy small town seems to have a very warm sense of community and friendship among the locals. The homes in Maycomb are reasonably straight forward, simple and overall very sufficient situated fairly close together to provide a close feel of a community but they also get their privacy.

Some individuals don’t like the insides of their houses for example , Miss Maudie who lives next door to Atticus Jem and Scout absolutely hates being cooped up inside all the time your woman detests that greatly and finds the truly amazing out doors more her sort of thing because she usually spends most of her time exterior in her beautiful yard. To comparison with this kind of, there are some folks who just stay inside all day every day for example Disapprove Radley whom doesn’t venture out at all. In fact , he hadn’t been noticed for many years outdoors he simply observes and watches your life past by simply.

Lee uses this comparison between inside and outside to good effect to emphasise reasons for having her heroes and add depth to their characterisation. In “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” London the busy, vibrant, gloomy metropolis has a incredibly distant sense of community and camaraderie. The houses in Victorian Greater london are referred to as being dark and fairly derelict on the exterior but inside it reveals a different presentation of the in house, which is stylish, and a big contrast towards the exterior. For example in the within Jekyll’s property Stevenson details “a dazzling open flames, and fitted with costly units of walnut. ” This provides you with us the impression that Jekyll is usually well off.

The front of Jeykll’s property is really grand and elegant, and fits an effective man, although the back is actually a total distinction to the entrance. The back is very dingy and dirt- ridden and you would expect an out of work tramp to have there. Stevenson uses this kind of contrast to exhibit us two sides to Jekyll’s property and two sides to him, the good side (the front) exactly where Jekyll goes into and looks reputable and the bad side (the back) where Hyde comes out and represents wicked.

This shows that the duplicity in Jekyll/Hyde is mirrored in the house, a respectable “front” conceals a menacing and darker “back”. Stevenson shows us through this gadget that everything is never as it appears. This difference between what something appears to be on the surface and what really like is also a theme in “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Maycomb appears to be a tedious little area where not much action or politics ever before happens and that everybody gets on and hails from harmony.

Nevertheless , the outside can be not always what it seems and a lot of hidden discord among the townsfolk. They are very intolerant of anything or anybody who may be different to what they in their small-minded way think about as “normal”. For example , Boo Radley, who also never goes outside, was dubbed as a “monster” by the kids who also live in the city.

Also Dolphus Raymond, whom lives using a black women and has “All sorts of combined children”, persons think that he drinks bourbon from the tote he provides round all day long and he could be labelled an “evil man”. The truth is this individual doesn’t beverage whisky all day, he gives that impression because the townsfolk of Maycomb could by no means understand why he lives his life like this individual does and he offers them grounds to hate him by simply pretending to be a drunkard. The two of these people demonstrate harsh actuality of people’s beliefs in Maycomb and how they ingredients label people because they’re several or connected with other people which might be seen as immoral and wrong.

For example , once Miss Entrances comments around the importance of democracy and discusses Hitler’s wrong doings of persecuting the Jews as being immoral and pathetic, your woman later displays some of the same prejudice worrying that “Negroes are getting method above themselves”. Lee demonstrates Miss Gates’ hypocrisy via talking about Hitler’s wrong work and commenting that it is wrong she after does basically the same to Negroes while Hitler did to the Jews. Lee uses examples such as this to show that, basically, many of the people in Maycomb had been two-faced and can not start to see the wrong in undermining the Negroes, which shows their very own total hypocrisy.

The true severe reality in Maycomb was that nearly everyone was racist with a few exceptions and the people didn’t like everything to be different by what was regarded “normal” life. In this dissertation I have explored briefly a few of the main themes running through “Jekyll and Hyde” and “To destroy a Mocking Bird. ” In both equally novels anything is not really what it appears to be on the surface area. The people who have live in the worlds of the novels are certainly not always the actual seem. There is deep sociable division and tension in the two communities that leads to conflict and a clash between good and evil. Stevenson and Lee utilize geography of London and Maycomb, their climates and their social options to put more than their topics.

They use these kinds of places to give their works of fiction atmosphere also to create a proper setting for there characters. They use their towns effectively to reinforce their main communications. Stevenson uses London to show some of the hypocrisies of Victorian life in which respectable persons often exploited the poor.

Shelter uses Maycomb to concern racial prejudice and intolerance of people who vary at a time if the civil rights movement in the united states was beginning gather impetus.