The second class in Maycomb County included the blue collar, white workers, primarily farmers who struggled to make ends meet. The Cunninghams, Dolphus Raymond and the mysterious Radley family represented this class. The third class of Maycomb County were the “white trash”. The Ewells, who lived at the dump and relied on welfare for survival, were members of this group. The difference between the second and third class was not financial but in the way they interacted with society. The Cunninghams, unlike the Ewells, refused to accept charity and paid back their debts with what little they had. The Cunninghams were also different from the Ewells because they didn’t take advantage of Negroes.
The fourth and lowest class in Maycomb was best described as a “caste” because it was impossible to escape from it. All blacks were included in this group. Prejudice ran deep in Maycomb County. Although many classes existed within the black community, one of colour must always be in the lowest class. The blacks lived apart from the whites in their own section of town and seemed to have a society separate from the whites.
The strong prejudice of Maycomb County and the negative effects of its social system were demonstrated by the trial of Tom Robinson. Tom was a hard-working, warm-hearted Negro who went out of his way to be kind and helpful to some poor white trash. He helped Miss Mayella because he felt sorry for her. His major shortcoming was the fact that he was black. Bob Ewell, a white drunk, who was a blemish and problem to the town, accused Robinson of raping his daughter Mayella. Atticus made it immensely clear to the jury that Tom was innocent. It was actually Mayella who made sexual advances towards Tom, and as a result was beaten by her father for kissing a black man. However, despite the obvious, undeniable facts of the case, the all white jury found in favor of the Ewells and sentenced Tom Robinson to death. Tom eventually died when he was shot in attempt to escape from prison.
The two lowest classes in Maycomb were involved in the case. It was the Ewells who were white trash against Tom Robinson, a kind, black man. The jury’s decision proved one sad, undeniable fact at that time in the deep South – when a black man’s word went against a white man’s word, the white man, regardless of his background, would always be victorious. Despite the jury’s doubts pertaining to the Ewells’ accusations against an innocent black man, they had to find in favor of Mayella because she was white. In spite of the jury’s knowledge of Tom Robinson’s character, they could not allow Mayella’s accusations to go unanswered. To do so would have made the two races equal. There was no justice or mercy for a Negro, even one as respectable as Tom Robinson. Atticus may have stated this point best when referring to the jury’s decision, “They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it, seems that only children weep.”
An innocent black man falsely convicted of rape. The disappointing conclusion one draws from the novel was that at that time in the deep South of America, when white opposes black, white always wins.
