"Maycomb's Usual Disease"

Blog 2: Chapter 7-12:

→ In Chapter 9, Atticus expresses his desire that Scout not catch “Maycomb’s usual disease.” What is this disease? How might she catch it? What “diseases” do we have in society today?

“Maycomb’s usual disease” is the disease where one tends to take part in the spread of public response to support racism and prejudice. Basically, the disease is racism and prejudice that has accumulated the town. Atticus is referring to where the town is racist and looks down on African Americans. Atticus does not want Scout to believe nor fall as a victim to this "hard-hit" disease. In To Kill a Mockingbird, during a conversation with Jack, Atticus tells him “I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town” (Lee 117).

Scout may catch it at school due to the big influence of her friends and classmates. Because Scout’s father, Atticus, is defending Tom Robinson, a Negro, so Scout is an obvious target to attack. This is why the case is such a big deal since “people go stark raving mad when anything involving Negro comes up” (Lee 117). Continuing on, Atticus understands that he will create a lot of enemies by his decision to defend Tom Robinson. Though, he worries Scout will get attacked and contaminated with the “Maycomb’s usual disease.” Due to Scout’s classmates being greatly influenced by their parents, they’ll attack Scout with all these remarks to contaminate her with racism like saying Atticus is a “nigger-lover”. These constant remarks may cause Scout to believe that her classmates  are right, and end up catching this contagious disease. Which leads to Atticus’s biggest worry: Scout will become biased like her classmates.

Some diseases that we have in society still include racism and prejudice, though not as harsh to Maycomb’s extents. For example, we sometimes look down on others based on their race. For instance schools are also segregated into different groups during lunch depending whether you’re a nerd, a geek, an athlete, a gamer, popular or unpopular, social class, religious beliefs, and different races. People are frequently categorizing others based on their race and ethnicity such as being African American, Hispanic, White, Asian, etc~ Many times people look down on others based on their race, which causes the United States to become segregated. Still today, there are the occasional stereotypes that nitpick people that stand out from their typical stereotypes.