To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in the small fictional town Maycomb of Alabama during the Great Depression. Due to the location of this town, most of the townspeople are related in a way and have become familiar with one another. This provokes a social hierarchy to be developed based on wealth, race, and history and multiple forms of prejudice emerges. As we see Jem and Scout mature, they witness the injustice that is brought upon the Cunninghams, Tom Robinson, and Arthur “Boo” Radley. As social division continues to prevail, prejudice remains unresolved because discrimination has become a part of the social mores deeply embedded in Maycomb. The jury reaches a verdict and states that Tom Robinson is guilty of sexually and physically …show more content…
There’s the ordinary 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.’” (pg. 303) “‘I mean in Maycomb county. The thing about it is our kinds of folks don’t like the Cunninghams,...’” (pg. 302-303) Jem explains to Scout that there are “four kinds of folks” in Maycomb County, not just one as Scout perceives. The Finches are better off economically and have a higher social ranking than the Cunninghams. Aunt Alexandra misinterprets this fact and believes that any Finches is inherently better than the Cunninghams. This discrimination is caused by the unwritten law that being impecunious makes a person adherent in Maycomb’s society. In Maycomb, most of the townspeople are familiar with one another, however the actions of the Radleys causes much controversy. The Radleys keeps themselves and Boo isolated from the world of Maycomb. This triggers the townspeople to gossip about them and create falsified rumors about Boo Radley. “The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to the themselves, a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb.” (pg. 11) “Inside the house live a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was down,