Gender Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee brings the issue of racism, classism, and sexism in the 1930’s to life in To Kill a Mockingbird through the narrator, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch with her brother, Jem Finch. Scout and Jem are going through their childhood with many different expe-riences, such as the situation when they go to Cal’s church (for black people). Another time, Scout was told by her brother that she was acting too ‘girly’ day by day. As most of the places, Maycomb has three classes: upper class, middle class, and lower class. The upper class are the Finches or Dolphus Raymond, the middle class are the Cunning-hams, and lower class are the Ewells, who accused Tom Robinson of the rape of Mayella Ewell. Issues with race, class and gender were much more harsh …show more content…
For the most part, gender inequality applies to women all around the world in less developed countries. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout was told by everyone to act like a girl, but she believes that girl things are bad, so she doesn't behave like one. At first, Jem supported Scout on acting like a boy because he didn't know the importance of behaving like a ‘girl’, but as he grew older his point of view changed, so Jem told Scout that “[She] was being a girl, [and] that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them..” (Lee 41). This clearly shows how people thought about girls 1930’s. This shows their way of thinking and underestimating females. Many people still think the same way, but women have proved that they are equal to men. Today, in many places, women get paid less for working in the same position and same amount of hours as men.“Women earn 79 cents for every dollar a man makes” (McGregor). This not the case everywhere, but it occurs in most of the world, especially in less developed or urbanized areas. From the beginning, everyone thought that women were only ideal wives and moms, and they weren't allowed to step out of the house and try something by themselves. Nothing much have changed from the past, and nothing will change in the present either. For example, “female workers in Louisiana face the highest discrepancy-$671,840-while those in …show more content…
In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are three levels of classes. The Finches are the high class because they can afford to live in a house. It can also be Dolphus Raymond because he owns a side of the riverbank, and he is from an old family. The Cunninghams are the low-middle class because they don’t live in a house, so they farm for a living and live on the farm. The lower class are the Ewells and they all live in dumps. The Ewells and the Cunninghams don’t really have ‘manners’, according to Scout because “[there are] some folks who don’t eat like [the Finches]... but [Scout] ain’t called on to contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t.” (Lee 24). Scout is openly being ‘mean’ because Walter is not eating like the way she does. It is not her fault because she doesn't know the classes and how they do what they do in different classes. Many Maycomb people think that the Ewells are the lower class because Mr. Ewell “spends his relief checks on green whiskey, [so] his children have a way of crying from hunger pains.” (Lee 31). By doing this, he is not being a good or a caring father. Many people think that Mr. Ewell raped her own daughter while being drunk, and then blamed it on Tom Robinson because everyone knows that the Ewells have problems with black people. Today, some things have improved like the lunches in school. In 1930’s this was not the case, and kids like Walter had to stay hungry all day, but now some states like New
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