Theme Of Classism In To Kill A Mockingbird

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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. In society today racism is still very much alive, although not as blunt and obvious as it was in the 1930’s. Although people won't admit it, many people still The wealth gap between the wealthy and the poor has gotten significantly worse and has been the head of many political issues today. In To Kill A Mockingbird Walter Cunningham, a friend of Scout, has barely enough money to put clothes on their back and food on the table, and sometimes not even that. The Cunninghams are not the poorest of the families in Maycomb but not far off. Unlike the Ewells the Cunninghams are honest and well mannered people. They are only considered lower class due to their financial situation. Scout and Walter are good friends, but one day in school Scout notices how Walter doesn't wear shoes or have a lunch, “He didn’t forget his lunch, he didn’t have any. He had none today nor would he have any tomorrow or the next day. He had probably never seen three quarters together at the same time in his life”(Lee 20). Scout asks Atticus why the Cunninghams pay him in food rather than money, Atticus replies, “that’s the only way he can pay me. He has no money”(Lee 27). Because this book takes place during the Great Depression families like the Cunninghams who were probably lower-middle class families prior became very poor. Although they had lost their money they were still able to retain their class, dignity and manners unlike the Ewells. The Ewell’s who are the accusers in the Tom Robinson case. They are even poorer than the Cunninghams, but what separates them most from the Ewells are their manners and their class. The Ewells are considered “Trash” by the middle and upper class of Maycomb and even the Cunninghams look down on the Ewells. The wealth gap today has gotten worse than it was then during the Depression. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer with seemingly no way out of this cycle. The cycle refers to a poor couple’s children who are not given opportunities to succeed believe that they will just end up like their parents. The

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