To Kill A Mockingbird Marxist Analysis

Marxist Within the Mockingbird

Today the world is open to people of all races, economic classes and much more, but in the 1930’s the world was not as accepting. To Kill A Mockingbird, is a book by Harper Lee which takes place in the 1930’s. Throughout the story there are issues with feminism, racism, and injustice. It starts with a young girl and her family, and as the book progresses the reader gets to find out some of the things that go on in their life and around them. Such as a stressful case which includes, a black innocent man who is accused for something he did not do. It is clear that To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee demonstrates Marxist theory by displaying the characteristics of power differences, conflict between classes, and

For instance, lots of the people in Maycomb would avoid black people throughout the story because they were considered the lowest class of people. Lots of white people in town would make comments about black people or ignore them. The majority of white people gave them a hard time. One example of this would be when Mr. Raymond talks to Scout about how white people treat black people. The text states, “‘Cry about the simple hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to that they’re people, too’” (Lee 269). This shows conflict between classes because white people are giving black people a hard time. Black people were perceived as the lowest class and throughout the story people would treat them as if they were dirt. Being in the lowest class, they would have to do all of the terrible work. They never had a chance to get a good job and be successful because of the white people. This was common down in the South in the 1930’s which resulted in many conflicts between the two. In addition, lots of black people started to lose hope about Tom’s case. People who supported him began to think that he would not win due to white power in the courts which was a problem between the two classes. One example of this would be when Tom tried to escape and got killed because he didn’t think he was going to win the case. The text states, “‘I guess Tom

Many of the beliefs people had about other people caused them to divide and make their own groups. One example of this would be when Mr. Dolphus Raymond was talking to Scout and felt like she should not be talking to him. The text states, “I had a feeling that I shouldn’t be here listening to this sinful man who had mixed children and didn’t care who knew it” (Lee 268). From that, the reader is able to see how people in the town avoid other ‘groups’ of people. Their society did not accept mixed children so people were expected to avoid the Raymonds. For a long time values like that existed. The majority of people divided because it was not right to mix. As unfair as it sounds these things occurred many time throughout the story which lead to tension between the classes. Throughout the story there are many examples of division. Not only did society divide by color but also by economics. In the story Aunt Alexandra gets angry at Scout for hanging out with people that were not in the same economic group as them. The text states, "She took off her glasses and stared at me. 'I'll tell you why,' she said. 'Because--he--is--trash, that's why you can't play with him. I'll not have you around him, picking up his habits and learning Lord knows what. You're enough of a problem to your father as it is'" (Lee 256). Aunt Alexandra wanted to uphold the Finch name but felt as if Scout and Jem needed to change for