Social Inequalities In To Kill A Mockingbird

Social classes have been prominent in societies since the commencement of civilizations. These classes are shaped by the distribution of unequal opportunities amongst each division. Social classes result from varying factors such as race, gender and wealth. The classes consist of inequalities that are propitious to people only at the top of the social hierarchy. For those at the bottom, these inequalities have the opposite effect since they struggle with everyday aspects while those at the top prosper. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird strongly portrays the social inequalities in a society. The novel is set in Maycomb during the 1930s and highlights the different social classes. Lee utilizes the Finches, Cunninghams, Ewells and Blacks

At the bottom of the social hierarchy are the Ewells and Blacks. When describing the Ewells to Scout, Atticus says “…the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day’s work in his recollection…They were people, but they lived like animals” (Lee 30). Ewells are the lowest class of the white people in the community. They are perceived as disgusting people with animal-like characteristics. Even though they are these lowlife people, the color of their skin allows them to be in a higher social stature than the Blacks. The disgraceful Ewells are still able to convict Tom Robinson and win the case because Blacks fall into the lowest category. Therefore, the Blacks are the most disadvantaged people in the community. When Scout goes to Church with Calpurnia, Scout says “There was no sign of piano, organ, hymn-books, church programs—the familiar ecclesiastical impedimenta we saw every Sunday” (Lee 120). When Calpurnia takes Scout to the Black Church, it gives Scout an insight to the way the Blacks live. Scout realizes how different the Black Church was from her own. Scout’s observations of the Church illustrate that the Blacks lack many goods that the Whites have. The Blacks are very unlucky compared to the white citizens of Maycomb in what they have merely because of their social class due to the color of their