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Social inequality of class in to kill a mockingbird
Social inequality of class in to kill a mockingbird
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In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee taught many lessons. The biggest lesson I learned is that there will always be people who treat people badly because of social inequality, but there will also always be people trying to fight against that. Aunt Alexandra chose to be mean to little Walter Cunningham, just because he didn’t have as much money as them. That is a form of social inequality. Also, when Tom Robinson was found guilty of a crime he didn’t commit for being black.When Atticus stood up for Tom Robinson that was people fighting against social inequality.
An example of Harper Lee teaching us that social inequality will always be an issue no matter how old you are is when Scout asks Aunt Alexandra if Walter can come play and she says no. Scout says “ But I want to play with Walter, Aunty, why can’t I?” She took off her glasses and stared at me. “ I’ll tell you why,” she said “ Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him, picking up his habits and learning lord knows what. You’re enough of a problem to your father as it is.”(pg.301). Aunt Alexandra is telling Scout that Walter can not come over because he is poor and she does not want Scout to start behaving the way he does. This shows how social
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inequality affects people’s thinking. People will treat you badly no matter how old you are solely because they don’t like your background and/or social status. Another example of social inequality in To Kill A Mockingbird is when Tom Robinson was found guilty of raping Mayella.
Atticus says “ confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption-the evil assumption- that all negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with mind of their caliber.” (pg.273) In other words Atticus is saying that they assume that just because Tom is black they assume that he is evil and convicted of a crime that he did not commit. This shows how social inequality can be a strong issue. People already assumed Tom was guilty because they had already made assumptions about him because he was
black. Although the book was filled with tons of scenario to teach us about social inequality, it also teaches that some people will try and fight against it. Case and point, Atticus was trying to fight for Tom Robinson’s freedom because he payed attention to Tom as a person not the color of his skin. Atticus says “For a number of reasons,” said Atticus. “The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.” (pg.100). Atticus is saying that he supporting Tom because he knows that it is the right thing to do. Atticus isn’t worried about the color of his skin, he is only concerned by who Tom is as an indivual. This shows that there will be people try to fight against social inequality and/or don’t agree with it. People will always treat people will always treat others differently because of social inequality. Aunt Alexandra treated a little boy badly, just because she didn’t think that he was equal to her. People in Maycomb assumed that Tom was guilty because of the color of his skin. Atticus decided to help Tom because he didn’t judge Tom by his background. Harper Lee teaches that social inequality is a terrible thing and can hurt a lot of people. However, she also that shows that even though people will treat other badly, there will always be kind people who don’t care what your background is.
In the novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee some characters suffer in the hands of justice and fairness more than others. Many characters in the novel are discriminated against such as Calpurnia, Dolphus Raymond, Helen Robinson, Burris Ewell and more. However I will be focusing on the discrimination against Tom Robinson for his race, Walter Cunningham for his low socioeconomic status and Boo Radley for the rumors and supposed mental instability he holds. I chose those three because they are the most prominent and I will discuss how the discrimination against the characters therefore leads to their injustice or unfairness.
There is no doubt that Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a famous novel known for its themes, most of them containing wise life lessons, racial inequality being an obvious and important one. Firstly, racism illustrates the lack of justice and people’s views on prejudice in Tom Robinson’s case. Secondly, the novel touches base on diction notably the racial slurs used. Finally, with racism being a theme of the novel, it affects the characters’ personalities. Harper Lee uses life lessons, diction and characters throughout the novel because it develops the main theme of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird.
How would you like it if someone walked up to you and berated you based on the color of your skin? A characteristic like that isn’t even something you can control, so an insult of that nature can leave one furious and oppressed. Discrimination is inevitable in any culture, throughout history, in modern times, and even in ancient times. For example, the oppression and murder of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust, the African Slave Trade which occurred for multiple centuries, and more recently, the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar, brought on by the government of the Asian nation, all of which are tragedies doomed to happen when history repeats itself and people do not learn
If your black your not to be trusted, if you’re a farmer you are considered poor and a lower class of people. If you live your life differently in any way you are looked on as a lesser person. Harper Lee tries to show the reader, we can all learn to combat prejudice if we follow Atticus’s maxim. That if you attempt to stand in another’s shoes or skin, you can learn to understand them, which will lead to tolerance and hopefully no prejudice.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird the story is about a man named Atticus Finch, who defends an African-American man named Tom Robinson who was wrongly accused of rape. Atticus’s children Scout and Jem are exposed to racism for the first time through the Tom Robinson case. Meanwhile Scout is dealing with her own issues of sexism and gender roles. There is also a big problem with social class with some people living in extreme poverty. While there were improvements made to these issues of racism and social class in the US today, they are still well behind where they would ideally be.
