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Privilege In To Kill A Mockingbird

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“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it.” Harper Lee had used the tragic situation of Tom Robinsons trial to explore many themes including, racism and differences in privilege. “To kill a mockingbird” written by Harper Lee explores many situations linked to the broad idea of racism throughout the systems of Maycomb and differences in privilege in many different ways.

The quote that Atticus argues with explains that in Maycomb, all men and things are equal. However,Harper Lee explores a great deal of inequality due to skin colours is shown throughout the novel. This is shown through many systems with in Maycomb. One example of a system Lee uses is the societal system, or community of Maycomb. A lot of the …show more content…

For example, the Ewells. The Ewells are given special treatment in the community of Maycomb. “Whole school’s full of ‘em. They come first day every year and then leave. The truant lady gets ’em here ‘cause she threatens ’em with the sheriff, but she’s give up tryin‘ to hold ’em. She reckons she’s carried out the law just gettin‘ their names on the roll and runnin’ ‘em here the first day. You’re supposed to mark ’em absent the rest of the year…”(36). This quote is Scout explaining to the teacher that Ewells don’t attend school, other than on the first day. Ewells are given special treatment only because nobody wants anything to do with them. The people in the community of Maycomb are embarrassed of the ewells. They simply tell them what they are obligated to do and leave it at that. They get special privliges in what they are suppose to do just because they are ignorant and proud of it. Another example of people in Maycomb having differences in privilege would be the gender inequality. Gender inequality occurs in multiple situations throightout the novel. For example, in chapter 23, Atticus explains “For one thing, Miss Maudie cant serve on a jury because she is a woman”(296). In maycomb, women are not allowed to serve in jury for no other reason than being female. This reveals gender discrimination. The woman in Maycomb clearly like in mayellas case In not being

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