Theme Of Social Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

In modern society, each individual’s wealth and privilege should dictate their social responsibility. This social contract provides that wealthy and privileged individuals should act on the behalf of the less fortunate in order to improve their well-being and correct social injustices. On the other hand, though they should be law-abiding citizens, underprivileged individuals should have the opportunity to receive a disproportionate amount of the benefits given by society. The notion of a social contract is one of the unspoken, unwritten laws of being part of an advanced society and is a central theme in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The rich white men in Maycomb are the ones that are responsible for identifying social injustices, being

Many of the families of Maycomb do not have the money or resources for a decent education or a steady lifestyle, so the members of those families are given a distinct disadvantage at wealth and power. Families like “the Cunninghams that never took anything they can’t pay back—no church baskets and no scrip stamps. They never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what they have” (26). The Cunninghams are a family in Maycomb that is plagued with poverty. They do not want to go into debt because they know that they may not be able pay it back. But, even though they are poor, the Cunninghams “get along on what they have”. They do not ever take the pity gifts that society gives them because they want to earn everything honestly. They deserve the benefits of society because they do not have the opportunity that other families would have based on their social class. These respectable people are entitled to more than what they have because they are more honorable than the privileged of the