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Allusions
Dialect
Explanation and Analysis—Southern Dialects:
Both Southern American English and AAE (African American English) are dialects used throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, lending the novel a kind of regional authenticity. The prevalence of dialect in this novel means that many of the themes explored center on language—as an indicator of race, class, or ethnicity; as a tool; as a weapon.
Curiously, while much of the dialogue in To Kill a Mockingbird employs dialect of some kind, the novel is narrated in standard English. As a narrator, Scout utilizes a complex vocabulary that displays her level of education. As a child, however, Scout speaks frequently in dialectical or vernacular English. The choice to change Scout’s voice as she ages is a deliberate one, heightening the sense that, as an adult, Scout has outgrown her hometown and the small-mindedness she experienced there.
AAE is also spoken by various Black characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, distinguishing them from their white counterparts. These dialectic differences emphasize the wide gulf between Black and predominantly white communities in Maycomb, resulting from centuries of racism and violence. In such a small community, it seems counterintuitive for division to exist. This dialect divide, born out of necessity in the midst of institutionalized oppression, only serves to further isolate these two communities in Maycomb, marking people as different from one another and therefore not to be trusted.
Related Themes:
