Social Inequality in to Kill a Mockingbird

Racism, Segregation and ill-treatment of coloured is major theme explored in the text by Harper Lee. This problem in the little town of Maycomb is just a tiny reflection in the corner of the mirror, of America at the time. And even the world, with references to Nazi Russia in the novel also bringing to light segregation in other parts of the world. She comes right out to say that the world is a racist world, with this novel and she writes to show others what is happening and that it is actually not right. And she does so in a great way by highlighting one great injustice rather than the many and bringing to a realization how irrational and unfair the entire American Justice system was. But we also see a development in the white characters which a representative of the entire America in a sense (and the world) as thoughts and ideas change and people’s views about coloured people change, not abruptly but slow of course. The black characters in To Kill A Mockingbird contribute to the development of the white characters rather than appearing as individuals in their own right. Racism is learnt, and with this we can see that Racism can

Harper Lee’s coming-of-age story reminds readers how far society has come. In the time period in which the novel is set, society faced many issues involving racism and discrimination. Now in the 2000’s the world doesn't focus on the colour of one’s skin but the person it carries. Harper Lee effectively represents African-American history in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the novel Lee shows how racism negatively affected Maycomb County’s population by utilizing major themes including racial discrimination and the right to a fair trial. Lee’s novel has a similar story to multiple cases in the early 1900’s as well as showing links to the troubles the town faced with the Great Depression and social standings.

Social injustice has flooded the world and will continue to flood the world until someone stops all this evil. In Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, there is poverty and racism ruling over the South. Scout Finch has yet to realize all the evil surrounding her and her family. The evil that takes over Maycomb is the racism that lives in the hearts of its citizens. In To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, readers see a view of social injustices caused by racism through the Maycomb citizens who see the world through a veil of hypocrisy, which is shown by their actions in the way they talk down to Tom, and the truths of Maycomb’s society.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a complex literary work exploring several aspects of the human condition. Lee’s story is one based in the 1930’s, shortly before the Civil Rights Movement. Her novel ventures into the societal issues, such as racism and gender stereotyping, in their fictional town, Maycomb. One recurring theme throughout the narrative is the social adjustment of the citizens of Maycomb and the human race as a whole. Lee showcases the progress in social justice matters by using symbolism and motifs.

The text “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee presents a large number of challenges, prompting the reader to respond to central ideas or events in the text. Segregation, the courthouse scene, and the trial outcome are all key events that provoke the reader to respond with strong negative reactions. Segregation is a common theme throughout the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" and is used by Harper Lee to highlight the social, racial, and economic divides within the society of Maycomb, Alabama. Through vivid descriptions and character interactions, Harper Lee paints a picture of a society in the 1930s, deeply divided along racial lines. The levels of racism in the 1930s versus the lower levels of racism in the present correspond with the decline

Social inequality based entirely on race affects people who don’t deserve it. To Kill a Mockingbird original publication was in 1960, it is a classic novel written by Harper Lee, the book is set in 1933 to 1935. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama and follows two years in the life of 7-year old Scout Finch, her brother Jem, and their father Atticus, an attorney who hopelessly strives to prove the innocence of a black man accused of rape. The book also talks about Boo Radley, a mysterious neighbour who saves Scout and her brother Jem from being killed. The definition of social and legal codes are social codes made up of rules and standards, and a legal system is a code of laws made by a state or nation. Throughout the book, social and legal codes are exploited by people to help maintain their social status. In Maycomb County, social and legal laws harm black people to protect white people, such as Atticus Finch, Bob Ewell, and Tom Robinson.

The characters in, To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, often use prejudice against people of controversial issues. Many of the townspeople of Maycomb use prejudice on the families who are on the less wealthy end of the spectrum. Issues are still displayed because of the racial prejudice used against African Americans and those of other races. Lastly, gender is a clear issue in Maycomb because of women’s and girl’s rights and lack of respect towards them because they are female. All of the types of prejudice show that Maycomb has many problems all throughout the town between other families and townspeople.

During the Great Depression, racism was a common practice in the southern states of the US. Negros and those who opposed the intolerance were often discriminated by the rest of the bias and ignorant society, who believed in white supremacy and superiority over the other races. Maycomb, a racist town, exemplify this discrimination, imperiously judging others they view as being dissimilar from themselves. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, the author, weaves a brilliant story of prejudice, discrimination, and racism shown through the novel’s several characters and events, producing a mirror reflection of America’s racist society in the 1930’s.

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird is able to relate to the real world. About how unfair the world is and about the inequality people still face. In the novel, Jean Louise Finch (AKA Scout) is narrating and telling a story about how her older brother Jeremy Finch (AKA jem) broke his arm from the elbow down. It all starts in a little town called maycomb during the great depression. Scout first starts the story by telling her family history. How atticus left their family land to become a lawyer and how his sister Alexandra Finch stayed to take care of the land. Scout and Jem meet a kid named Dill during the summer and when Jem tells Dill about Boo Radley, Dill becomes more curious the more jem tell him. When summer ends it’s time for school, scout gets in a fight not even a week into school and she gets in an argument with the new teacher Miss.Caroline. Later on in the story Atticus is defending and negro man named Tom Robinson and that causes trouble in the whole county against that. In this paper i will be talking about how good and evil go against each other and how social inequality was and still is a problem.

