How Does Lee Present Social Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, she talks about a white family in a town called Maycomb. It takes place during the 1930’s which was a hard time to grow up and live in and there was racism and struggles with money. Jem the son and his sister Scout spent much time with their friend Dill. Over summer they would like to spy on their mysterious neighbor Boo Radley. Their father Atticus is a lawyer and he is defending a black man named Tom Robinson, who is on trial for the rape of a white girl. He loses the case and ends up getting shot in jail. Social inequality has always existed in our culture and society. Examples of social inequality can be shown through the Cunninghams, the Ewells, and of course Tom Robinson.

The Cunninghams are a family described as poor people. “The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back--no church baskets and no scrip stamps” (Lee 26). Others saw them as poor but they had pride so they didn’t take handouts. “Because that’s the only way he can pay me” (Lee 27). They may not be able to pay with money but they do the best they can to give back what they have taken. The people in Maycomb viewed the Cunninghams as poor people therefore showing social inequality, but how were the Ewells viewed as.

“He said that the Ewells were members of an exclusive society made up of Ewells” (Lee 40-41). This shows how they are divided from the rest of the people from the town. “There’s 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) This quote from Jem explains how Maycomb is broken up into different social classes. Social inequality caused the Ewells to be shunned in a way or looked down on which made Mr. Ewell