Examples Of Social Hierarchy In To Kill A Mockingbird

Intro: In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, hierarchy is shown plainly in many forms throughout the text. If families are compared it's a clear staircase with the Cunningham family at the bottom and the Finches at the top, for example. The hierarchies are so defined that Scout, at her young age, can realize and acknowledge some of them.

Body 1: First there is a family and gender hierarchy between the Finch family. The book is set in the 1930’s when it was rare to see a male in the kitchen, the interaction is between Scout and Francis: ““Grandma’s a wonderful cook,” said Francis. “She’s gonna teach me how.” “Boys don’t cook.” I giggled at the thought of Jem in an apron.” This is a definite way of showing a gender hierarchy where the expectations

For example, a conversation when Walter Cunningham was at the Finches for dinner, a conversation between Scout and Calpurnia, their maid: “He ain’t company, Cal, he’s just a Cunningham—”(24). The Cunninghams are a poor family and are deemed “lesser” by society because of that, and Scout, due to her being young and impressionable, has developed the mentality that having money makes a person better. Another example of this is the line: “The thing about it is, our kind of folk don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the colored folks.” (226). This shows a staircase of hierarchies, in a way. The richer, more well off families don't like the Cunninghams, but the Cunninghams don't like the Ewells, and the Ewells despise colored people. At the very end of that statement it ends with a certain people not liking colored folks just because their skin is

Racial hierarchy is the prominent theme of the book. An example of this in a more subtle showing is the line: “The sheriff hadn’t the heart to put him in jail with [black people], so Boo was locked in the courthouse basement”. Maycomb was so set in his ways that instead of sending a man accused of murder to jail, he was locked in a basement so he wouldn't share a cell with a colored person. During Tom Robinsons’s trial, when it seemed as though he would be proven innocent, and Jem had his hopes high, this is said: “‘Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…”(208). This is a clear sign where even though Robinson was innocent, and hadn't done a thing wrong, just because he was black he would be seen as guilty. Another, less defined example is when Mr Raymond talks with Jem and Scout after the trial: “I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolhphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey- that's why he won’t change his ways. He can’t help himself, that's why he lives the way he does.” (200). Raymond is seen as unnatural because he willingly accompanies himself with colored folk, but has everyone convinced it's the whiskey, despite there being no whiskey in his bag. Raymond is