The Scourge of Social Inequity in To Kill A Mockingbird -By Kelly Culliney

Scout and Jem Finch live with their widowed father Atticus in Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus is a well-known lawyer in Maycomb and he and his children are well off compared to the rest of the town.

One summer, Jem and Scout meet a small boy named Dill who they befriend and act out stories with. Over the summer, the trio finds fascination in the old Radley house, and the mysterious Boo Radley who lives there.

The summer ends all too soon for all three of them and Dill goes back to his home, Meridian. Scout begins first grade, only to realize that she hates everything about it.

One day , as Scout was walking home from school she came across a piece of gum in a knot-hole in a tree on the Radley property. Later they find two "Indian head" pennies in the same place. A few days later, Dill comes back to Maycomb.

One day, as they were playing in a tire, Jem pushed Scout, in the tire, all the way to the Radley's yard. Later they acted out their own rendition of the infamous "Radley story".

On Dill's last night in Maycomb,the trio go onto the Radley property at night and almost get shot when Mr. Radley sees them. They all ran home and in all the confusion and terror, Jem lost his pants on a fence. When he returned to get them , someone had already mended them.

Scout starts the second grade and it's even worse than first grade. More treats are left for Jem and Scout in the next few weeks.

That winter was cold and Miss Maudie's house burns down because of her heater. That night, Scout was given a blanket by a stranger, she hoped it was Boo Radley. Jem spills the tales of their Radley escapades to Atticus.

Atticus is called to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, on charges of rape. Atticus decides to defend him, knowing that he did not rape Mayella Ewell. Jem and Scout are teased a lot about it by their peers, neighbors, and even their family because he was defending a black man.


Dill runs away from his home in Meridian and stays at the Finch's house. Tom Robinson's trial begins and Atticus does his best to defend Tom, but the jury says that Tom is guilty, Atticus and his children knew he was not. Later Tom tries to escape from prison but is shot dead.

Bob Ewell, Mayellas father, still thinks that the trial put shame to his name and he went after Toms widow, the judge, and tries to kill Jem and Scout. As Bob was attacking Jem and Scout, he is killed by Boo Radley who Scout and Jem finally get to see for the first time ever, but he later disappears once more into his old house. In the end, Scout feels sympathetic towards Boo Radley.

"When they finally saw him... he was real nice..."
"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them"
(page 281)

My Reflection:

In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, the scourge of social inequality is stressed in many cases, the most predominant being Tom Robinson's trial. Even though he was clearly innocent he was charged guilty. If Mayella had been hurt on the right side of her body,like she claimed she was, somebody left-handed would have to have beaten her, Tom had a crippled left arm. Mayella was the one who tried to take advantage of Tom, but Tom resisted.
"Tom, did you rape Mayella Ewell?"
"I did not, 'suh"
"did you harm her in any way?"
"I did not, 'suh"
"did you resist her advances?"
"...I tried to 'thout bein' ugly to her..."
"why were you scared of Bob Ewell?"
" I was scared I'd hafta face up to what I didn't do"
(dialogue between Atticus and Tom, page 195 and 198)


The all white jury said that Robinson was guilty. Dill and Jem were in tears,

"well Dill, after all he's just a Negro"
"I don't care one speck. It ain't right, somehow it ain't right to do 'em that way. Hasn't anybody got any business talkin' like that - it makes me sick"
(page 199)

Jem sobbed
"how could they do it, how could they"
Atticus answered
"I don't know, but they did it. They've done it before and they did it tonight and they'll do it again"
(page 213)

It seems as if Tom Robinson was not the only black man to be unfairly tried, many before him had been, and many more would follow his sad footsteps.

Tom did not rape Mayella and yet, in the end he was shot dead, in prison, for a crime that he was not responsible for.

Another case of the scourge of social inequality was when all the family's of Maycomb were born into certain expectations and were labeled by their family's behavior. All Cunninghams were poor and all Ewells were filthy poor and dirty people. You were classified by your family's name and background. Sometimes you were held up to your family's name and honor, and sometimes you were excused because it was assumed all of your type were mean, nasty people by birth.when Miss Caroline offered Walter Cunningham a quarter it was explained
" Miss Caroline, he's a Cunningham... they don't have much ..." (page20)
When Burris Ewell yelled and cussed at Miss Caroline, it was because he was a Ewell.
They used the family names as a permanent label.

To Kill a Mockingbird taught us all a lesson about social inequalities, from innocent Tom Robinson, to Burris Ewell.

Scout says once to Jem,
" I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks" (page 227)
She means that even though the people of Maycomb might be very diverse and different, both racially and financially, that everyone has someone common ground and the only way to understand someone is to see where he's coming from, to walk in his shoes.

Even Atticus, the lawyer seemed to understand,

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Atticus seemed to understand that you can't judge a person until you see what his life is like, until you walk in his shoes. Once you understand where one is coming from, it is easier to see the situation from his point of view.

As Scout says about Boo Radley's absence from the outside world for so long,

"I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time...it's because he wants to stay inside". (page 227)