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In an organized society one is usually faced with a restrictive social ladder that constrains its occupants into stereotyped categories. In this type of jaundiced backdrop, it is only natural to parrot the actions that surround you. This concept is one of the underlying themes in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a coming of age story set in the close-knit, sleepy Southern town of Maycomb in the 1930's. Six-year-old Scout Finch's father, Atticus, is a rarity in bigoted Maycomb. He, as both a lawyer and a human being, stands up for his democratic beliefs and encourages his children to stand up for their own, though they may stand alone. In stark contrast with her father are the subjective townspeople Scout encounters daily. The aforementioned population of Maycomb sees the world in families, classes, and streaks. Helping Scout through many difficult obstacles and to come to terms with her beliefs, Atticus becomes closer to Scout as one of her most trusted sources. Through the novel, Harper Lee presents discrimination in the form of classism as being founded on the circumstances of one's upbringing and daily life rather than being imbedded by means of genetics in one's personality from the time of birth; aptly demonstrated by Scout in different stages of her moral development, her initial reaction to class difference, her response to Atticus' guidance, and the gradual formation of her own opinions.



As the reader first encounters Scout, she is found to be influenced by a categorizing, status-oriented environment, as evidenced by her behavior towards the low status Cunninghams. Maycomb has a hostile view of people who come from families with a certain income and act a certain way. In the spirit of such animosity, one's character is unthinkingly assumed to correspond with one's often-unjust image. While giving the history of Maycomb at the start of the novel, Scout mentions the last two people her father defended, saying, "Atticus had...