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Importance of class to social stratification
Impact of social class
Social stratification and social class
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The Negative Effects of Social Status “An individual’s or group’s position within a hierarchical social structure.” This is the definition of socioeconomic status, a concept that directs almost every aspect of your life. Wherever you are, there exists a social scale exists that impacts you. As a student and young woman who is not of the Caucasian race, I have experienced and seen many problems with the ranking pyramid our communities are based upon. The negative effects social hierarchies have imposed upon our society are problems we need to fix. This web that has dominated the commonwealth produces unfavourable effects on interaction, emotions, and crime rates. Without a doubt, social inequality creates an unnecessary divide within our communities, spawning an imbalance in education, wealth, and occupation. The gap between the rich and the poor has expanded since they generally do not interact with each other. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Aunt Alexandra does not allow Scout to invite Walter Cunningham over for dinner because she believes it is a disgrace to their family name; preventing her niece from being friends with someone for the sole reason of him being poor. Therefore, career, income, and schooling differences are a poison produced by our positions on the social scale. Furthermore, the According to Adam Waytz, low-status individuals often have a higher tendency towards violent behaviour. People of a lower class are likely to be in need, prompting them to take desperate measures in order to attain what they want and responding in an undignified manner when they do not. After the trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird, Bob Ewell targets the people involved with the trial because he did not receive the recognition he was striving for. Individuals of a lower ranking are more likely to respond with violence, inducing a threat you and others in your
One instance “Mockingbird” characters being affected would be Jem when Mr. Bob Ewell attacks him and Scout evidently breaking his arm. The narrator states, “‘[Bob Ewell]’s been after my children. Jem’s hurt. He’s got a bad break, as far as I can tell now it’s in the elbow. Like somebody tried to wring his arm off.’” (263,264). By demonstrating that Jem did not instigate the attack upon him or his sister, Lee is able to show that Jem is a non instigator also known as a “Mockingbird” because he did not do anything to bring the attack upon himself or his sister. Also, Lee demonstrates the none “Mockingbird” Mr. Bob Ewell by attacking the young Finch children. Another instance of “Mockingbird” characters is Tom Robinson, a hardworking, family loving African American who was put up for his life against the word of two white people even though he had not committed any offences he was being charged for. Tom Robinson was found “Guilty. . .guilty. . .guilty. . .guilty. . .” (211). By using only four guilty’s, Lee is able to demonstrate that the word of two white people has a greater effect than that of an African American even though the man who was put up for his life had not harmed, nor had he ever damaged anything he came
A distinct conscience is formed by the values and desires of one’s unique identity. However, common beliefs of societal standards can influence conscientious desires. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee introduces a young girl named Scout, who learns about the difference between social conformity and human conscience. Through this, she notices the conflict it brings: choosing to conform or stand with your desire. Through Maycomb’s discriminatory principles, Atticus’ actions against common beliefs, and Scout’s comprehension of Boo, Lee reveals how society’s standards and conformity hinders personal desires for righteousness.
Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” takes place during the 1930’s in the fictional and quiet town of Maycomb, located in Maycomb County, Alabama. The town of Maycomb is described as a tired old town that moves very slowly and its residents have nothing to fear but fear itself. Being in set in the South during the 1930’s the story does tackle racism and inequality for African Americans as racism was becoming more and more prominent in the 1930’s. The fact that the story takes place in a backwater county in Alabama makes the the injustice even more prevalent. The story goes through the early years of the main characters Jem and Scout so the exact time is always changing, however, the more important and intense parts of the story takes place
America has always been a country with different cultures, races, and people. Only, not everyone has been accepting of different kinds of people. A persons thoughts on another person can differ depending on a person's race, gender, or age. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, racial equality is nonexistent. The African Americans were treated like they weren’t people, and were totally isolated from the Maycomb, Alabama society. America will never achieve true racial and social equality because people are ignorant, have a history of being prejudiced, and are unjust.
Why do people these days tend to make fun of other people based on that person’s clothing and their skin color? Why don’t people realize that these assumptions can lead to violence? It could also end up killing innocent citizens who don’t have anything to do with this. In another way you can put it is that, prejudice ruins and sometimes even destroys humans. It also causes people to lose the way they look at their fellow human. . In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how prejudice causes people to believe in rumors, judge others by their skin color, and the beliefs of others.
For many years, African Americans have faced the challenge of being accurately and positively portrayed within mainstream media, such as American made films. They are often represented as people who are inferior to those of the Caucasian race, and are frequently presented with problems that are related to racial discrimination. The portrayal of African Americans in media such as movies has often been considered a large contributing factor to the racial tensions that still exist in our world today (Lemons, 1977). The movie, To Kill a Mockingbird, sheds light on the portrayal of African Americans in movies, and how stereotypes can greatly impact the lives of those who are not of the Caucasian race.
