Classism In To Kill A Mockingbird

The last type of social inequality is the disparity between men and women. During that time, women were not considered equal to men and as such, there was a particular way in which women were expected to act and certain practices they had to follow. For example, women had to act in a very proper and ladylike way. This is evident through the treatment of Scout by Aunt Alexandra. Aunt Alexandra is very familiar with the expectations of women and how women are supposed to act. She attempts to shape Scout into the kind of lady that society will approve of. Aunt Alexandra believes that Scout is too boyish. Also, Mayella Ewell’s sexual relations with Tom Robinson are unacceptable on two levels: interracial relations were evidently forbidden, as previously mentioned. However, this relationship was also unacceptable because for a woman to make advances towards a man was not socially acceptable at that time. Furthermore, if a man were to make advances towards a woman, it was her duty to stop him. As is evident, women had a predefined role that they had to fit into that society had created for them.

On the other hand, Aunt Alexandra faced a different but common obstacle, prejudice. Since prejudice was ubiquitous, Aunt Alexandra demonstrated maturity when she became more accepting of others especially Calpurnia, Boo and Scout. Aunt Alexandra, Scout and Jem’s caretaker, had some difficulties interacting and talking around people who were a different race or a lower social or economic class. When Aunt Alexandra first met Calpurnia, the African-American maid who worked in the Finch’s house, she despised her and all of her actions. No matter what Calpurnia did or what she said, she could not please Aunt Alexandra. However, later on in the novel, Aunt Alexandra developed a more accepting attitude towards Calpurnia. She allowed Calpurnia to serve the children dinner. This shows how much Aunt Alexandra has grown to be more accepting of other races and not be prejudice. Not only does Aunt Alexandra accept Calpurnia for who she is, but she also learns to accept Scout. “She brought me something to put on, and had I thought about it then, I would have never let her forget it: in her distraction, Aunty brought me my overalls” (Pg.264).

Social classing systems, also known as social hierarchy have been around since the beginning of time. In such a system those of the upper class take advantage of the classes below them; whether it is kings and their servants or a boss and their workers. This social hierarchy has a profound effect on society and the events in Harper Lee 's novel To Kill A Mockingbird. There are four classes in Maycomb; they are distinguished in the Tom Robinson case and in the crowd who attend his trial. Due to the social structure of Maycomb, Tom Robinson, a black man, is unjustly accused and convicted of a crime he does not commit.

Labels are put on people for the fact of letting one another know that they are better than them. In "To Kill a Mockingbird" the labels are put on the characters on the type of lifestyle they live. Harper Lee gives the message of the definition of wealth through the financial and social class of the characters: Walter Cunningham and his family, Boo Radley and Atticus Finch and his family. Ultimately Harper Lee teaches the reader about how people are categorized in different types of classes.

There are many different social classes in “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The factors that separate people into these social classes are their skin color and their occupation.

These impeccable brains of ours cause competitiveness. Collectively we don't want to be the best, but singularly we do. We split ourselves up into social ranks, also known as having a socioeconomic class. Depending on where you are in the social class, assimilating a favor toward a class is the norm. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem Finch realizes that there is classism in Maycomb County. The trial affected Jem tremendously, which caused him to ponder serious topics. “There's four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump and the Negroes” (Lee 302). In To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee split up the people of Maycomb into four different social classes: the town people, the impoverished respectable whites, the poor unacceptable whites, and the blacks.

It is important to put yourself in one’s shoes. By doing so, you can understand that person’s situation better. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Aunt Alexandra is prejudiced towards social classes, and Bob Ewell is prejudiced towards people whose skin color is different than his.

Now look at your quotation sentence. Think of two points of commentary for your choices and write them below:

There are many different social classes in “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The factors that separate people into these social classes are their skin color and their occupation. For example, Atticus, Scout, and Jem are part of the highest social class. They are part of this social class because Atticus is a lawyer, which makes him a highly respected person in the community. He is also white, which, at that time was a very important factor that chose who belonged in what social class. Scout and Jem are his children and therefore are also part of this social class.

Social norms are apart of every society in some way, shape, or form. Issues occur off these social norms when there are outcasters who don’t exactly fit in with society's expectations. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout was pressured by many relatives and neighbors to “act like a girl”. Accept, Scout wants to be her own person. She wants to play in the dirt and have fun. Although, one particular person keeps putting her down, and that is Auntie Alexandra. Alexandra tries to play a female role for Scout and tells Scout how she is suppose to act. Scout however is very similar to Juliet capulet in this way. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet was pressured by her mother to be more like other girls and to get married. Scout and Juliet,

How far do you think Harper Lee has effectively shown social class and family groups to be important at that time? The rigid class structure and social stratification of Maycomb County had a profound effect on the events in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The impact of this class structure was especially evident in the trial of Tom Robins on, a Maycomb Negro. The extreme prejudice of the town eventually led to the unjust conviction of Robinson for a crime he did not commit.

An example of how Calpurnia disciplines Scout Finch is when she takes Scout into the kitchen after she complains that Walter

Lastly, implicit bias is seen through Walter, a poor boy who is judged due to his social class. At one point in the novel, Jem gracefully invites Walter to their house to eat lunch. While eating his meal, Walter dumps molasses all over his food, “on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand,” (Lee 24). He seems extremely odd for doing this, but it is what he is used to through his poor lifestyle. Then, this not only causes Scout to say something and embarrass Walter greatly, but also shows a variance in status between the Finches and the Cunninghams. Social class affects how everyone is thought of through Maycomb, Alabama, but as we know, social class has no effect when compared to race.

In the beginning, while the main character Scout Finch is going to class with her new teacher Miss Caroline whom is new to town and doesn’t know very much about the people, social class is a very prominent theme. First off, while Scout was going to school she met a boy from the Cunningham tribe. The Cunningham tribe was very poor and worked off the land for all that they had. As Scout

In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” one of the multiple dilemmas brought to light in the novel and the film is the social inequality. Rather it be at the suffering of a person of color to a woman or child; todays society still suffers from from the social inequality pointed out in the novel based on the 1930s, 1933 specifically and can be compared to some cases from the novel. Social inequality can be forced on anybody but more specifically pushes onto people of a colored ethnic background (color), the gender a person is born with or chooses to identify as (sexuality), or the religion they choose to practice and so on, however this essay is going to focus mainly on the three social inequalities listed above.