One example of social inequality is shown through the Cunningham family, who were not well educated. In chapter 23 Jem states, “Well then, how do you explain why the Cunninghams are different? Mr. Walter can hardly sign his name, I’ve seen him. Scout became frustrated because due to this issue, she was told by her aunt not to play with Walter Cunningham.
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee it showcases many ethnicity inequality that was written in the 1930s. The first situation that showed ethnicity inequality was Calpurnia being the maid for the FInch’s household. Calpurnia is was an African American woman that worked for the Finch’s when Scout and her older brother, Jem were young. She was like their second mother since their mother had passed away when Jem was six. She was paid for being their maid which indicated that African
In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee uses discrimination and injustice to tell us readers that justice should be blind when it comes to gender, race and the way you live life. In the story many people are being discriminated because of their race , gender and even age. During the book we have many examples of discrimination especially in the case with Tom Robinson we have many examples of how many people were and still discriminate African Americans.
In chapter 10 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, an allegory for racism, prejudice, and injustice is created through the mad dog Tim Johnson as he wanders through the small southern town of Maycomb to find a place to die. The mad dog's physical descriptions, his death by Atticus's gun, and his disposal after death all combine to shape him to be a symbol for the injustice and racism that occurred during the Great Depression. Tim Johnson plays a pivotal part in Lee's narrative and portrays the story's central themes of justice and morality.
The use of anthropomorphism to compare a Negro to a horse conveys how racism is not as black and white as it seems and even Jean Louise, the symbol of innocence, is subtly subscribing herself to racial profiling and stereotyping. The negative stigma associated with African Americans also limits how individuals can support the African American community without losing credibility and integrity within society. A prime example is Atticus Finch, who reluctantly agrees to defend Tom Robinson knowing that “people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up”. The jury for the trial of Tom Robinson were all white men, reflecting the idea that the negative stereotypes associated with African Americans limited the Negroes from having authority, credibility in society. The testimonials provided by Mayella and Bob Ewell that Tom raped Mayella was placed against Tom’s testimonial that Mayella kissed Tom. Due to the belief a black man would take advantage of a white women given the opportunity and because black people had no integrity within society the jury found Tom Robinson guilty. This reflects how Maycomb County’s values and
Racism and discrimination is a major societal issue in society in the past and even today it is also a major theme in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. two main characters in the book Scout and Jem, live with their father in a town called Maycomb their father Atticus who teaches them many life lessons such as treat all humans equally no matter what their race, is a lawyer for a man named Tom Robinson who is accused of a crime and is discriminated against all through the trial and even until his death. African Americans have been treated unfairly in society for a very long time, along with in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Many of the characters in the book are discriminated against. For example, Jem and Scout are discriminated against by the African Americans when they go with Calpurnia to her church.
Once known as harmless silly jokes, swiftly turned to incompetent stereotypical slurs, these are the threats that wound. Social Injustice is not an avoidable topic because it touches base with the discrimination of innocent people. It’s existed as long as many think, roughly around the 1860’s. Social Injustice consists of perpetuating stereotypes about race, gender, and religion. Realistic examples of Social Injustice emerge from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, The Scottsboro Boys Trial, and an incident that occurred with the Pine Orchard Yacht and Country Club.
In “To Kill a Mockingbird” Harper Lee’s character, Scout, asks her aunt if she can play with a boy who is in a lower income family. Her Aunt responds with “ ’Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him’” (225 Lee). The time “To Kill a Mockingbird” was set in each social class stayed within their social class, “Every town the size of Maycomb had
People around the world have been suffering from an endless disease known as the injustice. A disease that eliminates values, injures dignity, leads specific people to revenge–mostly violence–and requires the community under which the injustice has affected to recover from it. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story takes setting during the Great Depression in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. The novel deals with racial injustice by setting a scene where Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping a young white woman. However, despite significant evidence that proves Tom Robinson’s innocence, the jury convicts him because of his race.
Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird, is a very interesting novel that takes place during the 1930s and was published during the Civil Rights Movement era in 1960. In this novel Harper Lee covers the issue of racial segregation between African-Americans (Blacks) and Whites. Lee covered this issue wonderfully by having the story take place in an incestuous town and having the book narrated in the main characters (an 8-year-old girl named Scout) point of view. While vividly portraying racial segregation through Scout’s point of view, Lee was able to create a numerous amount of themes subjecting to how Scout grew up and how other characters contributed to her growing up. A theme I noticed Lee implemented smoothly into the story is; “don’t judge