Class Warfare In To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee published an amazing novel in 1960 that would change lives for years to come. In her novel, Lee portrays her childhood through a story about a little girl and her family who all live in a small town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. The story revolves around the lives of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, her brother Jem, and their father Atticus. In the story, Harper Lee expresses one major theme: the only way to truly understand other people is by considering their perspective. This could resolve bigotry, racism, and class warfare in society. The central idea Harper Lee expresses for curing racism, bigotry, and class warfare in To Kill A Mockingbird is in order to is to walk around in other people's’ shoes in order to understand their
Scout learns that certain people in town are feared, distrusted or hated because of their skin color, personal decisions, or rank on the social hierarchy, also known as class warfare. Colored people don’t receive as much respect as white people because they are lower in the social hierarchy than the white people who are on the top. By stepping into the shoes of Boo Radley, Walter Cunningham, and Dolphus Raymond, Scout learns a lot about class warfare. Tom Robinson is a black man who is falsely accused of beating and raping Mayella Ewell. The jury finds him guilty, and Scout knows that it was wrong. Her father, Atticus, was Tom’s lawyer, so she was able to experience each step of the trial. Arthur “Boo” Radley was feared by all of Maycomb because he stabbed his father with a pair of scissors when he was younger. Scout constantly wonders what it would feel like to be trapped in your house for so many years and be all alone to understand why Boo does not have great social skills and is quite shy. He left many things for the children in the hole of a tree, but expected nothing in return. Scout and Jem both recognized that he was not a bad man, and just needed some friends. Dolphus Raymond was the town dunk. Actually, he wasn’t. He drank Coca-Cola out of a paper bag to make everyone think that he was drunk. Dill and Scout got the opportunity to talk to him during the trail, when they decided to take a
By looking around, it is easy to notice racism, bigotry, and class warfare between everyone. A kid gets harassed because they are attracted to the same sex. A man gets shot simply because he is black. A teenage girl is attacked because she is an Atheist. Although the same events that happen in Lee’s novel may not happen in today’s world, the underlying problem of racism, bigotry, and class warfare, can still be seen. Harper Lee shows in her novel that all of that could be solved simply by walking around in other people’s shoes to understand that they are also humans with feelings, emotions, and loved ones. If people could just realize that the gay kid, the black man, the atheist girl, and everyone else they encounter are not much different from themselves, the world would be a better, safer, more loving place to live in. In To Kill A Mockingbird, so many lives could have been spared if they were seen as people, not discriminated by the color of their