How Does Miss Maudie Use Social Division In To Kill A Mockingbird

The community separation in To Kill A Mockingbird

People are often classified into groups based on their status in a community. Although nowadays people are treated as more of a whole, the subject of social division is evident in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Gender is a huge factor that can lead to multiple judgments. Your social class also plays a part in the way you are treated, such as the family you belong to. However one of the more common social division factors is race and that affects many. Therefore, social division has a negative effect on a town or community. Gender roles play a huge part in the classification of status. Firstly, Jem questions the reason for never seeing people like Miss Maudie on the court jury.

Atticus answers, “For one thing, Miss Maudie can’t serve on a jury because she’s a woman” (Lee296). This poses many worries in Jem and Scout’s minds because they do not understand why women do not have these rights, but Atticus proceeds to explain, “I guess it’s to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom’s” (Lee296).

Thus making it seem as though women can’t handle tough situations. This does not reside well with Scout because she is a woman and knows she could handle it. This shows how females are classified into a group that is delicate and incapable of doing things. Secondly, Scout is told many times that she is not enough like a girl but she does not really care. Scout proclaims, “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants” (Lee108). This puts an idea in Scout’s head that she must wear a dress to be accepted as a woman and that it is wrong for her to do adventurous things outside like she does with Jem. If Scout wasn’t such a happy and confident person, this could make her feel like there is something wrong with her and that she is different in a bad way. Nonetheless, she doesn’t listen to Aunt Alexandra because she really does not care what people think of her. Scout does not allow the stereotypes of being a lady classify her into that specific status. Thirdly, Scout doesn’t like being called a girl because the characteristics

that are associated with being a girl back then are not who she is.

However, Jem says, “Scout, I’m tellin’ you for the last time, shut your trap or go home—I declare to the Lord you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day!” (Lee69). Jem treats Scout being more like a girl as a bad thing. Due to the fact that Scout is the opposite of a typical 8-year-old girl, she takes offense to being called a girl. Jem is implying that if Scout doesn’t come, she’s cowardly like a girl but boys can be cowardly too. It’s just that girls are known to be gentle and soft and not tough at all. Scout hates this so she ends up going with the boys. The classification of being a girl is so specific and degrading towards women as a whole, and that puts a huge negative toll on a town. Someone is treated differently depending on their social class and the way other people see them. In Maycomb County there are known to be three types of white people in different social classes: the Finches, the Cunninghams and the Ewells. The Finches are known to have a reputation and are more socially important. Under the influence of Aunt Alexandra, Atticus explains to Jem and Scout, “She wants to talk to you about the family and what it’s meant to Maycomb County through the years, so you’ll have some

idea of who you are, so you might be moved to behave accordingly” (Lee178). Jem and Scout are part of a family that has made a positive name for themselves. Aunt Alexandra and many others want them to uphold that family name. Aunt Alexandra does not want the town to think that the Finch legacy is being destroyed by two young children who do not act the way a “Finch” should. Then there are the Cunninghams, the poor but loyal family who never takes anything for granted. When discussing Walter Cunningham’s situation with Miss Caroline, Scout explains, “The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back—no church baskets and no scrip stamps. They never took anything off anybody, they get along on what they have. They don’t have much but they get along on it” (Lee26). Walter could not take the money because he knew he would not be able to pay it back and did not want to inconvenience Miss Caroline. It is not who he is, he works for his money and uses it when it is earned. He knows that nothing is free. That is the way the town sees the Cunninghams, poor but selfless about it; they care more about others than money. Finally, there are the Ewells, the family at the bottom of the County’s social class. Scout retells, “Atticus said the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day’s work in his recollection” (Lee40). The Ewells are poor and take advantage of anything and anyone they can to benefit themselves. As mentioned by Atticus, they are liars and are not very liked by the County. They don’t take responsibility for their actions like the Tom Robinson case and they are racist and extremely selfish. These three families are examples of completely different social classes that are known for different things and the judgments that come from the community towards these families case big social division issues. Race is a huge component in the grouping of people, specifically white and black people. First, Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her church one Sunday. Lula, a woman from Calpurnia’s church states, “ You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillum here—they got their church, we got our’n” (Lee158). It is clear here that racism goes both ways. A black woman is offended by the presence of two white children because they are different than her. The blacks and whites are really separated in this novel, and the black people are normally poorer and less important in society. Lula feels like the white children have invaded her territory when they very well have their own. White people aren’t supposed to go to a black person’s church so Lula feels as though she has this one thing for herself, the church, and it’s being trespassed on by people who don’t have the “right” to be there. They already have so much and Lula is conflicted as to why they are “taking” her church as well. Secondly, Tom Robinson, who is accused of rape, is being dehumanized. Bob Ewell states, “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” (Lee231). Ewell does not reference to Tom using his name or “he”, but by using an offensive word. He is emphasizing Tom’s race so that more people will believe him and not Tom because Tom being black makes him “less innocent”. Rutting is the action of an animal so when Ewell refers to Tom as rutting his daughter, he is implying that Tom is an animal. Although Tom Robinson does not in fact rape Mayella, Bob Ewell would use these words either way because of the colour of Tom’s skin. Bob Ewell is saying that because Tom is black, he is ferocious like an animal. There is no way he is innocent because he is a Negro. Lastly, having anything sexual to do with a black person is outlandish in Maycomb. In court Atticus reveals, “ She was white and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man” (Lee272). Kissing a black man in this case is a huge deal. All this time, Mayella accused Tom Robinson of raping her and it was believable to most people because he was a black man. A black man’s word against a white lady’s word was very unlikely to be the truth. However, Mayella was at fault, she kissed him, a black man. The whole court case was based on which race was right and the accusation had to do with having sexual relations with someone from another race. This shows just how important it is in this novel to keep to your own race; your own social division group. A person’s value really depends on the race group they are part of. All in all, throughout the novel, it is shown how social division is such a big part of a community. In Maycomb, your social class is everything. Whether you are poor, rich or well established, that is all that people see. Race goes both ways in this novel, in the sense that white and black people are so separated. They have all these judgments towards each other and they are two different groups of the social division. Gender roles and sexism are very obvious in this novel, because females are made out to be delicate flowers who can’t do anything for themselves when that really is not the case. If social division didn’t occur as much nowadays, maybe people would be happier with themselves and who they are meant to be.