The Limits of Moral Heroism: Reassessing To Kill a Mockingbird in the Classroom
Major
Entrepreneurship
Second Major
English – Literature
Submission Type
Oral Presentation
Area of Study or Work
English-Literature
Faculty Advisor
Joanne Diaz
Location
CNS E104
Start Date
4-11-2026 11:15 AM
End Date
4-11-2026 12:15 PM
Abstract
To Kill a Mockingbird has long occupied a central place in secondary education as a foundational text depicting the racial climate of the early twentieth-century American South. However, despite its literary significance, its continued dominance in high school curricula contributes to ongoing critiques of how African American history is framed, limited, and mediated within educational spaces. Drawing on Stephen Greenblatt’s concept of “culture” from his essay “Culture,” this paper argues that the persistent teaching of To Kill a Mockingbird not only reflects prevailing societal values but also transmits and reinforces particular cultural narratives—most notably those shaped by a white perspective. While some educators attempt to emphasize the critiques of the novel to help depict more critical teachings, this presentation argues that the novel itself should be replaced with Charles W. Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition. Unlike To Kill a Mockingbird, which has been critiqued for its white savior framework, Chesnutt’s novel centers marginalized voices and offers a more direct and historically grounded portrayal of racial violence in the 1890s, particularly in its depiction of the Wilmington Massacre. Such a curricular shift is necessary within an evolving educational system that increasingly seeks to integrate deeper historical and political engagement through literature.
The Limits of Moral Heroism: Reassessing To Kill a Mockingbird in the Classroom
CNS E104
To Kill a Mockingbird has long occupied a central place in secondary education as a foundational text depicting the racial climate of the early twentieth-century American South. However, despite its literary significance, its continued dominance in high school curricula contributes to ongoing critiques of how African American history is framed, limited, and mediated within educational spaces. Drawing on Stephen Greenblatt’s concept of “culture” from his essay “Culture,” this paper argues that the persistent teaching of To Kill a Mockingbird not only reflects prevailing societal values but also transmits and reinforces particular cultural narratives—most notably those shaped by a white perspective. While some educators attempt to emphasize the critiques of the novel to help depict more critical teachings, this presentation argues that the novel itself should be replaced with Charles W. Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition. Unlike To Kill a Mockingbird, which has been critiqued for its white savior framework, Chesnutt’s novel centers marginalized voices and offers a more direct and historically grounded portrayal of racial violence in the 1890s, particularly in its depiction of the Wilmington Massacre. Such a curricular shift is necessary within an evolving educational system that increasingly seeks to integrate deeper historical and political engagement through literature.