To Kill a Mockingbird Missionary Circle Analysis
The ladies missionary circle was a group of women who met every few weeks in the early to mid – 1900s for tea and was supposedly created by âchristiansâ to help communities and those in need located in poor countries. In chapter 24, the Maycomb ladies missionary circle were having their âmeetingâ at the Finchâs household –
âwere fighting the good fight all over the houseâ
The irony surrounding the whole facade is that these women bemoaned the ostensible âdifficultâ lives of the âMruanâ tribe but are seemingly oblivious to the suffering of the african-american and rural communities in Maycomb. They claim to want to help the missionary: J. Everett Grimes, who is in Africa working with this tribe; yet one canât help but wonder that this topic was just a talking point so that the women could feel charitable and heighten their sense of moral altitude before maliciously gossiping for the hours that follow. The ladies seem to only remember that the blacks are people too and reach out to them to help if they are in Africa, however are conveniently indifferent to the suffering that is very much present under their own freshly powdered noses
When the ladies âadjourn[ed] for refreshmentsâ their focus averts to the curious case of Tom Robinson. Mrs. Merriweather, “the most devout lady in Maycomb,” refers to Tom Robinsons wife, Helen, as “that darkys wife” before insulting her own maid, Sophy. The term âdarkyâ shows the complete lack of intellect society had in regards to racial difference, in some ways the term is worse than black or âcolouredâ – a sick nickname the white community have. Another disturbing yet sadly unsurprising gossip the âinnocentâ ladies make is about their own maids who work hard every day, yet are rewarded by this mindless gossip.
The only woman at the meeting who didnât seem to take part in the duplicitous