The Scourge of Social Inequality in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Nicole Malapit

Summary:
Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a timeless Classic of growing up and the human dignity that unites us all. A family, only consisting of an old father and two children (Scout, the main character, and Jem, Scout's brother), goes through tough times, which many were caused by racial prejudice. It all started when Dill, their next door neighbor in summertime, came to Maycomb. That summer, Scout, Jem, and Dill ventured around the neighborhood. They soon became very curious about Boo Radley, a resident in Maycomb. There has been a rumor that states Boo Radley only came out in the night, and if you go near his house, he could get you, and you would never see the daylight again. The children attempted to place a note to Boo on the window sill of his house, but was caught by Atticus, Scout and Jem's father. Wanting to be in contact of Boo somehow, Jem ran to Boo's house because of a dare, and touched the side. Nothing happened. They stopped trying to meet Boo at this time, since all of their tactics were failing. School had started up again, and Dill had left. Jem took Scout to her first day of school. Scout's teacher didn't allow Scout to read or write, as that would interfere with her method of teaching. Scout was furious, but that didn't stop her from reading at home on Atticus' lap. One day, as Scout raced by the Radley's property, she spotted something in a hole of an oak tree. In it, she found a wad of gum. Later, when Jem and Scout had passed the Radley property, they saw something else in the hole of the oak tree. It was a purple box wedding rings came in, and in it, was two Indian-head coins. They didn't know who put such treasures in the oak tree, so they kept them. Scout, Jem, and Dill now really wanted to know about Boo. Curiosity took the better of them, and they went over to his property one night. As they were coming back, Jem's pants got caught on Boo's fence. They left it there, but when they came back to get it, it was folded nicely and stiched up.
Scout and Jem later found out that Atticus was defending a black man, Tom Robinson. Tom was falsely accused of raping a young girl in her home. Because of this, the neighborhood, as well as extended family, accused Atticus, Scout, and Jem, of being "nigger lovers", as Mrs. Dubose stated. Jem was fed up with it all, and tore up Mrs. Duboses' flowers. Jem had to then read to her for a month. Students at Scout's school would aggravate her because Atticus defended a negro. This would start fights that Scout was involved in.
Calpurnia, Atticus' maid, took Scout and Jem to church one Sunday. It was quite a different experience from what they were ussually accustomed to at their own church. Scout and Jem, being whites, were yelled at for coming to a negro church. Many people there couldn't read or write, so they sang hymns without hymn books.
One day, Atticus' sister, Aunty Alexandra moved in with Atticus, so the children would grow up with a female guide in their life. Scout did not like this decision. Aunty prevented Scout from behaving like a tom boy, or going to places she really wanted to go to.
The time came when Atticus had to defend Tom in court. Atticus was very polite, and handled the whole situation with much maturity and wisom. Everyone knew what the outcome was going to be, as it was one negro against two whites. Atticus was determined to change the thinkings of everyone. The jury took a while to make the verdict, and this was a surprise to everyone. Atticus did a great job of defending Tom. The jury had to think of how they were going to respond. They did so, in a cruel way. They made the decision of putting Tom in jail. He was a negro, and was bound for jail. Tom was in jail, when he jumped the fence, but had been shot to death because of it.
Scout and Jem went to a Halloween pageant, and on the way home, they were being stalked by four men: Mr. Ewell and his friends. Mr. Ewell attempted to kill Scout and Jem, but Boo came to their rescue, and carried Jem away to their house. Jem had been knocked unconcious, with a broken arm, but Scout walked away unharmed. Mr. Ewell fell on his knife and killed himself. Boo had saved their lives.

Reflection:
Harper Lee did a great job at showing how much people can be so judgemental. Racism is evident throughout the story, and is shown in such real situations that just reveals how humans can be so cruel. It is what the book is based around. One of the times social inequality was present was the entire time Atticus was defending Tom Robinson. Neighbors, students, and authority would shout from their porches, horrid remarks Scout and Jem would never forget. The verdict Tom recieved was obvious and everyone knew it. Because of racism, Tom was not given fair, thorough, clear minded thinking. Tom was black, and no one who was black won in court. Atticus tried so hard, and did all he could do to save Tom from getting thrown in jail, but he couldn't change the racism of the jury. If Tom had been a white man, he would have won, not gone to jail, and not leave behind a loving family.
Another instance in To Kill a Mockingbird which showed racism, was when Cal took Scout and Jem to church. It was unheard of for a white to go to a negro church, but Cal took them anyway. "You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here- they got their church, we got our'n.", was what Lula, a negro who went to this church told Cal.
Social inequaliy is even seen in this day and age. Everyone is affected by it. Everyday, you are being compared to others. People look down at who you are because of what race you are, or in Atticus' situation, who you defend. As Atticus sayed during the court, "...because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of inferiority." Harper Lee combines racial discrimination, your family's background, and how you conduct yourself, to convey the idea of human behavior. We need to have someone lower than ourselves, so we can feel elevated. By doing so, we have created social inequality, racism. It is a cruel fate, but this is how we behave. Even when we think we're not racists, in the back of our minds, we analyze each person, but judging their race, how they conduct themselves, how they dress, and how they speak. We shouldn't be so racial based, but we are. To Kill a Mockingbird breaks down how exactly we behave.