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Society to kill a mockingbird
Society to kill a mockingbird
To kill a mockingbird on racial and social equality
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Compare Contrast African Americans vs The Ewells People have always judged and had prejudices towards others. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” the African Americans and a family named the Ewells are looked down upon by the rest of the town. They differ greatly though in why. They share a common class and financial status. However, The African Americans vary from the Ewells in how they came to the lower class and their lifestyle. Like the African Americans of the South, The Ewell family also suffered the position of a low class group. Jem puts it very well chapter 23, “There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind, like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like …show more content…
They are portrayed as kind and respectful and never talk bad about the white people. Meanwhile, the Ewells earned every bit of where they are right now. The African Americans should not be in the low class of poverty, but are placed there because of their color. In chapter 23, Atticus states, “The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box.” What Atticus is saying is that Tom Robinson or any black person did not put themselves in the position they are in. Yet still people carry their stereotypes and resentments into court. Although the Ewell’s are considered the “white trash” of the town, even they are considered higher and better than the African Americans. The low class white people are better than the high class African Americans just because of the color of their skin. While their social hierarchy differed, both groups knew the feeling of poverty far too …show more content…
“…Walter Cunningham was sitting there lying his head off. He didn’t forget his lunch, he didn’t have any. He had none today nor would he have any tomorrow or the next day. He had probably never seen three quarters together at the same time in his life.” On the first day of school, the Cunningham’s boy didn’t bring a lunch. It was not because he forgot, but because he could not afford it. Jem places the Ewells and African Americans below this family. These groups have it much worse off than the rest of the town. Another instance is at the African American church. The pastor takes up a collection for Tom Robinson’s wife, Helen, while Tom is in jail and on trial. The African Americans lifestyle is similar to the Ewells in that of poverty, but work ethic sets them apart like black and
Poverty can be a terrible thing. It can shape who you are for better or for worse. Although it may seem awful while you experience it, poverty is never permanent. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which takes place in Alabama in the middle of the Great Depression, Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell are both in a similar economic state. Both of their families have very little money; however, they way they manage handle themselves is very different. In this essay, I will compare Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell’s physical appearance and hygiene, their views on education, and their manners and personalities.
It is acknowledged by many readers that there are many different social classes in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. One of the most obvious social class distinctions is between skin colors, which can be seen through this novel. Since most readers’ focal point of this novel is on the distinctions between skin colors, they are unlikely to pay attention to the difference in social class within the white community. Lee wants to illustrate a contrast in white society and how characters behave differently through the uses of character foil, characterization, and the theme of society inequality in order to emphasize the differences in social classes.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird three characters, Scout, Jem, and Atticus Finch, experience the many hardships and difficulties of human inequality in their community, Maycomb County. Scout, the narrator, gives insight to readers about the many different characters of Maycomb, yet two are alike in many ways. Mayella Ewell is a 19-year-old girl who is considered white trash and lacks education, love, and friends. Dolphus Raymond is a wealthy white man who is married to an African-American and has mixed children. Although these characters may seem different, they share many of the same advantages and disadvantages of human inequality.
He is an extremely poor, depraved and racist individual who fights against Tom Robinson in his trial. Initially, Jem and Scout naïvely believe that the vast majority of Maycomb County is good, but that is before they are introduced to this man. As a result of his wicked actions, Jem and Scout come to realize that not all of Maycomb County’s citizens, specifically Mr. Ewell, display decency. Jem and Scout realize Mr. Ewell’s disrespectful actions and try not to let his sinful nature erode their personalities. After Tom Robinson is convicted in his trial, Jem retreats into a state of depression and disillusionment, and thus asks his father, “How could they do it, how could they,” (243).
