To Kill A Mockingbird Social Class Analysis

From a very young age, people have the tendency to group up with people of similar beliefs and backgrounds. We do this because it gives us a sense of belonging and similarity within a group of people, then when we see somebody different we seem like we’re normal and they are not. This creates the social classes that we have today. Each social class has their own similar beliefs that often clash with others. This lays the foundation for a hierarchy of social classes, filled with judgement and scrutinization of others based on the social class they fall into. This hierarchy is seen today, for example, in political views; people group up with others that have similar beliefs and place themselves and others into a “ladder” of who is better. Harper

Scout mentions wanting to have Walter Cunningham, a kid from a poor family, over for dinner. Aunt Alexandra proceeds to say no, because, “They’re not our kind of folks”(Lee 299). Scout digs in, as to why not, pushing Aunt Alexandra to say, “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem”(Lee 300). This illustrates the mindset of Aunt Alexandra, and how she believes Walter Cunningham is a “lesser” of a person than them simply because he comes from a poor family. For Aunt Alexandra, wealth is a sign of a good person. If you’re not wealthy, you are not seen as a good person in the eyes of Aunt Alexandra. Aunt Alexandra has always placed herself with groups of women like her, wealthy, and this causes her to think she’s a normal person. Aunt Alexandra is familiar with wealthy people and that causes her to view Walter and his family as a lower status because they do not have the wealth Aunt Alexandra is used to. A person from the real world that has this same mindset of social status is Rutger Bregman, a writer for The Correspondent. He is a wealthy man and likely surrounds himself with others of similar wealth because that is human nature. Because of this, he is heavily biased towards poor people, and does not see them as just another normal person. In an article he writes titled, “Why do the poor make such poor decisions?” In this article he says, “The poor borrow more, save less, smoke more, exercise less, drink more, and eat less healthfully. Offer money management training and the poor are the last to sign up. When responding to job ads, the poor often write the worst applications and show up at interview in the least professional attire”(Bregman). Like Aunt Alexandra, Rutger Bregman