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Many people are categorized according to their social status. Social status is consisting of wealthy people, then middle-class, and the poor or lower income people. Some of these examples are shown in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. With Maycomb's social structure were the Cunningham's, the Ewell's and the Blacks. In Maycomb's county the Cunningham's were poor people, but hard working people. With the Maycomb's society the majority of the people were made up of farmers in this small Alabama community.
The Cunningham's did not have a lot of money but were proud people. They would not accept any charity from anyone unless they felt that they would be able to repay them back. They used the barter system with people. The Cunningham's repaid people with "what they had. " (21) The Cunningham's give people food, loads of stove wood, or crates of smilax and holly. They were respected people by all for their integrity. They usually treated others in the same manner with respect.
The Ewell family was describe as poor white trash within the community. This group of people had little money and displayed no respect for other. Bob Ewell spent all of his family means of income, which was his welfare check, on whiskey, instead of supporting his wife and children. So they were aloud to hunt out of season because they had no money for food and the people did not want the Ewell's to starve. They were labeled with a little more respected than the blacks. The Ewell's were referred to a white trash because they lived on the other side of the railroad tracks with the black people.
The county or people of Maycombs realized that they could not and would not change the Ewell's. They just felt that it would be better to leave them alone to continue what they thought were self destructive ways. The Blacks were considered as the lowest class of Maycomb's social pyramid. People of Maycombs simply did not like the Blacks because they were black. Most of the blacks "cant read" (124) because they were not allowed to attend school. Several blacks could read and write, and provide others with the opportunity to learn how.
The black population was considered inferior due to the color of their skin, even though they were hard workers and well-mannered people. They were very clean and they did not bother anyone. They also built their own churches and kept them nice and clean. Blacks often did jobs that were meaningless and paid little money or sometimes they were not paid for their help. The Blacks were treated with no respect, yet they had a great deal of respect for others. Maycombs social structure consists of the whites then blacks.
The more respectable whites were on top, next the non respectable whites, and the blacks at the bottom. The Cunningham's were hard working farmers, who did not have much, but were satisfied with their lives. The Ewell family were disrespectful and extremely poor. The Blacks were also poor, but seemed to get by somehow and they showed respect for others. The social structure is categorized according to wealth, race, age, and education. Bibliography:
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