Journal #7, Answer to Prompt C

Choice C: So far, is this a novel about race? Class? Gender? Coming of Age? Place? Select and defend your answer.

I would say that this novel is about all of the above. This novel mainly depicts the difference in race and social class. Tom Robinson is having all of these issues happen to him because he's African American. Also the Ewell's are now at the bottom of the social class in many peoples eyes because an African American said he was sorry for them.

In many parts of the book you hear people telling Scout to be more lady like. This shows that gender is a part of this book as well. Many people in the book believe that women have to be in dresses with makeup on. Scout doesn't think so, and many other women tell her that its not right. Just like how life is like now, people in the book think that age matters. As you grow more old, you start to become more feeble and unable to help yourself. That mental description still remains today. Also as you grow older, your personality changes as well and we see that in some characters like Jem. Jem became more mature as he grew older. We also may see that personality change happen in Scout later in the book.

Also the place matters. Many times in the book. You hear the citizens of Maycomb talk about how safe and quiet it is. Of course it isn't always quiet and safe in Maycomb, but that's what lot's of people think. Throughout the book, you see that some of these thinks will start to change. People may think differently about African Americans and other races. People could view Maycomb as a different place, or how high someone is on the social class ladder. Maybe Scout will start to start acting lady like as she grows older. The whole concept behind this book is change, or the loss of innocence. If you look very carefully into the story line of this book, you may see the change happening to all the characters, and the town itself.