Preview

How Does Maycomb Present Social Iniquity In To Kill A Mockingbird

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1682 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Maycomb Present Social Iniquity In To Kill A Mockingbird
Trauzzi 1
Jessica Trauzzi
Ms. K. Talbot
English
November 22nd 2012

How the Town of Maycomb Strongly Demonstrates Social Iniquity
-------------------------------------------------
People can be unfair, unjust, and downright cruel. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, there is a good demonstration by the members of Maycomb’s society of the theme of social iniquity that has very strong supporting evidence towards this opinion. Many different acts are shown to price the county of Maycomb is biased and unfair to its members. It proves things are not as they seem considering the fact that the county of Maycomb is a very proper and ‘classy’ group of people, to some extent. But, as many people read, they notice there are hidden things
…show more content…
White people think they are better than them and consider it a crime if a black man beats a white man in any way shape or form. This is when Tom Robinson comes into play. He is a huge aspect of the book. He is put into trial for supposedly raping Mayella Ewell. When the court date comes, the information gathered from both sides point to Tom as being innocent. Many people suspect Mr. Bob Ewell was the man that beat Mayella for coming to a black man. Evidence suggest that Tom Robinson only losses his case because of his colour. Even in the courtroom, people are divided by their colour and class. The black people of the crowd have to sit on the balcony while the white folk sit on the floor. This is discrimination against the black race. They are treated differently than the white people because of false and prejudice judgement and opinions of others. “A white man’s word against a black man’s word, the white man always wins.”(Lee, 243) This quote is a significant piece of evidence that represents the injustice and biased treatment against black people in Maycomb. This can also demonstrate the fact of how Maycomb tends to be bias towards characteristics of people or families that are out of their control such as age, gender, wealth, race or even your family. Everything the people in Maycomb are is based upon these factors that are out of their control. Atticus …show more content…
She doesn’t know that the Cunningham’s don’t take anything they couldn’t pay back so it seemed as though she got offended when Walter didn’t take the quarter. Everyone in the class knows what the Cunningham’s are like so when this happens, the class reacted surprised. Mrs. Fisher did not show an act of false judgement which shows that things change in Maycomb. Over time, people begin to look at different situations a bias way due to the perspectives of others. She also doesn’t like the fact that Scout can read. It seems as though she was discouraged by a child’s knowledge and didn’t know how to react towards it. “Jem and I hated her. If she was on the porch when we passed, we would be raked by her wrathful gaze, subjected to ruthless interrogation regarding our behavior, and given a melancholy prediction on what we would amount to when we grew up, which was always nothing.” (Lee, 13). This quote shows the false judgement on Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose on the children. Most of the adults in Maycomb do not fully respect Jem and Scout. This is because of their age; something they cannot control. People treat them differently based on this because nobody stands up for them except themselves. The adults have no reason to follow along in someone else’s footsteps in this aspect because no one is making the footsteps for anyone to follow in. "Stephanie Crawford even told me once she woke up in the middle of the night and found him

