Sleepy Maycomb, like other Southern towns, suffers considerably during the Great Depression. Many things happen, and poverty, racism, and violence encompass nearly everyone in Maycomb. Poverty, racism, and violence reaches from the privileged families, like the Finches, to the Negroes and “white trash” Ewells, who live on the outskirts of town. Harper Lee paints a vivid picture of life in this humid Alabama town where nearly everything explodes into conflict. The theme of racism, poverty, and violence is present throughout nearly every chapter in To Kill a Mockingbird.
The theme of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird is present in nearly every chapter, and is one of the main focuses in the book. When Calpurnia brings Jem and Scout to her church, Lula, a colored woman, is not nice at all towards Jem and Scout. “You ain’t got no business bringin’
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Tom Robinson, although he is not actually guilty of the violence, is accused of rape, and many chapters of the book include him. “‘Old Mr. Bob Ewell accused him of rapin his girl an’ had him arrested an’ put in jail’”(Lee 164). This quote shows that even though Tom Robinson is a symbol of violence, he was not responsible for raping Mayella. Also, the events that took place on the day that Tom Robinson supposedly raped Mayella, is another example of violence. “‘She was beaten around the head. There was already bruises comin’ on her arms and it happened about thirty minutes before… she had a black eye comin… her right’”(Lee 224). This shows that the fight that Mayella was caught up in was very violent, just like the fights that Scout got in when she was smaller. “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure… I was rubbing his nose in the dirt”(Lee 30) shows that everyone in the book was faced with violence in some way. So, the theme of violence was spread widely through the book, and showed up to nearly