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Racial inequalities in killing a mockingbird
Social inequality in To Kill a Mockingbird
Interpretation of to kill a mockingbird
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Oxford dictionary define social ladder as “The hierarchical structure of society or of a society.” In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee makes many messages and themes to the readers. One that stands out was a social division between the towns folk. This became even more noticeable when the trial took place towards the middle of the book because the line between black and white is just as clear as innocent and guilty. The trial was against a black man named Tom Robinson and he was convicted of rape against Bob Ewell's daughter Mayella Ewell. Lee had written this book to take place in a small town of little Maycomb, Alabama during the early thirties so race was capable of swaying someone's decision or better judgement. throughout …show more content…
To Kill a Mockingbird there is a recurring social ladder of race,wealth and education. One thing that played a consistent role through the novel is race.
Race plays a huge role due to the setting of the novel. Calpurnia is a middle aged African american women. She works for the Finches a well known family for their father Atticus a successful lawyer, he has two children Scout a young girl and Jem the older brother.Calpurnia looks out for the children in fills in for their deceased mother, she bakes, cleans, teaches and disciplines the children. At one point throughout the novel Cal brings Scout and Jem to her church, when they arrive there is this woman named Lula who states to Cal that, “you ain’t got no business brigin’ white chillun here-”(Lee 158). This is important to the novel because it the first time Jem and Scout realized that it’s not only white that hate black ,but black can hate white. They were put in a situation where it caused them to view life as an African American and understand how they feel. Although this is not the only scene where there is racial discretion. There is a man named Tom Robinson he is an African American, he is convicted of a crime that he obviously did not commit, but that did not stop the white jury from naming guilty. That’s just the beginning on why To Kill a Mockingbird displays a social ladder based on race, wealth and …show more content…
education. Then there’s wealth which is a large factor in where you fall in the Maycomb’s social ladder. Wealth is a big deal to the people of Maycomb cause many of them believe that you’re only as good as what’s in your pockets. An example of this is the Cunninghams they are a poor and humble family that sticks to their moral of only taking what you can return, even young Walter cunningham knows this. “ You’re shamin’ him, Miss Caroline. Walter hasn’t got a quarter at home to give you, and you can’t use any stovewood”(Lee 26). This takes place on the first day of school Miss Caroline a teacher new to the town of Maycomb noticed Walter did not have a lunch and offered him a quarter, when scout chimed in and informed Miss Caroline on her wrong doings. Then there’s the Ewells a family that is poorer than poor they live in the town’s dump and would doing anything for a nickle. They do not keep up with hygiene or their manner and lie often. Finally we have the finches you could consider them a normal white family with a well known father due to his career as a lawyer taking on the Tom Robinson trial which upset the town of Maycomb. That would be the second reason To Kill a Mockingbird shows a social ladder of race, wealth and education. Finally there’s education, basic education wasn’t as common back then as it is today.
Therefore many kids would only attend a few days of school a year. Just like Burris Ewell he’s the son of the notorious Bob Ewell. Raised in the town dump Burris comes to school with dirt caked on and manner beyond excusable. When Miss Caroline had asked him to return home to wash up and remember his manners he informed her that he’s; “ Been comin’ to the first day of third grade fer three years now” (Lee 30). The Ewell children just simply do not attend school because their father doesn’t seem to care what his children are up to. Unlike Walter cunningham who wishes he could attend everyday but his father needs a set of extra hands on the farm. Miss Caroline expects every child to come in clueless on the idea of reading and writing but scout gave her a curveball with her ability to read, immediately Miss Caroline becomes upset and tells her that her father hadn't taught her the correct way to read. It’s not only children that lack education though. When Scout and Jem went to calpurnia’s church there were no book because many of the African American can’t read although calpurnia and her son zeebo posses the ability. This is the final reason on why To Kill a Mockingbird shows us a social ladder based on race, wealth and
education. As previously stated To KIll a Mockingbird is a strongly written novel that displays a social ladder based on race,wealth and education. Unfortunately many fall fault to continuing this trend today. Walking away from this book hopefully Atticus had taught the readers “ You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…. Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 30). This is a strong message because even though this book is published many years ago it’s still true today and will remain true. Not only in race, wealth and education but in every other aspect of judgement. People all over the world make assumptions and judge people based on things they can’t control or prefer not to control. Overall To Kill Mockingbird is a novel with many strong messages and themes. Hopefully the reader will pick up on and let those messages influence their decisions to come.
