Social Class and Family Groups in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama in the late 30s early 40s , after the great depression when poverty and unemployment were widespread throughout the United States. Why is the preconception of racism, discrimination, and antagonism so highly related to some of the characters in this book? People often have a preconceived idea or are biased about one’s decision to live, dress, or talk. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee examines the preconception of Scouts teacher saying Atticus is teaching her wrong, Aunt Alexandra having views that are discriminating, and Tom Robinson not having a fair trial because of his race. Scouts teacher gets upset with her after Miss Caroline figures out she’s literate and Scout makes it worse by antagonising Miss Caroline by trying to explain things to her. “Teach me?” I said in surprise. “He hasn 't taught me anything, Miss Caroline. Atticus ain 't got time to teach me anything”… “If he didn 't teach you, who did?” Miss Caroline asked good-naturedly. “Somebody did. You weren 't born reading The Mobile Register”… Miss Caroline apparently though I was lying. “Lets not let our imaginations run away with us, dear,” she said. “Now tell your father not to teach you any more. Its best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him i 'll take over from here and try to undo the damage.” “ma’am?” “Your father does not know how to teach. you can have a seat now.” (Lee 22) Scout 's teacher Miss Caroline

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the theme of racism, sexism and social class is portrayed in a small community and shows the effect they have on different groups of people within the rural town of Maycomb.

Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee utilizes the people of Maycomb to portray how social class prejudice and gender prejudice affects Scout’s mentality and how blacks and whites interact.

In the midst of the Great Depression in Southern Alabama lay the dusty, sleepy town of Maycomb. The iconic, fictional setting of To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, embodies a typical deep south city in the 1930s with a rigid social system, fueled by a deep-running fault of bubbling racism and discrimination. Aside from the disturbing relativeness of prejudice, the town is considered home sweet home for many of its typical families, like the Ewells, Cunninghams, and even Finches, who are quite notorious for their not-so-typical lifestyle in Maycomb's homogeneous melting pot. Harper Lee's Atticus Finch, widowed father of the Finish household, in To Kill a Mockingbird, often over excels at being an effective parent since he's a

For many years, America has struggled with equality. Through all the assumptions and stereotypes, America has been beat. The amount of inequality in America has dramatically decreased throughout the years. Social equality is something that everyone has always wanted. One of the biggest inequalities is African American rights. Constantly there was always a change being made that has made African American rights so much better. Within Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the audience is introduced to social equality by Scout Finch in Maycomb, Alabama. Since she is so young, she struggles to understand why there is inequality in the 1930s. Her being young is one form of inequality. Through all the assumptions and stereotypes of character interaction in

One of the major masterpieces of American literature, To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee captures the social climate of the 1930s in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the depths of the Great Depression. All members of Maycomb are confronted, at one time or another, by their community’s beliefs about race, gender, and class and must decide where their moral beliefs stand. Six-year-old Jean Louise "Scout" Finch narrates the story. Having mature tremendously, notwithstanding the rules of etiquette in her community, Scout expresses her attitudes and sees the injustice in her elders. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout’s, identity is primarily influenced by race and gender indicating what we realize about Maycomb society in terms of gender, race, and class.

During the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, it conveyed many different themes/points of Racism, Social Injustice, and Bravery. While the reader was progressing throughout the book the characters. and the environment was beginning to expand and grow to a point where a person could connect with the book. The first topic that stood out to the reader would be racism. The first demonstration of racism in the book, Lee was explaining the setting of Maycomb. A small town in Alabama during “The Great Depression.” Lee was vocalizing the point of racism heavily in this book. Harper Lee demonstrates three strong points/themes during the course of the book. Such as, racism, social justice, and bravery, Atticus and the kids battle through those different themes throughout the whole book.

The definitive message that Harper Lee makes in To Kill A Mockingbird is the ineluctable existence of social inequality and the vitality of having your own morals even when the world around you doesn't. Lee focuses on the racist and socioeconomic ideologies in the early 1930's town of Maycomb in southern Alabama. She depicts a lawsuit between a white family considered to be of the lowest economic class, who are blatantly falsely accusing a young black man of raping their daughter. Furthermore, Lee comments as such by detailing the community's bigoted opposition to a successful white lawyer, Atticus Finch, defending the accused. He knows winning will not be possible which is shown by him admitting to his children that he won't win due to institutionalized

Harper Lee uses allusions to make the reader understand where this oppression comes from. The North part of America were more accepting of Black people but in opposition the South where Maycomb is located, the oppressed African Americans were given harsher treatment than white people and they were considered as not being part of society. Some of the allusion present in this book lead back to the historical events that occurred in America. The Civil War was one of those historical events that shaped the minds of the people, an other event that caused racial oppression to be more powerful was The Great Depression. “Not exactly. The Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them hardest”(21). Jem once asked to Atticus if the Finches were as poor as the Cunninghams, he answered by stating The Great Depression which created anger, hate and

To begin with, the novel’s setting impacted the judgemental nature of Maycomb and its citizens. The small town society the characters live in seemed to have more negative constitution than larger settings such as cities. In Maycomb, people tend to gossip and spread rumours to one another about daily news. In addition, the setting took place in the south where people were dreadfully affected by The Great Depression and racism was still deeply ingrained after that. Relations in Maycomb were close, since it was so tiny and therefore caused more judgement by those around. On the other hand, in cities no one would pay attention to one another and rumours would not spread. People in cities would likely be more independent than people in small towns. Furthermore, To Kill a Mockingbird was set

One of the important points noticeable is the rigid sectioning or social stratification of the respective social groups. The highest societal group consists of the wealthy, Caucasian, white collar workers and other highly respected members of society,either because of blood and background, occupation, or both. Atticus, Jem, and Scout fit into this class. Other members of the story who occupy a space in this facet of society are Miss Maudie, Aunt Alexandra,and Judge John Taylor. There is then the white trash, or the poor whites.The members of this social “class” did not come from vastly respected families.They either didn't work, or held positions of very low wages.The Ewells and

During the 1930’s, there was a significant amount of racial inequality in the South. Black people were considered unequal compared to white people resulting in mistreatment and abuse. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, displays her opinion about social inequality through a variety of different characters who exhibit courage through everyday life. In Lee’s novel, one character, Mrs. Maudie who is a friend to Jem and Scout explains the meaning of a mockingbird as the following: “they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us” (Lee, 1960, p.90). These characters, such as the Finch family, although quite different in their lifestyles, go against the social norm of treating African Americans as second class citizens.

During the time of depression, racism and poverty were a common issue. People with a dark skin tone, i.e the African- Americans were seen as derogatory and treated like dirt. Harper Lee depicts it in a very realistic way. Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour.

In Harper Lee’s Bildungsroman novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the growing protagonist Jean Louise “Scout” Finch struggles to grow up in a society where citizens segregate themselves because of their color, traits, and family. In the fictional town of Maycomb County, Alabama, an ongoing social caste system lives: people do not keep an open mind and gossip tends to spread quickly. Scout is faced with conflicts between white and colored people, racism, and social injustices. Lee demonstrates how social classes do not determine the traits and/or extent to what abilities one has, but shapes one’s character through characterization, rising actions and symbolism.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” was an exceptional movie even for its time, and although I enjoyed the book more, it was still a great example of social inequality. The movie is set in Alabama and is about Scout Finch and her brother Jem as their father, Atticus is trying to defend a black man who has been falsely accused of rape. The events in the movie affect the children as they watch this man be accused of this horrible crime because of his skin color. It’s also a great example of feminism, culture, Ethnocentrism, Formal Norms, Isolation, and Degradation Ceremonies.