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 ‘christians’ to help communities and those in need located in poor countries. In chapter 24, the Maycomb ladies missionary circle were having their ‘meeting’ at the Finch’s household -

‘were fighting the good fight all over the house’

The irony surrounding the whole facade is that these women bemoaned the ostensible ‘difficult’ lives of the ‘Mruan’ 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 can’t 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 ‘adjourn[ed] for refreshments’ their focus averts to the curious case of Tom Robinson. Mrs. Merriweather, "the most devout lady in Maycomb," refers to Tom Robinson's wife, Helen, as "that darky's wife" before insulting her own maid, Sophy. The term ‘darky’ shows the complete lack of intellect society had in regards to racial difference, in some ways the term is worse than black or ‘coloured’ - a sick nickname the white community have. Another disturbing yet sadly unsurprising gossip the ‘innocent’ 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 didn’t seem to take part in the duplicitous