Walter’s family owns a farm, and Walter is obligated to help his father with tasks such as chopping wood. He has been in the first grade for three years in a row because every year he is forced to miss school during the harvest. While having lunch at the Finch’s home, he tells Atticus “Reason I can’t pass the first grade, Mr. Finch, is I’ve had to stay out ever’ spring an’ help Papa with the choppin’ but there’s anothr’n at the house now that’s field size (Pg. 31-32).” Although Walter would like to receive an education, he must help his father to get food on the table and to keep their farm operational. However, now that he has a sibling who is old enough to take his place on the farm, he will finally be able to move on from the first grade. His family values education and wants him to be successful in life. Burris Ewell, however, does not value school at all. Like Walter, Burris has also attended first grade for three years. “Been comin’ to the first day o’ the first grade fer three year now…. Reckon if I’m smart this year they’ll promote me to the second (Pg. 36).” Burris’ father does not value education, because he lets his son attend one day of school per year. Burris also does not care about his education. On the first day of school, a student explains “The truant lady gets ‘em here ‘cause she threatens ‘em with the
In To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee people were judged by unfair standards that resulted in oppression. Scout and Jem are the children of a white lawyer who has to defend a black man accused of raping a white female. In the 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama equal rights were not factors. Which says that the problems of human inequality and the divisions within society were unfair and unjust, like Boo Radley being treated unequally by others. People were judged regarding their race, economic status, or social standing. The race of Tom Robinson led to think he was guilty of a crime he didn't commit. Racism also led to Aunt Alexandra's harsh beliefs against Calpurnia.
In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, racism is a major theme. Atticus Finch, the narrator’s father, defends a negro, Tom Robinson, in the court of law against a white man, Bob Ewell. Robinson had reportedly raped a young white girl, Mayella Ewell. But according to Robinson he had gone to help Mayella, as he often did, with work around the house. As he starts helping Mayella, she tries to get Tom to kiss her and will not let him out of the house. Bob Ewell sees this and chases Tom out of the house and accuses him of raping his daughter. Atticus goes against almost everyone in Maycomb County’s opinion in defending Tom Robinson. Throughout the course of the novel, racism effects many characters such as Tom and Helen Robinson, Scout and Jem Finch, and Mayella and Bob Ewell. All these characters had there lives
Jean Louise Finch, known to Maycomb as Scout, is affected by racial discrimination in many ways throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Although most discrimination appears as white people against African American people, there is one case where the discrimination appears as African American people against white people. On a Sunday when Jem and Scout’s father, Atticus, is not home, Calpurnia, their cook, takes the two children to her church. Once there they were confronted by a woman named Lula. She is racist against white people, and shows it by saying, “‘I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillun to n***er church’” (Lee 158). By writing this event into the story, Harper Lee shows how racial discrimination can affect anyone of any race. “The society that imprisons Tom Robinson is the same one that imprisons Scout…” (Durst Johnson 301). Although their reasons for being confined are different, the same society caused it.
Why are different races and social classes treated so differently? Why was education so horrible at some points in time? Two of the characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird are Jem and Scout. When Jem and Scout are growing up, they find out that many things are not as they seem. Certain people are not treated as well as others just because of the color of their skin, how they live, educational status, or even on just urban legend. At courthouses back then, blacks had to sit in a balcony. Many people in this time were so uneducated that they couldn’t read out of hymn books at church, if they had any. Harper Lee wrote a story to express the different kinds of prejudice and educational problems in the 1930’s in Maycomb County, Alabama.
First of all, contrasting the book, the movie never shows or hints to the scene where Jem and Scout go to Calpurnia’s church with her. It can be seen that the respect directed at the Finches by the blacks grows throughout the story as Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, a black man. However, it is also made known that not every black person has respect for the Finches. The importance of the church scene shows both of these statements to be true as many people in Calpurnia’s church don’t mind having Jem and Scout, white children, around; they even welcome them. The other side of the coin is shown when Calpurnia has to defend the children when she gets into a bout with Lula while having Jem and Scout at the church. It also seems as though some characters have been left out of introduction such as Reverend Sykes, who is the preacher at Calpurnia’s church. The director of the movie rejected this scene since there is an alternative instance of black people d...
During the book Scout and Jem are at an age were people around them greatly affect their thoughts, views and ideas about the world. Although Atticus tried to raise them to treat Negroes as equals, people around them affected their views on them. A good example is when Dill questioned the seemingly rude way which Mr. Gilmer treated Tom Robinson. Scout replied by saying, "…after all he's just a Negro." (Lee 201). She believes it to be acceptable. This is not something her father put in her head but people in her town. The same also happens in the black community. When Atticus asks Calpurnia to watch his children for him while he is out, Calpurnia accepts and takes the children with her to church, a church for black people. When she arrives with the children, they are greeted kindly except by a few people. These people use the same reason as in the last example as to why they should not be there, because they are white.