In To Kill a Mocking Bird, By Harper Lee, Fictional Novel, Scout has had many experiences with several characters. She as one of the main characters throughout To Kill Mocking Bird, has always judged other characters or people based on their appearances and actions. Atticus, scouts father explains about this by telling Scout that most people are nice “when you finally see them” (Lee, 376). But how does this theme apply to past minor characters? Does scout later realize that her thought of who the person was before was false? .Based on past characters scout judged before and after. The author Harper Lee shows that in the book To Kill A Mocking Bird, misunderstandings and interpretations, demonstrates the fact that, once you put yourself into someone else’s shoes, you as a human being will later understand and reflect on what you knew about the person before and determine who the person really is, and what morals do they as a character demonstrate. Though this, the theme implies to minor characters in the book such as: Calpurnia, Mrs. Dubose and Dolphus Raymond. Firstly, based on To Kill a Mocking Bird, Scout, understands the fact that most people are nice at first when you see them because of Calpurnia. From the book…”Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are anybody steps foot in this house’s yo company” (Lee, 33). In chapter 3 based on this quotation, When Walter Cunningham arrives inside Scouts home, Scout judged Walter. This made Calpurnia as a minor character angry and so she tells scout based on the quote. This makes Scout as a major character feel a bit mad because, Scout never agrees with Calpurnia’s teachings. Though later we as the reader realize that Scout has a change of character in the book. For e...
Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird explores the underlying racism that exists in Alabama, and perhaps all over America, in the 1930s. It focuses mainly on the practice of racial prejudice and discrimination. However, other subsequent issues are also mentioned throughout the novel. As we all know, To Kill A Mockingbird is set shortly after the Great Depression had hit America in 1929. It had a disastrous impact on the Southern part of America, including Alabama, because most of its citizens are farmers. Therefore, by extension, their lives are more reliant on agriculture.
The world’s greatest innovator Steve Jobs once said, ”Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” Whenever someone explains what courage is, a person’s definition would be about overcoming fear or having bravery. Despite that, courage can be an individual handling what society is asking from them and going by what their hearts say and dealing with their own problems. This concept comes into play in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, where several of Lee’s characters experience courage by going against societal means. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee connects the characters going through their own conviction to show her theme that courage is going against society’s beliefs and handling one’s situation.
Optical illusions can appear to be moving, but really are not. At a certain angle they seem different than in actuality. The same is true about people. It is part of human nature to self deceive as some do not necessarily see the truth from both the outside and inside of a person. On the surface appearances are misleading as it does not take any depth into consideration. In Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" Scout, the protagonist innocence leaves her naive to the harsh realities of Maycomb. As she involves herself more with the town, people's true colours begin to unravel. Her eyes begin to open to the mirage of her pure life by rumors and actions of the people around her. Along with the verdict of Tom Robinson. Scout learns that reality is different than it appears through her unassuming neighbors, father and the trial.
In previous eras, anti-Black sentiment was widely acknowledged and sometimes encouraged in the United States. Black litigants have endured a long history of racist attitudes and inequality in the criminal justice system To this day, it is impossible to determine if jurors present an unbiased trial for the defendants regardless of their racial background. Although the undercurrent of racism may continue to be present in modern juries, racial prejudice in the modern legal system is certainly less flagrant as many.
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.
Segregation is the exclusion of a certain racial, religious, or other categorized group from actively participating in aspects of society. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, was set during a time period where segregation was customary in society; it affected the way people portrayed certain ideas and how people regarded one another. In the southern United States at this time there was a clash amongst races that separated people. Whites in particular served a less complicated lifestyle than blacks, as blacks were considered to be of lesser importance. The struggles endured by those dealing with segregation were overlooked by the discriminative inhabitants of Maycomb who were brought up in a society where their unjust actions were accepted. Engrained in their minds was an inequality that divided races, which lead to the inability to combine races into an integrated society.
To Kill A Mockingbird is a dramatic story about human behavior- cruelty, love, compassion, and hatred. The sweet family of 3 lives in the Southern town of Maycomb County. Atticus, the father, Scout Finch, and Scout’s brother, Jem. The Finch family lives in the time period of the Great Depression. Atticus still has his job as a lawyer and that’s when he realizes one of the greater themes of the story- The Existence of Social Inequality.
Harper Lee is most famous for her class, American-literature novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee created a story that reflects compassion, loss of innocence, and the courage to break barriers in the midst of adversity. By creating this novel, she built one of the most model, male figures in all works of writing: Atticus Finch. Today, Atticus Finch is seen as a literary hero, and a role model for many people. From his wise council, to his unprejudiced love and care for others, Atticus Finch lives up to the strong title of being a hero.