The world is an unfair place, high social standing is longed for by most. America in the 1930’s was not the place you wanted to be if you were not born a white, rich, man. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee illustrates the inescapability of social class and the heartbreaking reality of cultural barriers. In the summer of her fifth year, Jean Louise Finch, or “Scout” for short, discovers the true colors of the world’s injustices for the first time accompanied by her ten year old brother Jeremy Atticus Finch, or “Jem,” and her neighbor’s seven year old nephew, Charles Baker Harris, or “Dill.” Together the three children come to see there are many deep layers to the residents in every town, even a small, quiet one like
Growing up in a prejudiced environment can cause individuals to develop biased views in regard to both gender and class. This is true in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, where such prejudices are prevalent in the way of life of 1930s Maycomb, Alabama. The novel is centered around the trial of a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. The narrator, a young girl named Scout, is able to get a close up view of the trial because her father is defending Tom Robinson, the defendant. The aura of the town divided by the trial reveals certain people’s prejudices to Scout, giving her a better perspective of her world.
The novel To Kill A MockingBird is primarily based on the problems associated with prejudice and cultural bias during the 30’s. These themes that are explored by Harper Lee allow’s a greater approach to referencing belonging and most of
In To Kill a Mockingbird the theme of poverty is expressed with characters such as the Cunninghams and the Ewells. Walter Cunningham shows up to school with clean clothes but lacks shoes and a lunch. “She stopped at Walter Cunningham’s desk. ‘Where’s
Atticus is the main influence in the children’s life. He is fair to blacks, respectful to not only blacks, but also everyone around him. He doesn’t engage Ewell when he confronts Atticus for defending a black. “It was Miss Stephanie’s pleasure to tell us: this morning Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life. ‘I wish Bob Ewell wouldn’t chew tobacco,’ was all Atticus said about it” (Lee 22-23). Atticus was also very stubborn. When handed the responsibility of defending Tom Robinson, Atticus knows he is going to lose. But he doe...
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird expresses the ideology that the social standard of a particular individual, classifies their status in the world. Individuals placed in social classes are labeled to create a sense of social identity. The socio-economic class an individual is born into should not be the determining factor of how the individual is regarded and treated, however, their character and personality should be a primary factor in determining how they are thought of in society.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee contain a very engaging family who are the Cunninghams. The Cunninghams are very poor; they are people who live in the woods. They are a family who depend highly on crops. Walter Cunningham, the 'father' of the family has to work hard on the cultivation of crops because crops is the only form of wages for them. The Cunninghams have no money. Their only way to survive is through paying others with their crops. The Cunninghams are not main characters in the book, but they are characters who 'brought out' other characters' personality. Harper Lee displays that there is a lot of prejudice going on in Maycomb by putting the Cunninghams in the book. "The Cunninghams [were] country folks, farmers"(21) who are very honest people in Maycomb, they "never took anything they [could not] pay back"(23), but they are unfairly mistreated by part of the society in Maycomb.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960, is a novel which explores the theme of challenging racial prejudice. Within this novel, Lee has portrayed unintentional racial prejudice through the characters Atticus Finch, Link Deas and Scout Finch. With these characters, and their roles in exploring the theme of racial prejudice, Harper Lee has set unintentional boundaries for readers, as result, racial prejudicial thinking from contemporary perspective, in comparison to historical views, is challenged to a small extent.
The story “To kill a Mockingbird” takes place in an old tired town in Alabama during the Great Depression. In the story the main conflict involves a black crippled man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of Bob Ewell. The Ewells were the lowest of the low in Maycomb; they lived in the town dump and had no education. The Accusation of Tom Robinson was caused by the Ewell’s in an effort to better their lifestyle and increase their rank in the town. Although the story is told from Scout’s eyes, the whole story revolves around this questionable trial and shows that being vulnerable and innocent is a dangerous characteristic to have and can easily be taken advantage of.
Racism presents itself in many ways in the town of Maycomb. Some are blatant and open, but others are more insidious. One obvious way that racism presents itself is in the result of Tom Robinson’s trial. Another apparent example is the bullying Jem and Scout had to endure as a result of Atticus’s appointment as Tom Robinson’s defense attorney. A less easily discernible case is the persecution of Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who chose to live his life in close relation with the colored community.
The book to ‘To kill a mocking-bird’ was written in the 1930’s and explores prejudice against black people. The book is portrayed through the eyes of two innocent children and shows the “irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South [of America] in the thirties. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one mans struggle for justice.”