The book To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, shows a lot of inequality. It is set in Maycomb, Alabama during the 19th century. The book is trying show the readers of the injustice of that time. Harper Lee uses the main character, Scout, to show the readers of these inequalities. Scout is very young and naive which means she doesn’t understand a lot about the society. Thus, she is perfect for showing the readers of the inequalities in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Firstly, even in first grade there is a huge difference between the rich and the poor. On the first day of school Walter Cunningham, one of Scout’s classmates, doesn’t have any lunch. Everyone else in the class has lunch and they all know that the Cunninghams are very poor and can’t afford to bring lunch. “Walter Cunningham didn’t forget his lunch, he didn’t have any. He had none today nor would he have any tomorrow or the next day.” (Chapter 2, p. 26) Walter has hookworms because he doesn't wear any shoes. He is portrayed as a poor person of low social status. This makes the readers feel sorry for Walter Cunningham. It also makes the readers think that Maycomb is quite a poor town because a student can’t afford lunch.
Secondly, black people also despise white people. When Calpurnia took Jem and Scout the …show more content…
Maycomb has a caste system, there are four different classes in Maycomb; the ordinary folks like the Finches, the Cunninghams, the Ewells and the African Americans. The higher classes don’t like the lower classes and this causes racism and inequality. Throughout the book, Scout experiences lots of events about injustice such as the Tom Robinson trial. Harper Lee uses Scout to show the readers of these inequalities because she develops a lot during the book. She becomes more mature and she thinks of these events differently from other people because she was raised by