Defending a Position 1

Social Inequality in To Kill a Mockingbird

Chelsea Dawson

“…and I hope and I pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease. Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand… I hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town. I hope they trust me enough…” (Pg. 88) The words of Atticus Finch speaking of how people over react when anything that shows them the complete social inequality present in Maycomb Alabama. As you read on you should learn about the different types of social inequality that are present in Maycomb during the 1930’s. You will be introduced to the Cunninghams, the Ewells and the black community. Discovering people`s thoughts on social inequality and how it does or doesn’t affect them. Whether or not we can tell it’s there social inequality is always present even if we don’t notice.

In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” there are many forms of social inequality, more than just the whites and the blacks. In Maycomb there is prejudice against the Cunninghams because they are considered to be lower members of society. There is evidence to support the prejudice against the Cunninghams in what Aunt Alexandria has to say about them, “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem. Besides, there’s a drinking streak in that family a mile wide. Finch women aren’t interested in that sort of people” (Pg. 224). This quotation from the book does a good job of explaining Aunt Alexandria’s feelings towards the Cunninghams. The quotation is saying that no matter what Walter Cunningham does he will always be a Cunningham and there for not good enough for a Finch. She is stereotyping the Cunninghams and assuming that they all have a drinking problem even though you know that Walter Cunningham doesn’t and is a good boy from the way he treats Scout with respect and how he wants to go to school and pass but can’t always because he has to stay home and help out in the spring. “Because he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows-what. You’re enough of a problem to your father as it is.” (Pg. 225).  This is what Aunt Alexandria has to say when she finds out that Scout wants to play with Walter Cunningham. In Scouts eyes there isn’t a big difference between Walter Cunningham and her except the wealth of their families. Scout didn’t see the social inequality with the Cunninghams but when she did she had a problem with it but Aunt Alexandria didn’t and neither did majority of Maycomb, they just went along with their business happy to ignore the Cunninghams and the rest of those at the bottom of the social scale.

Even lower down the social scale is the Ewells. They are the bottom of white society, as low as a white can get. “The boy stood up. He was the filthiest human I had ever seen. His neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his fingernails were black deep into the quick. He peered at Miss Caroline from a fist-sized clean space on his face.” (Pg. 27).  That was Scouts description of Burris Ewell followed by the explanation of how all the children comes to school for the first day and then never come back until the next, how they figure that’s good enough. Burris Ewell had been coming to the first day of grade one for three years. Partially through Scouts first day of school her teacher Miss Caroline is horrified because a bug crawled out of Burris Ewell’s hair. This was followed by Burris standing up and saying he had done his time for that year. The town never tried to do anything to help the Ewells instead they just let them go about their business and living in their old negro cabin and continue to live in filthy disease filled surroundings by the town dump. Out of sight out of mind. The Ewells got welfare from the state and Bob Ewell, the father, used it buy whiskey everyone in the town knew that that was what he used his welfare for instead of to support  his many children but didn’t do anything  change it because they were the Ewells and that’s just what they did. They were the Ewells but they were better than the blacks.

At the absolute bottom of the social scale in Maycomb, Alabama were the blacks. Atticus is appointed to represent Tom Robinson, a black, in a rape case. Tom Robinson was accused of raping and beating Mayella Ewell. It was the Ewells word against Tom Robinsons and as always the white’s word was the one that was considered the truth. It was the belief of majority of Maycomb society that the blacks were liars and cheats.  The reaction of the community towards Atticus after he was appointed to defend Tom was not a way to treat a respected lawyer. “Yes indeed, what had the world come to when a Finch goes against his raising? I’ll tell you!” “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” (Pg. 102) Those words came from Mrs. Dubose an elderly lady that lived up the street from the Finchs. Along with another phrase common towards Scout in the school yard, “Negro lover.” Scout didn’t understand at first the mistreatment of the black community and why the kids were calling her what they did. During the trial Dill has to leave and goes outside and cries and had this to say about why he was so upset, “I don’t care one speck. It ain’t right, somehow it ain’t right to do ‘em that way. Hasn’t anybody got any business talkin’ like that- it just makes me sick.” (Pg. 199)  Dill, Jem and Scout were beginning to realize how much the black community was mistreated and they knew it was wrong, why couldn’t everyone else see that? They were some that did. “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it- whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.” (Pg.220) This quotation from the back is meaningful because it shows you Atticus’ feelings and perspective on social inequality. Atticus is one of the few people in Maycomb that teach their kids that treating blacks and others is wrong and you should be ashamed if you can’t stand up and defend others.

