The social classes in Maycomb in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird are similar the rungs of a ladder. People like Miss Stephanie, Aunt Alexandra, and Judge Taylor stand on the topmost “rungs”, and the Cunninghams, the black people, and the Ewells stay at the bottom. Any individual who breaks the social class system is ostracized. Men like Dolphus Raymond, who disregard the bonds of social class, receive harassment from the other citizens of Maycomb who remain faithful to the system. Mr. Raymond, Atticus, and even Scout get in trouble for socializing with people who are deemed “inappropriate” by members of the higher social classes.
The white citizens of Maycomb scorn Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s life with the black people. Even though most of Maycomb’s black population is made up of decent people, the white residents of Maycomb malign Mr. Raymond for living with them. Furthermore, the mixed children that he associates with are avoided since “colored folks won’t have ‘em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ‘em ‘cause they’re colored, so they’re just in-betweens, they don’t belong anywhere” (215). Mr. Raymond even pretends to be a drunk to avoid the criticism of his white neighbors. The social structure of Maycomb makes it impossible for a white person to live with colored people.
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Cartoons are drawn about him, white men riot in the streets because of the case, and he is called a n––––r-lover by many of the white people of Maycomb. His sister thinks his case disgraces the family. Even his children receive some persecution at school because of their father’s case. When “Cecil Jacobs... announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers” (99), Scout thinks of it as an attack on her father, but Atticus tells her not to let the comments bother