Cunninghams In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Alfred Kelly Ms. Kaye English 2 Section 6 April 19, 2015 The Socioeconomic Hierarchy of Maycomb County Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird superlatively paints a picture of what living in a small town in the south during The Great Depression would have been like. She shows the social pyramid of Maycomb through multiple characters’ actions and reactions towards certain inhabitants of Maycomb County. Lee also uses the repute of the townspeople as an example of how people were viewed based on numerous aspects of their existence. Lee’s characters’ inclination towards others is a consummate example of their position in the social pecking order of Maycomb. The echelon of dwellers of Maycomb is shown threw the dispositions of their actions and…show more content…
“‘Mr. Finch, I don’t know when I’ll ever be able to pay you’ …… I asked Atticus if Mr. Cunningham would ever pay us. ‘Not in money,’ Atticus said, ‘but before the year is out I’ll have been paid. You watch.’ (Lee 25). This quote shows that the Cunninghams, while people of character and integrity, are unable to pay for monetary needs with money, but must instead use actions, in the form of favors and gifts. The Ewells, however, are a different beast entirely. They have a reputation for being ne’er-do-wells and bitter. This stems from Bob Ewell, who is horribly suffering from alcoholism and doesn’t very much care for people in general. He will do anything for money, as made apparent by his suing Tom Robinson for rape, simply because he knows he’ll win the case by sheer fact of his race. The town decides to let him hunt off-season in order to feed his children, as they shouldn’t be punished for his affliction, which absorbs assets as any addiction is prone to. Lastly, and sadly so, are the African Americans, who are unjustly cast to the bottom of the ladder simply because of their skin color. They are willing, but unable, to move up the social scale, forced to do the least-paying and most dangerous…show more content…
Dubose. While these two may not have been directly associated with high economic status, there is substantial evidence for both of them to be put into the highest tier of inhabitants. The highest being the Radleys, that have been put here for the influence they have on the town, the large residence which they live in, and their ability to sustain themselves without showing their faces in town much, and Arthur (Boo) hasn’t shown his face for over a decade. Mrs. Dubose’s addiction to morphine, while unknown to Jem and Scout, must have consumed an abundance of money and time. Her sickness justified taking it, but the addiction was a terrible side-effect to taking it in high doses regularly. Mrs. Dubose was a terrifically fortuitous woman, however. She didn’t want a painless death addicted; she wanted to suffer a free woman. This was in response to Jem throwing a tantrum after receiving Mrs. Dubose’s dying gift of the Snow-on-the-mountain: “‘Sh-h,’ he said, ‘I think that was her way of telling you-everything’s all right now, Jem, everything’s all right. You know, she was a great lady.’” (Lee 147). Atticus understands the true strength she possessed and tries to enlighten Jem, and he is comforted by Atticus, but still confused. The social hierarchy of Maycomb is an interesting one. While it is full of hard-working people, and personifies the ideal capitalist environment in which the town drunk is at the bottom and hard-working
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