In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee very clearly shows the various distinctions that exist in the 1940s society of Maycomb, a fictitious small southern town. She challenges many of the commonly held beliefs presented by various characters, and she puts forward the idea that what is most important is a person's character, not their social status.
The Finches, Mrs. Dubose, and the members of Aunt Alexandras' missionary circle represent the top social strata in Maycomb. The ladies of the missionary circle always put on their hats to go across the street." Although the ladies dress in soft pastel clothes, pour tea from an antique silver tea service, and sip the tea from dainty cups, Harper Lee manages to show the hypocrisy underlying they're elaborate manners. She shows them expressing heartfelt sympathy for the "poverty, the darkness, the immorality" of those living in the faraway jungles," Lee has miss Maudie point out the ladies' hypocrisy with a few well
…show more content…
Atticus is always courteous to everyone, regardless of his or her social class. He holds the belief that a person should walk a mile in another's shoes before condemning the other person for certain behaviors. Atticus is kind to Mrs. Dubose despite her constant verbal attacks. Atticus explains Mrs. Dubose's behavior to Jem by saying that she is oid, ill, and in pain. Atticus is equally understanding of Mayella Ewell and her problems, explaining Mayella's behavior to his children by noting that Mayella did what she did in accusing Tom Robinson because of her hard life. Mayella lives beside the town dump, but she tries to make her house pretty by growing geraniums. She has no mother and must deal with a drunken and abusive father. Mayella has no friends and no one to turn to for help because the town has written off the entire family as "poor white trash" who live on welfare checks and