            You have learned about the Cunninghams and how people look down upon them as being lower class citizens. You have learned about the Ewells who are the lowest in white society and how the wqhite community almost pretends like they aren`t there. And you have learned about the blacks, the lowest you can be in Maycomb during the 1930`s. You`ve learned about what Atticus thinks, how you need to respect everyone and Calpurnia who said, “Don`t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in the house`s yo` comp`ny, and you don`t let me catch you remarkin` on their ways like you was so high and might! ” (Pg. 24) And what Atticus said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Pg. 30) These are both lessons that Atticus and Calpurnia taught Jem and Scout and they`re lessons that we can still use today.  Whether or not we notice social inequality is still present, we can chose to acknowledge it or ignore it completely but it`s still there if we can just open our eyes and look.

Refelction

In this essay we had to defend our position on social inequality in To Kill a Mocking Bird. 

Showcase Artifact 1

Social Inequality in To Kill a Mockingbird

Chelsea Dawson

“…and I hope and I pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease. Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand… I hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town. I hope they trust me enough…” (Pg. 88) The words of Atticus Finch speaking of how people over react when anything that shows them the complete social inequality present in Maycomb Alabama. As you read on you should learn about the different types of social inequality that are present in Maycomb during the 1930’s. You will be introduced to the Cunninghams, the Ewells and the black community. Discovering people`s thoughts on social inequality and how it does or doesn’t affect them. Whether or not we can tell it’s there social inequality is always present even if we don’t notice.

In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” there are many forms of social inequality, more than just the whites and the blacks. In Maycomb there is prejudice against the Cunninghams because they are considered to be lower members of society. There is evidence to support the prejudice against the Cunninghams in what Aunt Alexandria has to say about them, “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem. Besides, there’s a drinking streak in that family a mile wide. Finch women aren’t interested in that sort of people” (Pg. 224). This quotation from the book does a good job of explaining Aunt Alexandria’s feelings towards the Cunninghams. The quotation is saying that no matter what Walter Cunningham does he will always be a Cunningham and there for not good enough for a Finch. She is stereotyping the Cunninghams and assuming that they all have a drinking problem even though you know that Walter Cunningham doesn’t and is a good boy from the way he treats Scout with respect and how he wants to go to school and pass but can’t always because he has to stay home and help out in the spring. “Because he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows-what. You’re enough of a problem to your father as it is.” (Pg. 225).  This is what Aunt Alexandria has to say when she finds out that Scout wants to play with Walter Cunningham. In Scouts eyes there isn’t a big difference between Walter Cunningham and her except the wealth of their families. Scout didn’t see the social inequality with the Cunninghams but when she did she had a problem with it but Aunt Alexandria didn’t and neither did majority of Maycomb, they just went along with their business happy to ignore the Cunninghams and the rest of those at the bottom of the social scale.

