More handpicked essays just for you.
Class in society to kill a mockingbird
Social class in Maycomb to kill a mocking bird
Class in society to kill a mockingbird
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Families of Maycomb
In the novel there are two families in the town of Maycomb that are very different. The Cunningham's and the Ewells have contrasting and opposite reputations. The Cunningham's are very respected in the town while the Ewells very much despised by the community. The Cunningham's show the respectability of hard worker or, where as Ewells are considered lazy. Miss Maudie is another character in the town who lives next to the Finch family. She is similar to the Cunningham's because she is a trusted figure who faces hard times very bravely and works hard in her garden.
The Cunningham's have pride, and are very respected by the citizen's of Maycomb County. The Cunningham's are given special privileges because there trusted. For example the Cunningham's paid Atticus Finch, a lawyer, for some legal work that Atticus did with their farm. They paid him not with money, but with food, and other services. The population of Maycomb County accepted this form of payment because they knew that the family had no money but was very honest, and extremely hard working. The Cunningham's would never take anything that they couldn't payback equally or with greater something of value. They were always considerate and would help you, and never consider about what was in it for them. The Cunningham's renewed their resources by doing this, people were glad to help them.
The Ewells were very different from the Cunningham's. Bob Ewell was a total drunk. He took what money he earned or stole and he drank it away. Mr. Ewell very rarely or if ever bought or cooked for his family a hot and total nutritious meal in his life. The Ewells used up the resources of the community. They scrounged around taking, and taking from others. People were disgusted when they helped the Ewells. The Ewells were liars, and were too ashamed to stop the slandering of Tom Robinson before it came uncontrollable, costing Tom his life.
Miss Maudie is a neighbor to the Finch Family. She shows more qualities of the Cunningham's and was a role model. Maudie respects others and minds her own business. She worked in her yard during the daytime and spent her evening on her front porch.
In the town of Maycomb, a man who stands up against racism forever changes people’s views on racism. Scout, Jem and Atticus Finch all stand together against racism and prejudice in the tiny town of Maycomb. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in the town of Maycomb, prejudice is a disease, but Jem, Scout, and Dill are immune to this illness because of the people who raise them. For example, when Cecil and Francis told Scout that Atticus is a disgrace to defend Tom Robinson, even though Francis is Scout’s cousin. When Scout and Jem hear the verdict of Tom’s case they both cry and are angry about the sentence while the rest of the town is ecstatic. And finally when Scout doesn’t want Walter Cunningham to come over for dinner because she thinks that he is a disgrace. For all of these reasons, the Finch family must not be racist or prejudiced.
To Kill a Mockingbird "I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father's one of them." – Miss Maudie The quote above states that Atticus Finch was a man who did unpleasant things, but this quote is false. Miss Maudie had every good intention when she told Jem and Scout this and her point was taken in the way she intended it to be taken by the children. Her point could have been better worded if the portion that reads "our unpleasant jobs" were replaced with "what is right." Atticus did unpleasant things only because he knew that they were the right thing to do. Miss Maudie told the children about their father in this way only to avoid saying that the rest of the town was wrong.
Despite all bad or good qualities anyone truly has, one should always try to fight for what’s right and not punish someone who truly doesn’t deserve it just to save themselves. This is evident between Walter Cunningham Sr. and Bob Ewell. Walter Cunningham Sr. is a poor farmer who has to pay those who he owes with supplies rather than money. He also happens to be in a mob, which is trying to kill Tom Robinson [the innocent black man] before his trial. Bob Ewell is part of Maycomb’s poorest family and is also a drunkard. Something both Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Ewell have in common is that they are both white men, who are not the wealthiest and are both trying to put Mr. Robinson in jail. Despite the similarities these characters may seem to have, there are a lot differe...
