Small towns are often considered a safe place to grow up. Many of those born in these small towns never leave them, perhaps because they are too afraid to leave everything they have ever known. These cities are not without their problems, however. Small rural towns, especially in the South, carry the stigma of prejudice against those who are different, which unfortunately can still be true today. John Kennedy Toole's debut novel, The Neon Bible, explores the negative stigma associated with living in a small town. Toole, being a Southern man himself, was able to display a teenager's exact perspective on a rural Southern town in the 1930s. A major theme of Toole's novel is the prejudices that can arise in a small town and he uses his characters to present his commentary on the subject. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The first example of Toole's view of small-town judgment is the town's reaction to Aunt Mae. His flashy clothes and exposed skin attract dirty looks and judgment from the woman as well as mockery from the men. David, the protagonist and Mae's nephew, remembers the time when Aunt Mae first came to live with them. He recalls: "When I was four, my mother was throwing a party for some of the factory workers' wives, and Aunt Mae came into the living room in the middle of the party, wearing a dress that showed almost everything. its front, except for the nipples. , that I knew you could never show. The party ended shortly after and as I sat on the porch I heard the women talking to each other as they left. And they called Aunt Mae all kinds of names like I had never heard before and I really didn't know the meaning until I was almost ten years old” (Toole 6). Toole was able to use this situation to illustrate how pitying, jealous, and superficial, small-town women can be. This four-year-old boy heard horrible things said about his aunt that these women would never say to his face. She chose to dress differently from these judgmental women and there is nothing that brings people together than a common enemy. In a larger environment, like a city, small things, like what you wear, are much less relevant than in smaller towns where there isn't much to say. Aunt Mae is actually a very caring and kind woman, but these small town women judge her character based on how she presents herself. This specific interaction with the locals and Aunt Mae represents the judgment that was often a large part of the small town mentality. While the women judged Aunt Mae, the men ogled and mocked her for having the audacity to show a little skin. David recalls: “The men were always nice, but they made fun of her when she wasn't around. It hurt me when they did it, because there wasn’t a man in town that Mae didn’t love” (Toole 10). Ironically, the men are even more double-minded than the women in this small town. They are kind and even affectionate towards her at times, but then they make fun of her behind her back. David, the narrator, looking back and remembering how terrible he felt about Aunt Mae when he was so young, makes the reader realize how critical the townspeople really were. Toole managed to make the reader see the ugly side of small towns with the various reactionsnegative feelings towards Aunt Mae based solely on her appearance. Aunt Mae was the first crosshair for the town featured in the novel, but unfortunately, she was not. the last. David's entire family was judged very harshly after David's father lost his job. David's first teacher, Mrs. Watkins, tells him what is going on about David's family in an attempt to humiliate him. One day, when he is late for class, she says, “'He's one of the poor people who live in the hills and don't have money to buy an alarm clock'” (Toole 43). Then, after David accidentally lets out a burp, Mrs. Watkins slaps him hard across the face and says, "I hope the Lord will be merciful to you for your behavior toward those who are trying to teach you in His way." You and your family are fallen Christians. You are no longer listed on the church rolls. I see that. I see all these things” (Toole 44). Mrs. Watkins judges David's family, who barely have enough money to buy food, for no longer tithing. Toole was able to present the unspoken rules of a small town religious society with these statements from Mrs. Watkins. Although families are not required to give to the Church every week, if they do not, their faith is questioned and their "sins" are judged by those who follow Jesus Christ, a man who ironically emphasized forgiveness in his teachings. Another point that came up often in Christ's teachings was to love your neighbor, but the people of the valley were never able to illustrate this lesson. At the time of the novel, World War II was taking place and many Valley boys were being drafted to fight. Some, like David's father, never returned. Others returned and married girls they had known all their lives, but a few returned with foreign wives. When revival came to town, the valley boys had not yet returned home. Bobbie Lee Taylor, the revival speaker, expressed the fears of all the mothers of soldiers in the audience by saying, “Every day, more and more soldiers, sailors, marines, colonels, privates and of lieutenants get involved with foreign women and even marry them. ! Do you want your son to return home to a foreign, perhaps even pagan, wife? … Do you want a Chinese woman in your home to take care of your grandchildren, to breastfeed them?' » (Toole 69) Bobbie Lee Taylor may not have been from the valley, but he expressed the fears of almost everyone in the crowd with his sermon. These people were afraid of what they didn't know, and these women from Europe and Asia that their sons brought home were too different. They did not want their family lineage tainted by other races and believed that these women were "heathens" simply because they were of a different ethnicity. Toole highlighted the racist, prejudiced and elitist mentalities that were synonymous with living in a small southern town during that era. One audience member Bobbie Lee's speech particularly touched was Flora, a Valley woman. After the sermon was over, Aunt Mae and Flora had a conversation about Bobbie Lee's words. David recalls: "She was worried about what Bobbie Lee was saying...She told Aunt Mae she didn't want Chinese grandbabies on her lap with their dangerous-looking mother hanging around the house." (Toole 75). No matter who this woman was or how much the son cared for her, Flora would not have accepted this woman her son brought home nor the children he conceived with her. The idea..