Even lower down the social scale is the Ewells. They are the bottom of white society, as low as a white can get. “The boy stood up. He was the filthiest human I had ever seen. His neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his fingernails were black deep into the quick. He peered at Miss Caroline from a fist-sized clean space on his face.” (Pg. 27).  That was Scouts description of Burris Ewell followed by the explanation of how all the children comes to school for the first day and then never come back until the next, how they figure that’s good enough. Burris Ewell had been coming to the first day of grade one for three years. Partially through Scouts first day of school her teacher Miss Caroline is horrified because a bug crawled out of Burris Ewell’s hair. This was followed by Burris standing up and saying he had done his time for that year. The town never tried to do anything to help the Ewells instead they just let them go about their business and living in their old negro cabin and continue to live in filthy disease filled surroundings by the town dump. Out of sight out of mind. The Ewells got welfare from the state and Bob Ewell, the father, used it buy whiskey everyone in the town knew that that was what he used his welfare for instead of to support  his many children but didn’t do anything  change it because they were the Ewells and that’s just what they did. They were the Ewells but they were better than the blacks.

At the absolute bottom of the social scale in Maycomb, Alabama were the blacks. Atticus is appointed to represent Tom Robinson, a black, in a rape case. Tom Robinson was accused of raping and beating Mayella Ewell. It was the Ewells word against Tom Robinsons and as always the white’s word was the one that was considered the truth. It was the belief of majority of Maycomb society that the blacks were liars and cheats.  The reaction of the community towards Atticus after he was appointed to defend Tom was not a way to treat a respected lawyer. “Yes indeed, what had the world come to when a Finch goes against his raising? I’ll tell you!” “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” (Pg. 102) Those words came from Mrs. Dubose an elderly lady that lived up the street from the Finchs. Along with another phrase common towards Scout in the school yard, “Negro lover.” Scout didn’t understand at first the mistreatment of the black community and why the kids were calling her what they did. During the trial Dill has to leave and goes outside and cries and had this to say about why he was so upset, “I don’t care one speck. It ain’t right, somehow it ain’t right to do ‘em that way. Hasn’t anybody got any business talkin’ like that- it just makes me sick.” (Pg. 199)  Dill, Jem and Scout were beginning to realize how much the black community was mistreated and they knew it was wrong, why couldn’t everyone else see that? They were some that did. “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it- whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.” (Pg.220) This quotation from the back is meaningful because it shows you Atticus’ feelings and perspective on social inequality. Atticus is one of the few people in Maycomb that teach their kids that treating blacks and others is wrong and you should be ashamed if you can’t stand up and defend others.

            You have learned about the Cunninghams and how people look down upon them as being lower class citizens. You have learned about the Ewells who are the lowest in white society and how the wqhite community almost pretends like they aren`t there. And you have learned about the blacks, the lowest you can be in Maycomb during the 1930`s. You`ve learned about what Atticus thinks, how you need to respect everyone and Calpurnia who said, “Don`t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in the house`s yo` comp`ny, and you don`t let me catch you remarkin` on their ways like you was so high and might! ” (Pg. 24) And what Atticus said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Pg. 30) These are both lessons that Atticus and Calpurnia taught Jem and Scout and they`re lessons that we can still use today.  Whether or not we notice social inequality is still present, we can chose to acknowledge it or ignore it completely but it`s still there if we can just open our eyes and look.

Reflection
This pice of work may not have gotten the best mark or even a very good mark at all but it's something that I am proud of because of all the effort that I put into to it. It took me a long time to plan and write this essay because I wanted it to be the best I could make it. And even though it didn't end up being the best because it didn't answer the question it's still something that I can be proud of.

Showcase Artifact 2

I choose my logo for a showcase artifact becasue it is something that I created this year that I am really proud of. My logo relates to humanities because it's all about my identity and globalization, that main things we learned about this year.