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Being a Black man in Maycomb, Alabama was difficult; Maycomb was a racist town with people who did not want the Blacks to be equal to the Whites. People discriminated Robinson’s race to the point where his race was what defined his character. The Whites in Maycomb had a mentality that all blacks were not to be trusted. This affected Tom Robinson because during his rape trial his lawyer, Atticus Finch states “. . . You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral; some Negro men are not to be trusted around women—black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men.” [Lee, 48] Atticus was trying to say that we need to judge people as individuals rather than by their race. Robinson’s race caused him to be discriminated against by the Whites in Maycomb, in particular Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell had seen that his daughter had kissed a Black man and was very upset. He said "I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella!" [Lee, 84] Because Robinson…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the trial, Atticus argues calmly but adamantly for Tom Robinson’s innocence, but also for the jury to give him fair trial. In his closing argument, Atticus reminds the jury that the “case [was] as simple as black and white” (Lee 207), and he also dispels the “evil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber” (Lee 208). For Tom Robinson, the case would have never gone to court if he was not black. This is a clear critique on the racism of Maycomb, which is only supported by the fact that Atticus had to remind the jury that African Americans are human beings of the same moral…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout this journal, one can predict that the black spectators at the trial stand when Atticus passes because they respect him and are grateful that he defended Tom Robinson. To begin, the black people of Maycomb respect Atticus. One example that supports this is that Atticus himself respects black people. Throughout the book, Atticus has openly supported equality between races. A specific example is during Atticus’s finishing statement, when he proclaims that all men, whether white and black, are equal in the eyes of the court. This shows that Atticus believes black men and white men to be equal and is willing to publically state such, which is a trait the blacks can appreciate and respect Atticus for. Another example that verifies the…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atticus goes against the values of society. At the time period, blacks and whites were segregated and wanted nothing to do with each other. When a black man, Tom Robinson was accused of raping white girl, Mayella Ewell, tension grew among Maycomb. Atticus goes against the town's values and beliefs about blacks and decides to take Toms side. He believes Tom is innocent and supports him while society takes Mayella's side. Atticus demonstrates how skin color should not matter.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The groups of people in Maycomb rarely allow different people to interact with each other. Sometimes, people get excluded because of the colour of their skin, or by the amount of money they carry in their pockets. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Helen Robinson, the wife of the convicted black man, can’t find a job after her husband gets accused of rape. She needed to support her family by getting a job, but nobody wanted to employ her because of what her husband was rumored to have done. Prejudice against Tom Robinson lead to his wife and kids not being able to get what they needed. Another example of exclusion in To Kill a Mockingbird is when Aunt Alexandra wouldn’t let Scout play with Walter Cunningham because he was poor. She says that his family is different from the Finches, and that he wasn’t as good as them. She also places certain families of Maycomb into groups that exclude the rest of the town from their activities. An example of this is when she ways that all Penfield women are flighty, after a Penfield girl giggled during church. According to her, all Maycomb families have a streak of their own, and that places them into their own groups. This lead s to exclusion from various other groups, because people don’t think you belong with them, and not being able to get what you want. If a person can’t feed their kids or support themselves, they can’t lead a good…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What is a very apparent concept in the story is the inequality and prejudice that exist in the small town. In Maycomb, the wealth of an individual is a way that consistently divided the social status of the townspeople. For example, The Finchers and other middle class people have more prestige and social status over the lower class townspeople, such as the Cunninghams and the Ewells. The most common and discriminatory inequality in the town is that the race of an individual would unjustly determine their social status. For example, the blacks, despite having more amiable qualities than the Ewells, still remain at the bottom of the social hierarchy for the only reason being their race. This lead to the Ewells exploiting the town’s racial prejudices…

    • 138 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Caste Sytem

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In To Kill A Mocking Bird, Harper Lee portrays racial bias from low class whites to maintain their position above blacks in the social hierarchy. After Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a mob of white men goes to the Maycomb jail to lynch Tom Robinson. “ You know what we want,’ Another man said. ‘Get aside from the door Mr. Finch.” Tom Robinson has been accused of rape, but he has not been put on trail, but these men decide to take it into their own hands and kill him just because he is black. These men do not personally know Tom Robinson, but if he were to win this case then these men would be at the bottom of the social hierarchy because of their socioeconomic status and respect in the community so they have want to lynch Tom Robinson to show their superiority over blacks. People like the Ewells are terrible people, and a disgrace to the community and the only thing keeping them from the bottom of the social hierarchy is the fact that their white. “Every town the size of Maycomb had families like the Ewells. No economic fluctuations changed their status people like the Ewells lived as guests of the county in prosperity as well in the depths of a depression.” The Ewells are a disgrace to the community, and live off of everyone else but they still have a slightly higher status than the whites only because of the color of their skin. The blacks in Maycomb are a hard working people and should have more respect than the Ewells in the community so people like the Ewells try so hard to put the blacks down to keep from the bottom. In Maycomb the Blacks are better harder working than many of the whites, but the whites have more respect just because of the color of their skin.…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author uses characters to help show how the people of Maycomb believe that black people are far below them in social hierarchy. “Atticus sa[ys] the Ewells ha[ve] been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of [the Ewells] ha[ve] done an honest day’s work in [the Ewells] recollection.” (30). Lee choses the most disrespected and disgraced family to be the prosecutors in the trial. By doing this she is showing that any white family is better than a black man. The author also carefully uses characters to represent the defense. She choses a respected black man who has been in an accident because it helps show that with discrimination there is no mercy. Also by putting Atticus as the lawyer representing Tom Robinson, the black man, it helps keep the story close to the narrator. The reader gets some background to why Tom will lose. “Simply because [the defense] w[as] licked a hundred years before [the defense] started is no reason for [the defense] to try not to win.” Atticus says. (76). By having Atticus as the lawyer we get some insight that we may not get if it was a random character who was the defense. Character choice is crucial, especially for Lee trying to develop an extreme idea.…

    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ewell said during the trial, “Well, Mayella was raisin‘ this holy racket so… I run up to th‘ window and I seen—” Mr. Ewell’s face grew scarlet. He stood up and pointed his finger at Tom Robinson. “—I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” (Lee 231) Mr. Ewell does not show the respect of referring to Tom Robinson with his first name, he refers to him with utter disrespect and through pointing, in a court of law. This can only highlight the big theme of racism; when a man cannot grant the respect of referring to someone by their proper name, and has to resort to name calling. This indicates not only racism, but the segregation between classes, where white people were seen above African Americans and they were not treated as an equal, Mr. Ewell calls Atticus by his name, but refuses to call Tom Robinson as his name. The theme of racism gives insight on to the difficult lives of African Americans, at that time. This theme is portrayed by many characters, children and adults. In conclusion, racism is the utmost prominent theme throughout the whole novel, the theme teaches to not follow the mob, and treat everyone as an equal giving everyone the same opportunity to succeed in…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Tom Robinson Trial

