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Social Class In To Kill A Mockingbird

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To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and “My Encounter With a ‘Non-Racist’ in Fear of a Black Neighborhood” by Christine Stoddard both cover the topic of social class in similar ways. In To Kill A Mockingbird the main character Scout falls in the upper class of the social class system. She is not exactly in the highest class, but there are many families that are in lower classes than her. Other people have less privileges such as not having enough money. The article also discusses the range in social classes through money when it states, “Today nearly a third of blacks live in poverty in the United States. Compare that to about 10 percent of non-Latino whites” (Stoddard, 1). This clearly shows that there are many social classes in both the article and the novel. …show more content…

Also education is a big factor in social class as well. In To Kill A Mockingbird the book states, “Calpurnia had more education than most colored folks” (Lee, 32). The article states almost the exact same idea when it states, “50 percent of black children in 4th grade across the nation do not read or write at grade level” (Stoddard, 1). Both Calpurnia and African American children are not usually associated with a high level of education because of their social class. African Americans are lower in social class because most people whether they mean to or not see them as lesser beings. Calpurnia is also just a cook and maid so that also does not give her a high social ranking. Overall both the book and the article share similar views and stances on social

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All Americans don’t have an equal opportunity to succeed; inheritance laws provide built in privileges to the offspring of the wealthy, which just adds to the likelihood of their success (Colombo 392). In Gregory Mantsios article “Class in America,” he states that the social class you are in affects how you will succeed in school, relating to test scores and the level of schooling that you receive; thus determining how the rest of your life will turn out. He highlights many other beliefs that are broadly held about social classes and rebuts them using statistical evidence. Mantsios believes that the class a person resides in will determine their future more than he or she is willing to admit. Mantsios communicates that social class is prevalent in America, however I believe that it doesn’t determine a person’s fate.

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In James W. Loewen’s “The Land of Opportunity,” he states that social class affects the way children are raised. He discusses the inequality in today’s society and how the textbooks in high school do not give any social class information. The students in today’s time are not taught everything they should be taught. He states that your family’s wealth is what makes up your future. Loewen discusses that people with more money can study for the SATs more productively and get a better score than someone who has less money.

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At the top of Macomb’s social hierarchy it begins with the wealthy whites. Any person identified as white has an advantage over an African American, no matter the circumstances. Even at the top of the pyramid there a social divide. The top of the pyramid is divided between rich males, them being on top, and females being at the bottom. This is because at this point in time males were considered superior to their female counterpart.

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How times have changed America as a society has grown enormously since the 1930s. Civil rights have made it possible for equality to exist for all races and genders. This is vastly different from what the small town of Maycomb, Alabama displays in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The people and attitudes of Maycomb showcase examples of racism, classism, and gender inequality. This book depicts societal standards for America in the South before freedom movements for African Americans in the 1950s and for Women in the 1970s.

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Class is a social system of hierarchy based on economic wealth. Joseph O. Jewell, author of Race, Social Reform, and the Making of a Middle Class: The American Missionary Association and Black Atlanta, 1870-1900, explains class as to “exist in large part as cultures-shared set of rules, ideologies, or

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folks don’t like somebody around knowin’ more than they do” (139). Calpurnia has been taught how to read and write with proper English dictation and then taught her own child, but Lee shows us that Calpurnia knows, that other Negroes need to want to learn and until they do, she shouldn’t ‘act better’ than them, just because of what she

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The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. The author Lee demonstrates some major themes such as social inequality, intolerance, education, legal justice and bravery through this character. The title To Kill a Mockingbird symbolises innocence where Lee explores this through the eyes of Jem and Scout who are kids of Atticus Finch. He is one of the most honest, patient, kind, fair, respected and admired men in Maycomb during the Great Depression. Atticus is known for his moral character throughout the book.

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It is shown how social classes are avoided in Patrick Henry’s speech “Give me liberty or give me death”. In the speech he talks about how he wants the US and everyone in it to start a fight against the British. When he gives the speech he does not care who joins the fight against the British, whether it be people of a high ranking class or slaves, so long as they put up a fight. This is showing how the age of reason made the social classes irrelevant. The lack of a social class system can also be seen in the Pre-European/Native American age in the poem “The Sky Tree”.

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There is many different social classes in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Social class is a very important matter in this novel. Social class is shown in Maycomb by different characters like the Finch’s family are in the highest in the social class. Then there is the Ewell’s family that represents the middle class. Finally there is Tom Robinson that represents the lowest in the social class of Maycomb.

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How does Harper Lee vividly capture the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb county in ‘To kill a mockingbird’? In the novel, ‘To kill a mockingbird’, Harper Lee conveys the theme of racism and social inequality by setting up the story in Maycomb, a small community in Alabama, the U.S back in 1930s. Lee presents some of the social issues of 1930s such as segregation and poverty in the novel. These issues are observed and examined through the innocent eyes of a young girl, Scout, the narrator.

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Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird famously said in his closing arguments: "You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some negro men are not to be trusted around women- black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and no particular race of men." (pg 232) What Atticus is trying to convey is a foreign concept to most people in Maycomb county. Atticus is trying to convey a point of equality and no prejudice in a world of social inequality which, as one can imagine, didn 't go over so well.

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In the novel, ‘To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the small, imaginary town, the Maycomb County, as a place where racism and social inequality happens in the background of 1930s America. Not only the segregation between whites and blacks, but also the poor lived in a harsh state of living. As Scout, the young narrator, tells the story, Lee introduces and highlights the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb County by using various characters such as Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell. Firstly, Harper Lee portrays Boo Radley as a victim of social inequality through adjectives and metaphor in the phrase, “There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten;” ‘Long jagged scar that ran across his face’ tells us that Boo Radley has stereotype about his appearance, which forces to imagine Boo as a scary and threatening person. The phrase, ‘yellow and rotten’ make the readers think as if Boo Radley is poor and low in a social hierarchy, as he cannot afford to brush his teeth.

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The book "To Kill a Mockingbird" describes different classes of people as been rich and poor. People classify themselves differently because some people are in poverty, while some are wealthy. Most wealthy people help the poor, but the main people they help are the Cunningham 's family. They help the Cunningham 's family because they are willing to work and they are hard working. People never help the Ewell 's family because they are rude, lazy, and they waste their money on alcohol.

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Social class is what gets you where you are today. You could be in the Low Class to the point where you get treated or judged poorly or you could maybe be in the higher class where you get treated and judged a little bit on the better side. You could even be in the middle class which is in between the good and the worst. The crucible doesn’t really show the characters different social class but it does show how they are being judged just because they are a witch or a bad person. People shouldn't be judged just by what class they are

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To Kill a Mockingbird Essay ¨Inequality is the root of social evil¨ (Pope Francis). In the book To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee shows that social inequality affects everyone. As the book goes on, Lee proves that racial inequality was one of the greater stresses in the 1930’s. Social inequality does not just exist only with race; it interferes with wealth, family backgrounds, age, and even your beliefs.

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