Classism In To Kill A Mockingbird

How often do stereotypes about families or races make their way into everyday conversation? In To Kill A Mockingbird racism and classism are one of the main issues in Maycomb County, the setting of the story. These issues lead me to believe that one theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is race and social class play a large part in human interaction. Some people who share this idea are Atticus, Mrs. Dubose, and Aunt Alexandra.

Atticus Finch shares a few insights into Maycomb’s racism and classism with Jem and Scout. After the trial, Jem and Scout start questioning the law and social customs in Maycomb. Atticus has to explain to them how the racism in Maycomb works and why: “‘When it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always

She comes from the highly established Finch family and only comes to stay with Atticus and children because she thinks he isn't doing a good enough job instilling the family values in the children so they can carry on the family legacy. “Aunt Alexandra was one of the last of her kind: she had river boat, boarding school manners” (172). Aunt Alexandra's personality and upbringing as well as her family name all contribute to her ability to fit into the society as easily as she does. This ability also shares how much influence class can have on social interaction. While specific to Maycomb, Aunt Alexandra shares information about the families in the town that relate to their social class: “The longer a family had been squatting on one patch of land the finer it was.”(173). Whether a family was rich or poor, if they have class and a long lineage, they are a honorable family in Maycomb. This plays a large part in social interaction because many of the older families will try to exclude the newer or lower class families because they don't relate on a social level. “They took for granted attitudes, character shadings, even gestures, as having been reappeared in each generation and refined by time.” (175). Scout was explaining how the stereotypes work in Maycomb and how they play into daily life. Each family has a “streak” or habit in Maycomb whether it has to do with posture, drinking, or

Atticus, Mrs. Dubose, and Aunt Alexandra help share this idea that racism and classism play a large part in day to day life and conversation. In everyday modern life people still experience stereotyping in normal conversations. For most of the book Scout was fighting for equal rights for everyone and to beat the stereotypes that prevailed in the town as her father, Atticus taught her to. It's crazy that a 7 year old can grasp this concept while people much older and “wiser”