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Even if all the evidence proves Tom to be innocent, the jury would be in favor of the Ewells because they are white. Tom Robinson would help Mayella with chores because it “looked like she didn’t have anybody to help her” (263). Because of this, Tom felt sorry for her. However, his feelings were invalidated when Mr. Gilmer exclaims, “You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?” When Tom said he was sorry for Mayella, it implied he was better than her. In Maycomb County, a county divided along racial lines, a black person thinking he’s superior to any white person defies the status quo. The Ewells had been “the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations” (40). The Ewells, especially Bob Ewell, represent ignorance and white supremacy in To Kill a Mockingbird. Bob Ewell’s full name is Robert E. Lee Ewell (227); coincidentally, he was named after the general who commanded the Confederate army, or the army in favor of expanding slavery, during the Civil War. The Confederate army represented white supremacy and racial justice, as do the Ewells. Atticus says to his son, Jem, “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (295). Even with the Ewells labeled as the “disgrace of Maycomb” (40), they are still seen in a higher position compared to Tom…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atticus's Racism

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Finally, Atticus’s lack of prejudice specifically based on wealth and social status is a trait that distinguishes him from others in Maycomb. The Cunningham’s are a poor family particularly hit hard by the Great Depression occurring in that time period of the 1930’s, many people look at them as inferior or different due to them being very poor. Miss Caroline sees him as poor while Walter Cunningham is at school when he forgets his lunch, “ here’s a quarter Walter, go and eat lunch, you can pay me back tomorrow, Walter shook his head, nome thank you ma’am, he drawled softly , impatience crept into Miss Caroline’s voice here Walter come get it, Walter shook his head again; What is it Jean Louise?, Miss Caroline, he’s a Cunningham”(Lee 25-26) This exhibits the way people look at the Cunningham’s differently for being so poor and Atticus does not see it that way, when he realizes Mr. Cunningham cannot pay back Atticus for some legal work, he accepts some hickory nuts “ we watched, one morning Jem and I found a load of stovewood in the backyard, later a sack of hickory nuts appeared on the back steps; why does he pay you like that? I asked, Because that's…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A just society should have a system of laws and regulations that offer fair solutions. However, justice cannot occur when biased with racism. Harper Lee defines the fictional town of Maycomb as a rigid society in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM). The justice system of Maycomb is extremely flawed as it persecutes the most vulnerable: Tom Robinson; Mayella Ewell and; Arthur Radley. Tom Robinson is convicted of a crime that he has not committed, simply because of his race ; Mayella Ewell faces ordeal due to the failure of the institution of justice and ; Boo Radley is excluded from outside world. In comparison to these characters Tom Robinson is dominated the most by injustice.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chaos in town. Divided cultures. Family feuds. All of these traumatic things can be seen in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Despite the fact that these may be interesting things to witness, it becomes a little less pleasing once discrimination comes into play. In a battle between wrong and right, there's only one true answer, right? Wrong. Identity contingencies often blind people from seeing what is wrong or right because they are too worried about the image they have painted of a person from little information. When identity contingencies are near, discrimination is just around the corner, waiting to prey on victims in Maycomb. The town of Maycomb is portrayed as a subjective community in an attempt to show readers that perceptions…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Maycomb County is a town filled with mostly friendly people. They are very close to each other and know everyone well; this is proven as Scout is quoted saying “no one needs introduction while talking in the phone, in Maycomb everyone knows everyone else’s voices well enough”. Their closeness might be reasoned from their ever-recurring social activities such as such as what is faced by Atticus who is “related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the town” Besides that, they are very cooperative and help each other whenever problems arise. This shown when Miss Maudie's house catches on fire, as the onomatopoeia “muffled scurrying sounds” gives the idea that everyone in the neighbourhood (including Mr Nathan Radley who very seldom mingles with others) wakes up from their midnight sleep to help to save Miss Maudie’s belongings and to put out the fire. From here, it is very obvious that the strong relationship of the people in Maycomb County leads them to be very sociable and helpful people. But on the other hand Maycomb has its bad points too. They also face “Maycomb’s usual disease”, which is prejudice. Their closest prejudice victim’ is Boo Radley, who is shunned from the society just because he is very different from them a very mysterious and reclusive man. As they had never really known anything about Boo, they spread bad stories and rumours about him. Things are worst when any small crimes done in…

    • 1939 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Tom Robinson is treated un fairly in the case of the alleged rap Mayella. The town of Maycomb, before…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays