According to Adam Alter, the author of “Where We Are Shapes Who We Are,” the environment a person is in has a big impact on a person’s actions and behavior. He claims, “Other environmental cues shape our actions because they subtly license us to behave badly.” Similarly, in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, environment affects a person’s identity; however, race has a bigger impact. Throughout the novel race comes up many times, especially during the trial with Tom Robinson. Due to his race Tom Robinson has no hope for justice during his trial because the whites were so against him. As Lee suggests, race in To Kill A Mockingbird is the biggest influence on a person’s identity because it determines how people should act. White people in Maycomb County have certain standards of how they should …show more content…
They are even less accepted in society than the blacks are. Scout is unaware of what mixed-children are so Jem explains to her by saying, “They don’t belong anywhere. Colored folks won’t have ‘em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ‘em cause they’re colored, so they’re just in-between, don’t belong anywhere” (183). A mix-child’s race causes them to have no place in the world during the 1930’s. They aren’t accepted by either race because they are technically both. Dolphus Raymond, a father of two mix-children, doesn’t expect his children to be accepted in Maycomb. Jem tells Scout, “Mr. Dolphus...they say he’s shipped two of his up north. They don’t mind ‘em up north” (183). For a mix-child, it would be safer to move out of Maycomb, than to stay and live there with the horrible conditions. Whites won’t accept them, so they clearly wouldn’t be treated well, but not even the blacks accept them, so they can’t be apart of anything. They are completely isolated from society, so most just move away to a safer place where they can be