How Environment Affects Perception of Classism
In an organized society one is usually faced with a restrictive social ladder that constrains its occupants into stereotyped categories. In this type of jaundiced backdrop, it is only natural to parrot the actions that surround you. This concept is one of the underlying themes in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a coming of age story set in the close-knit, sleepy Southern town of Maycomb in the 1930's. Six-year-old Scout Finch's father, Atticus, is a rarity in bigoted Maycomb. He, as both a lawyer and a human being, stands up for his democratic beliefs and encourages his children to stand up for their own, though they may stand alone. In stark contrast with her father are the subjective townspeople Scout encounters daily. The aforementioned population of Maycomb sees the world in families, classes, and streaks. Helping Scout through many difficult obstacles and to come to terms with her beliefs, Atticus becomes closer to Scout as one of her most trusted sources. Through the novel, Harper Lee presents discrimination in the form of classism as being founded on the circumstances of one's upbringing and daily life rather than being imbedded by means of genetics in one's personality from the time of birth; aptly demonstrated by Scout in different stages of her moral development, her initial reaction to class difference, her response to Atticus' guidance, and the gradual formation of her own opinions.
As the reader first encounters Scout, she is found to be influenced by a categorizing, status-oriented environment, as evidenced by her behavior towards the low status Cunninghams. Maycomb has a hostile view of people who come from families with a certain income and act a certain way. In the spirit of such animosity, one's character is unthinkingly assumed to correspond with one's often-unjust image. While giving the history of Maycomb at the start of the novel, Scout mentions the last two people her father defended, saying, "Atticus had urged them to accept the state's generosity in allowing them to plead Guilty to second-degree murder and escape with their lives, but they were Haverfords, in Maycomb County, a name synonymous with jackass" (pg. 5). In the opening pages of the book, Scout establishes Maycomb as a place where unreasonable assumptions abound. For instance, the general state of mind is that a last name can be "synonymous" with a trait one is supposed to have. To determine the nature the Haverford's decision, the residents of Maycomb need only the possibly unfounded link between the individuals and their names as the justifier of their actions. The likelihood that their decision is founded on a different matter is not even considered. It seems that people are not given a chance. Scout dictates this as if it were wholly logical, evidence that she is indeed susceptible to the onslaught of classism she regularly faces. This point is strengthened as the story progresses to Scout's first day of school. At noon, Jem invites Walter Cunningham to lunch with the Finches because Walter cannot afford one otherwise. Upon discovering that her guest has different tastes than she, Scout chastises him rather rudely. In the heat of Calpurnia's lecture about necessity of graciousness before company, Scout protests, " `He ain't company Cal, he's just a Cunningham' " (pg. 24). In this short phrase Scout perfectly echoes Maycomb's sentiments towards specific families. Given that Walter is a Cunningham, relations of the lowest class of whites, he must be looked upon as an inferior, one that is not to be spoken of on the same level. Failing to be considered as company implies he is not worthy of being treated as an equal. As Scout describes Walter as "just a Cunningham," the reader receives the gist that Cunninghams must be insignificant as to fail to warrant any proper civility, for they are portrayed in a dismissive manner. Scout is apparently knowledgeable about the stereotype of the Cunninghams as well as the Haverfords, an image picked up from her environment and one that transcends to an event in daily life. She is undergoing her natural learning process in observing the attitude around her, then mirroring it. Scout takes the opportunity to express the classism thrust upon her by the atmosphere society creates when she fails to realize her other options.