When reading this book you really get a good idea of who is in the loop and who isn't. The county of Maycomb is tiny, so whenever someone new comes to town it's quite obvious that that person doesn't quite fit in. I would like to use the example of Miss Caroline the first-grade teacher. She has never lived in Maycomb and doesn't know the rules. Everyone expects her to be aware of what is happening in the town. I guess you could say that she isn't caught up on the "pop culture" of the county. She's written so that you kind of dislike her and she's not supposed to be your favorite character in the book. But is it really her fault that she wants to make a good impression in this town? If you were suddenly thrust into a situation where everyone else knew each other, whereas you didn't know anyone, wouldn't you want to make a good image of yourself? And wouldn't you be upset if other peoples' view of you was ruined on the first day of a new job in a new town? I know that I would be.
The people of Maycomb aren't accostumed to change, they sort of automatically shun the new and different one in the group. When Miss Caroline tries to introduce the Dewey Decimal System, no one really cares. The people of Maycomb are insensitive and narcistic to say the least. But aren't we all? This is a good wake up call to the reader. It emphasizes to me that we need to be aware of when we are excluding one another from our cliques. The idea of insiders and outsiders is actually kind of tragic. But yet, no matter how hard we try, they still exist in the every day situation. And the book To Kill a Mockingbird is just another example of this.
"I wonder what its like to have it all
To never be afraid that I would fall
But I don't think I've ever known a time
That I was part of the in crowd"
To never be afraid that I would fall
But I don't think I've ever known a time
That I was part of the in crowd"
~The In Crowd
Mitchel Musso
