Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

Nowadays, people are more willing to adapt to change in order to evolve the views society perceives as being the normalization; however, that has not always been the case. When reading, To Kill a Mockingbird, it is easy to decipher just how much society in the 1930s differs from that of today’s, which is why it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature. Through Harper Lee’s work of literature, it is apparent that she conveys the theme that injustices are experienced by those thought to be different and that there is a potent inequality present amongst the characters in the novel. Furthermore, Harper Lee uses symbolism to highlight many aspects related to the message she presents throughout her novel. Lastly, the evolvement of certain …show more content…
In, To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a clear complexity within the social strata. By categorizing the different families into their appropriate social classes, it is easy to see that the Ewells find themselves at the bottom. Their low social status is shown through an interaction between Atticus and Scout as he explains, “that Ewells had been a disgrace to Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day of work in his recollection...they were people but they lived like animals.” (Lee 33). However, because the Ewells are a white family, they hold a higher social status than Tom Robinson. This is especially shown in the courthouse during Tom Robinson’s trial. Since Tom Robinson is a black man, he is automatically presumed guilty for the wrongful accusation of raping Mayella Ewell. From this stems an apparent racial discrimination that presents itself blatantly in the novel. Atticus is aware of the existing prejudice within the judicial system and decides to inform Jem and Scout of the potent inequality by explaining that, “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee 251-252). Similarly, there are many more ways to recognize the message Lee is delineating in, To Kill a Mockingbird, through her remarkable use of

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