Maycomb, a small town in Alabama, serves as the setting for Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. It is a "tired old town" with a strict racial divide and an overall prejudiced community (5). The narrator, six-year-old Scout proclaims, "There's four kinds of folks in the world. There's the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there's the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes" when she is describing Maycomb (250). A society like this leaves very little room for any individuality, and the town is extremely conformist. However, Atticus Finch, Scout's father is the one character able to defy societal norms.
Atticus is a notable lawyer of Maycomb and is asked to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young, white girl, Mayella Ewell. Despite the social pressure of the citizens of Maycomb, he accepts the offer. Atticus goes into the trial knowing he has a very little chance of victory for Tom Robinson's innocence with the all-white Maycomb County jury. He says, "Courage is not a man with a gun. It's knowing you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do" (112). Although Tom Robinson is convicted in the trial, Atticus stands up for his beliefs the entire time, despite the opinions of those around him. His utmost individuality manifests itself in his courage to fight for justice and his willingness to battle against the strict conformities of society.
Atticus is a notable lawyer of Maycomb and is asked to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young, white girl, Mayella Ewell. Despite the social pressure of the citizens of Maycomb, he accepts the offer. Atticus goes into the trial knowing he has a very little chance of victory for Tom Robinson's innocence with the all-white Maycomb County jury. He says, "Courage is not a man with a gun. It's knowing you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do" (112). Although Tom Robinson is convicted in the trial, Atticus stands up for his beliefs the entire time, despite the opinions of those around him. His utmost individuality manifests itself in his courage to fight for justice and his willingness to battle against the strict conformities of society.