Miss Maudie has lnown Atticus Finch, now she has helped to raise Jem and Scout. Miss Maudie has always been there for scout, “I spent most of the remaining twilights that summer sitting with Miss Maudie Atkinson in her front porch.”(Lee 55) Miss Maudie took time out of her day to spend time with Scout when Jem abandoned her in his games with Dill. Miss Maudie acts like a mother would checking on the child and finding something for them to do. Miss Maudie also acts like a parent when she is asked a question. “Why, one sprig of nut grass can ruin a whole yard. Look here. When it
Cunningham was a poor farmer and part of the mob that seeks to lynch Tom Robinson at the jail. They have their kids go to school, but they don’t have a bunch. His son, Walter Cunningham was a classmate of Scout’s but he has not passed first grade yet because he skips school every spring to help his father on the farm chop wood. Mr. Cunningham was really poor, but he worked firmly to keep his farm which was right outside of Maycomb. Like most farmers during the Great Depression, he owed oodles of money and paid it off by bringing any crops or plants he could spare from his farm and giving it to Atticus. One night the Finches invited Walter to dinner and he devoured it all and he drenched his food in syrup that was on the table. This shows how the Cunningham family is not always able to access their food. The kids will always be wondering where their next meal will be and when they will have it. The kids don’t always have their lunch with them, too. Instead of paying people back by the money they do it by giving materials they
As shown above, curfew laws can play a very critical role in a teenager’s life. It can assist with keeping the city safer, help them get enough sleep, and help them build their personal skill under a well-structured system routine. A lot of people might find curfew laws for teenagers unconstitutional and contradict the first amendment, so they decide not to abide with it. But by doing so, they are placing more a bigger experience to teenagers who are still working on developing their skills to take on new challenges. After all, Teenagers are the future of our society if we don’t teach, coach, direct, and offer guidance their future will be unstable and unproductive and that will affect the entire nation.
Sum up, the social relationship between these people here, this old town Maycomb is complicated and pretty tense. This novel has taught us so much, thanks to Harper Lee – one of the greatest writers of all time. It has opened our eyes wider about racism at that time and compared it to nowadays it has become so much better. People are equally, no matter what skin color you are, what religion you have, or where you’re from, what you’re appearance looks like, we are all equal, and we are all the same – human. So instead of treating badly to one another we should all united and make the world a better place.
present times by the state of the actual town. It is very poor and in
Jill McCorkle's Ferris Beach, a contemporary novel, shares numerous characteristics with Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written in the 1960's. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, McCorkle's novel documents the life of a young girl in a small southern town. The two narrators, Kate Burns and Scout Finch, endure difficult encounters. A study of these main characters reveals the parallels and differences of the two novels. Jill McCorkle duplicates character similarities and rape from Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to show the reader how young girls think and develop.
Maycomb county alienates the poor and embarrassing people. When the novel introduces the Cunninghams as one of the poorest family in Maycomb, Atticus says, “‘Mr. Cunningham [...] came from a set breed of men’” (Lee 28). The head of the family is Mr. Cunningham, and therefore represents the family as a whole because the husband and father in a family usually makes the money in a 1930s family. Lee uses a metaphor to compare the Cunninghams to a set breed of people. “Breed” means an animal that has a different appearance than others. “Set” means the trait passes on- referring to poverty. A “set breed” conveys a type of animal or person differentiated by specific traits or appearance. This means the Cunninghams are set off from other families. They become alienated from society. Since poverty runs in their family, “Cunningham” synonymizes to “poor.” The county alienates them, thus alienating the poor. The county also alienates the Ewells, but for being embarrassing. Atticus says,...
"Curfews don't keep kids out of trouble." - NewsWorks. N.p., 25 Oct. 2011. Web. 3 Dec. 2
Curfews lower the number of teen involved in crimes every year. A curfew is an order specifying a time which certain people have to be indoors. Curfews apply to all minors. Most curfews during the week are normally start at 10 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays the curfew is midnight. In The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton there are many problems that would be resolved if there was a curfew for the local teens. Cities and towns should require a curfew on all children under the age of eighteen.
However, many cities and states in the US currently enforce curfew laws that deny young teens under the age of 18 their right to be in public places or to drive after certain hours. These laws are punishing minors for exercising their constitutional rights in the same way that adults do without such punishment; they are mostly causing no harm, and do not deserve to be discriminated against by the government in the way they are.
The term “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight” is used by many parents when referencing curfews. What is the definition of a curfew? A curfew is: “an order establishing a specific time in the evening after which certain regulations apply, especially that no civilians or other specified group of unauthorized persons may be outdoors or that places of public assembly must be closed.” But, is this truly accurate, or is having curfews just a short term fix for deeper issues? Imposing a curfew, Sanchez says, is like "putting a Band-Aid on the problem." This topic can be viewed as having many advantages or disadvantages.
Another purpose is parental concern. A lot of times there are some youth who leave the house and don’t bother to tell their parents where they’re going. Most of them don’t even call to check in. This causes parents to worry that something has happened to their child. Curfew can solve this problem because parents will know that their children won’t be out at all hours of the night. ADD MORE