The most important theme in this novel that is apparent throughout the entire book is social inequality. This sets the tone for the book and most events are based around this common theme. Throughout the book, the characters learn about the real world through the racism and unbalance of social power that takes place during this time period. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee represents the struggles for social equality in the 1930's through two young characters that grow up around people that are pushing racism and segregation. For example, it was known throughout the whole town that Atticus “won’t win, he can’t win” (Lee 246) in his trial defending a black man. Everyone knew that Atticus would have absolutely no luck, just because he was defending a black man. …show more content…
This is much like in Ms. Lee's writing, where she bases the realistic world of Scout and Jem around the racism and hatred in the world. In addition, Ms. Lee did a great job portraying not only the separate laws for whites and blacks, she shows the struggle for blacks to have equal sharing space in things such as churches. The blacks were not only forced to go to a smaller, lesser church separate from whites, the whites “gambled in it on weekdays” (Lee 118). This is much like how the whites and blacks were put in separate train cars that were “separate but equal” (Ferris State University, Jim Crow Museum). The truth was, whites and blacks were not provided with an equal opportunities for work, schooling, transportation, even bathrooms were separated based on skin color. Facilities set aside for whites were much cleaner than the one provided for blacks. In the the 1960's, our world revolved around the segregation in our society. The characters in the novel like people in our society learned from this cruelty in our world and unbalance of