Regional culture problems in To Kill a Mockingbird

America is a wild country， the primary European immigrants mainly settled in eastern coast， and gradually expand to west. Immigrants from different districts， amassed together and formed their own cultures.these different cultures interacted with local regional features and foreign cultures and local economic structure in long-term develop， formed local cultures different from other districts. America is divided into eastern district， New England district， middle western district， western district and southern district. Each district has its specialty in immigrants source， economy， landform， custom， tradition， religion and historical development.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a great work that reflecting the southern culture before civil rights movement.the novel criticized southern peoples ingrained racial prejudice and old-fashioned values. During the period of colonization， southern societys economy was based on plantation with black slaves， leading to the social system and racial contradictions of strict social stratum. Because of taking plantation as the first economy， southern urban economy and urban culture developed slowly. The stiff religion， serious racial prejudices， old opinion of honor and the complex of gentleman and lady become the typical characteristics of southern culture. All these cultural characteristics shadow over the teenagers psychology and morality， and puzzle their psychology and morality during their growing-up. However， teenagers growth has the primary impulse to get rid of control and to rebel the tradition.this contradicts to the ingrained religious tradition ingrained in American southern society， which become the social problem the teenagers have to be confronted with. The most astonishing story in To Kill a Mockingbird is a kind and outgoing boy Arthur was abandoned by society and was encaged by his family for his whole life because of his rebellious personality and misbehavior. Growing up from a disciple family， Arthurs father was so pious that he was stiff toward religion. He is a man living for the God. He never smiled to his children， and he only conformed to the religious doctrine and social regulations， keeping a strict demand to his son. However， Arthur got along with a gang of rebellious young men when he was over ten years old. They always hung out on the street， went to theater and dancing instead of church. Once he drunk whiskey， he played tricks with the judge. This typical adolescent rebellion and tricks， were behaviors that blaspheming the God in the judges mind. From the viewpoint of the middle classes who admired gentlemans behaviors， their action is a challenge to social order and authority. The judge decided to punish the children， so he sent them to State Technical school for study. as his Father Radley knew that， he thought Arthur destroyed his familys honor. Radley promised the judge his willing to give his son a lesson， and forbid Arthur never to do this kind of thing again. Since then， the people in the town havent seen Arthur for 15 years. It seemed that Arthur never existed. Except neighboring children， no one cared about his living state. Arthur can only look out from his window with loneliness.endprint

Arthur stabbed his father when he was 33， which manifested his hatred. A father was so cold to his own child， and a society was so indifferent to other social members. Arthurs frustration developed into fear toward society. In the end of the story， when he appeared again， he can not get accustomed to communicate with others.

The coldness in adult world， puzzled Jane and Jem. They once asked their father， a middle aged lawyer， about Arthur. While Atticus didnt allow them to interfere with others affairs. They could only inquire for lady Maodi. Her explanation is that old Radley， as a grim disciple， only cared about his afterlife， but he hasnt learned to live in reality. Lady Maodi was also a disciple as well as a single woman， she loves gardening， so she was always criticized by others. Some disciple criticized her her staying in garden was much longer than reading the Bible， and they cursed her to go to hell with her flowers. She told Jane that these people only understand the Bible superficially， and they saw any hobbies as sins， even regarded women as sins. So， lady Maudy said， in somebodys eyes， the Bible is worse than whiskey.

Some pious disciple thought the Bible was the golden rule， peoples action should be restraint by the rules. Such stiff religion must contradict with teenagers aspiration， causing teengers rebellion toward social values. Arthurs lifelong confinement is deadly. Lady Maudi， as an adult， was capable of defying others criticize， and insist on her aesthetic interest， while young Arthur， Jane and Jem are not so lucky， they have to understand the contradiction between religious control and personal freedom， and walk away from spiritual moor.

References：

[1]Visions of Adolescent growth：A Study of Contemporary American Initiation Stories.

作者簡介： 杜文秀（1993.12-），女，漢族，山東濟寧人，碩士，就讀于天津外國語大學，研究專業為英語語言文學。endprint