The community of Maycomb, Alabama, as described in the book was not a wealthy area. Families such as the Cunningham’s and Ewell’s made up the lower-class of the community based on the conditions they had to endure. Harper Lee describes the Ewell residence in detail: "Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin” (170). In the 1930s, African Americans were not treated very fairly in American society. They had to face racism and discrimination on a daily basis. Many families had to live in poverty due to the disenfranchisement of the African American community. The problem all began as a result of classism which all ultimately stemmed from the Great Depression.

Harper Lee demonstrates the gender inequity In to Kill a Mockingbird through the description and words of the female narrator, Scout. The prejudice of Maycomb is shown so clearly, even an innocent child like Scout can see the raging extent of gender prejudice that surrounds her. Scout having traits that are more masculine in quality automatically makes her an outcast and disliked by Maycomb's many conforming ideals. Scouts innocence allows the novel to develop through an unbiased perspective. Women had little to serve in juries and there was the constant expectation all women had to act and dress like a Lady. Aunt Alexandra an evident example of having strong beliefs on how separate genders should behave, constantly scolding Scout for wearing her overalls and behaving too tomboyish." I was not so sure, but Jem told me i was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, thats why other people hated them so, and if i started behaving like one i could just go off and find some to play with. (4.119) Scout is raised to believe boys were better than girls, raised in a bigoted and heavily bias community, scout finds it a difficult and unfair experience trying to understand the unjust perceptions of the adults around her. Having Scout narrate the whole novel allows Harper lee to highlight the gender inequity in Maycomb.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows a lot of racial or social issues, especially against the African-Americans, such as racial inequality and poor treatment of the poor or homeless; both of these are still at least partially seen today. Harper Lee uses the unfair trial of Tom Robinson and his cruel death to show racial inequality, especially towards the African-Americans. Towards the end of the trial, Lee describes how the jury acts when they come back in as: “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson…” (Lee 282). Then, Judge Taylor announces the verdict: “Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…” (Lee 282). Later on, Atticus comes home after finding out about Tom Robinson’s death: “Tom’s dead…. They got him just as he went over the fence…. Seventeen bullet holes in him” (Lee 315). Based on this evidence, it is clear that racial inequality was evident in the 1930’s because with prior knowledge from the novel, we know that Tom didn’t stand much of a chance against the jury because of his being African-American. Also, if a white man had done what Tom did, he probably would have been given a fairer trial than Tom was. Even though, the police obviously wanted him dead as he tried to escape prison, there was no reason to shoot him seventeen times. Racial inequality can still been seen in the country, and around the world, but doesn’t seem to be as bad as it had been; some statistics show it improved soon after, but some facts show it took longer. One statistic showing that racial inequality has gotten better states, “In 1980, over 50% of the Blacks aged 25 or more had completed high school, and, by 2012, 85%” (Coleman 183).One fact stating that racial inequality took a while before improving states, “Even after the slaves were freed, the African Americans continued to face legal discrimination and segregation until the victories of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s” (“Preface to ‘What…’” 1). This evidence shows that racial inequality didn’t really improve at first. After the civil rights movement, things improved for the African Americans. From the statistic, the reader knows that between 1980 and 2012, a little over 1% more of the

Race is the dominant cause of inequality in To Kill A Mockingbird, thus Maycomb’s views on race heavily influence every aspect of life. Although racial inequality is clearly illustrated in the in the injustice, prejudice, discrimination and antagonism surrounding the Tom Robinson trial, it is also shown more subtly throughout the novel. In chapter 25 Atticus Finch is quoted disclosing that the corrupt justice system is a direct cause of a racist society. “In our courts, when it's a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Pg 295). To emphasize, on the same occasion Atticus attempts to explain to his children how widely spread racism is, “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men everyday of your life”

In the segregated American south of the 1930s, America did not value equality as it does today. This is the case in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, which depicts such injustice in Scout Finch’s fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Though Scout narrates the story as an adult, the difficult events she shares are from her childhood. As Scout lives through the events of the unfair trial of an African American man falsely accused of raping a white woman, Scout comes more aware of the evils of her society. Maycomb County is just a section of the south where many central issues like racism, classism, and sexism are plagued all throughout the south in the early 20th century.

For example, the jury of the Tom Robinson trial consisted of all white men, and not one woman. To go more in depth, Scout asked Atticus about this, and he replied by saying "For one thing, Miss Maudie can't serve on a jury because she's a woman-" (219). Also, later on he ended the conversation by stating "It's to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom's. Besides,"(219). This shows how unfair it is for women relating to justice, since only men can decide whether a person is innocent or guilty in a trail. In addition, Atticus reasoning to why women aren’t a part of the jury shows how unequal women are from men, due to men are looked as the superior ones who do all the difficult work. At one point in the book, Aunt Alexandra hosts her Missionary Society meeting, and during the meeting Aunt Alexandra interrupted Scout from helping Calpurnia to which Scout says “Part of her campaign to teach me be a lady” (262).With that, Aunt Alexandra has always wanted Scout to act more like a “lady” for years. To go more in depth, Dean Shackelford recognizes a statement made by Scout, which is “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 anything that required pants”(1). However, this shows how social inequality is explored through gender, because Scout has always been