All of the characters have different views on racism. Atticus likes black people and doesn’t have anything against them and he is teaching his children the same. As Scout is growing up, she is starting to understand that discrimination is wrong and she doesn’t understand what black people have done to receive so much negativity because they haven’t done anything to receive it. But then there are others like Bob Ewell and Lula who aren’t so keen on having both races get along. Lula specifically has trouble understanding why Scout and Jem are at church "You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here—they got their church, we got our'n. It is our church, ain't it, Miss Cal?"(Lee 158) when it should not matter what the colour of their skin is. Furthermore, there is of course Tom Robinson who is being accused of rape based solely on the fact that he’s black. His story and Mayella’s do not add up. He does not get may chances to stick up for himself other than the actual trial. Every character has their own opinion on discrimination some being that it’s a horrible thing; others being that it is okay which develops the inequality and diversity in To Kill a
Even Scout’s first-grade class knows that none of the Ewell children go to school for more than a day. This is shown on page 26, when a member of the class says: “‘Whole school’s full of ‘em. They come first day every year and then leave.’” Even Atticus, who is very open-minded throughout the book, has a certain disdain towards the family: “…the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day’s work in his recollection.” Since Atticus has been proven to be against stereotypes and judging others such as the black community, him saying these things shows how bad the Ewell family seemed to be. Because she is hated by most of her town, Mayella becomes extremely lonely and
Racism is wrought within the whole story. For example, even though Calpernia is a female, Aunt Alexandra overlooks her good work because of her race (p. 129). Blacks, because they are considered inferior, are expected to do everything for whites. People are so biased it doesn’t matter how well a job a black person does they are still frowned upon. Furthermore, the jury declares Tom Robinson guilty even though the evidence is clearly in his favor (p.211). A human being has more color pigment in their skin so it is assumed they are guilty without question; truth is never a factor. It is easy to associate the mockingbird symbol to Tom Robinson, a harmless man who becomes a victim of racial prejudice. The Maycomb community are trying to make a fool of them selves by believing they are model citizens and good Christians, even though a small number amongst them know that they are wrong to persecute and hate due to color.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about equality. In the setting of this book (Maycomb, Alabama) the inequality of races is completely normal to people’s everyday lives. The disrespect of African-Americans in this book is an ordinary occurrence that most people have grown up accustomed to, but there are some who don’t wish to be a part of this discrimination. One of these people being Atticus Finch, the father of Jem and Scout. Atticus uses the world around him to teach his children how to give all people respect no matter what their race or social class is. Atticus Finch is a good-hearted, moral lawyer in the discriminatory town of Maycomb Alabama. Amongst the blabbermouths and discriminatory townspeople of Maycomb, Atticus wants his children to be different from them, and to learn how to respect the dignity of everyone using the changes in their lives to teach them.
It is acknowledged by many readers that there are many different social classes in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. One of the most obvious social class distinctions is between skin colors, which can be seen through this novel. Since most readers’ focal point of this novel is on the distinctions between skin colors, they are unlikely to pay attention to the difference in social class within the white community. Lee wants to illustrate a contrast in white society and how characters behave differently through the uses of character foil, characterization, and the theme of society inequality in order to emphasize the differences in social classes.
Discrimination played a big role in the 1930s and throughout the development of the novel, and still is not completely diminished in the 21st century. Sexism, classicism, and racism all typified the many relationships in To Kill A Mockingbird, from Aunt Alexandra wanting Scout to become a lady, to Tom Robinson's unfair court trial. Prejudices are formed because of the level of ignorance people have when they believe everything they hear from their peers without bothering to be fertilized with education, leading to a division within communities, physically and mentally.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird expresses the ideology that the social standard of a particular individual, classifies their status in the world. Individuals placed in social classes are labeled to create a sense of social identity. The socio-economic class an individual is born into should not be the determining factor of how the individual is regarded and treated, however, their character and personality should be a primary factor in determining how they are thought of in society.
The actions the black characters in the novel To kill a Mockingbird perfectly demonstrates how to act justly. Calpurnia was one of the characters who acted justly. When Calpurnia brings Jem Finch and Scout Finch to her church, Lula, another member of the First Purchase Church congregation tells Calpurnia, the housekeeper of Atticus Finch that she "ain’t got not business bringin’ white chillum here… it’s our church ain’t it Miss Cal?" (Lee,) Lula is saying that the First Purchase Church is a church for black people only, meaning the white people are not allowed. When Calpurnia brings Jem and Scout to "their" church, Lula is upset because Jem and Scout are white, so she was not pleased to see them there. However, when Calpurnia hears her prejudice comment against her kids, she defends herself by saying "It's the same God, ain't it?" (Lee,) Calpurnia is acting justly because she is defending white folks.