2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

providing a black man the same fairness as any white man. Hence, him straying from the social belief of white superiority encourages the reader to admire him. Consequently, the acceptance of being Robinson’s lawyer exposes not only himself, a highly-educated and respected member of Maycomb, but also his two children to witness the cruel adult world of racism and hatred towards the coloured community. He and his family are deemed by the townspeople as “nigger-lovers” (pg.92) and are physically threatened by members of the community. This leads the reader to comprehend the risk that Atticus is putting upon his family, but taking the case. Despite the Finch family facing the harsh criticism from Maycomb, Atticus continues to demonstrate his divergence of the racial prejudiced norms as he teaches his children about the unjust morals of their society. This shows that Atticus is purposefully diverging from the prejudice beliefs of the town as attempts to encourage a new set of conducts for his children to undertake. Throughout the trial, Atticus can only “hope and pray that [he] can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease” (pg.98). The personification of the racist beliefs of the town as a disease allows the reader to link the aspect of entrenched social racism with a set of ideas and values that have spread and caused ‘ill health’ of the community. It further portrays Atticus’s determination to transgress from the social boundaries placed before him and to raise his children to also, by extension, violate the social standards of Maycomb. Link Deas and Dolphus Raymond are minor characters in the novel who transgress against the boundaries placed before them. Link Deas is Tom Robinson’s employer and one of the few that demonstrates the capacity to rise above the racial prejudices of Maycomb. The members of the community ostracise Deas when he testifies for Robinson:

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