Discuss The Importance Of Social Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

The classic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee published in 1960, but still relates to our society as it stands today. It is a moving story that highlights social inequality, the importance of moral education, and the value of tolerance for others way of life. Despite the numerous, valuable moral lessons that tie to today’s society, portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, it has still been banned from many schools, due to the crude language, racial slurs, and blunt dialogue regarding rape. In fact, this book is reported to be one of the most challenged classics of all time—still ranking 21 of 100 today. Although controversy still surrounds To Kill a Mockingbird the moral lessons throughout the story are valuable for the people of today’s society. Many of the ties between To Kill a Mockingbird and today’s society serve as a learning tool about how to approach these issues today, one of which being social inequality. Social inequality is a major struggle in today’s society, as it was in Maycomb County in the 1930’s, the time in which the story takes place. Although times have changed social inequality still places a major role in how society works today. In To Kill a Mockingbird the social system worked as a social hierarchy, with the well-off Finches standing near the top, the regular townspeople below, the ignorant …show more content…
The lesson of tolerance is shown throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Calpurnia demonstrates this valuable lesson early on, “There’s some folks who don’t eat like us…but you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em, (24).” This is a lesson all people should learn today and could very well learn it from To Kill a Mockingbird. Having tolerance keeps the peace and creates a mutual respect and understanding amongst people. Without tolerance for other harmony is lost and societies can no longer be properly