Response to Film

Movie Review

Fiddler on the Roof

The Prospects

           This epic and exhilarating film has people around the world raving about Fiddler on the Roof. The Chandler Weekly rates it 4 stars out of 5, with its cheap and older genre does very well to show pre revolution Russia. The movie follows a Jewish man named Tevye whose little town of Anatevka where the changes of the world are affecting their way of life. The riveting performance done by Topol (Tevye) blows peoples mind one after another, the musical genius of this play helps the performance of the whole cast. The reason it was rated 4 out of 5 was it didn’t hook me in as well I would have liked and not all the songs were the best. I had I expectations for this movie and it delivered.
The Call Sturgeon Journal rates the film 3.5 stars out of 5. This performance was stunning and un-repeatable! The life that Tevye, Golde and their five daughter lead is riveting and shocking! The angle that this movie shows the non revolutionised country has been such an influenced so many different places to be a better country.
The Haley Wasdal review rates the film 4 out of 5. I found this play not only highly entertaining, but also very humorous at parts. (Which i think always makes a performance better.) the acting was also very outstanding. It also tells about history of the 1960’s. I deducted a point because I sometimes found the acting to be “too-much.”
As Beth Fodor might say, “I rate this a three out of five.” Why one may ask? I didn’t find the plot very intriguing and found myself drooling at parts. However! I did enjoy the humor in the film, therefore I got my three marks from laughing.
The Chelsea Dawson review rates it a 3 out of 5. “The life that Topol (Tevye) is able to createin pre-revolutionary Russia is very believable and breathtaking. The problems in the movie are easy to understand and somewhat easy to relate too making the movie enjoyable for all.
The end result of this movie got it nominated for 8 Oscars and won 3 of them one for Best Cinematography, Best Music, Scoring Adaptation and Original Song Score and, Best Sound.

Reflection

Overall this was a pretty good assignment, it includes five peoples perspective on the film Fiddler on the Roof . Fiddler on the Roof had its good moments and bad moments but I would agree with everything that my team had to say about the film.

Personal Response to Text 1

Dear Journal:  

          Being a teenager can be very difficult sometimes. There’s so much to worry about, getting good grades, pleasing your parents and your future. Back in the days of Romeo and Juliet all you had to worry about was getting married to someone rich to take care of you and you’re future, at least if you were a girl. Juliet had it simple, because her parents were likely to choose someone for her to marry and it would all be taken care of, simple and easy but not so much anymore. Now I find myself worrying about how well I’m doing in school because I need to get good grade s to be able to actually go somewhere in my life. And school is a lot more difficult than it used to be. Juliet wouldn’t have even had to go to school but me I got to school five days a week for ten months of the year. Sometimes it’s so hard to get out of bed and go to school because your bed is the comfiest place in the world and it’s so nice outside and you just really don’t want to go sit in a classroom for 7 hours where it’s cold and dry.  Then there’s love, what to even say about love? It can be the most difficult part of your day or it can be the highlight. It all depends on what happens and how you’re able to react to the situation. It’s like in Romeo and Juliet all the feelings are new and you’re not really sure what to think or what others will think. Should you expect support or to be on your own? From my experience your own people don’t know how to support you or just don’t like the other person. Like how the Montague’s and Capulet’s have this feud going and they don’t even know what it’s for. With my some friends it seems to be that they’ll just hate the guy I like without ever even talking to him or even being introduced to him. It’s like she’s a Montague and he’s a Capulet. That’s some of the reasons why I find being a teenager so difficult, this is supposed to be the best times but really they’re just difficult and full of hard decisions.

Chelsea Dawson               

Dear Journal:

I’ve been thinking lately and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve never made any really bad decisions in my life. Don’t get me wrong I have made some bad decisions that I regret for example saying I wasn’t mad when my best friend Andie broke off one of my favourite Barbie’s heads and I said I wasn’t mad. Then when she apologized and offered me one her Barbies and I said, “No,” I really wished I had said yes because I could have had that one more Barbie to play with and it was my favourites. But even though I’ve done little things like my example I’ve done anything really crazy like Romeo and Juliet. I’ve never decided to kill myself or fake my death for someone and I’ve never really gone against my parent s by being with someone they can’t stand. But if  did have to choose one terrible decision that I’ve made I would have to say it was deciding to go sledding on a cafeteria tray when there was almost an equal amount of snow as there was dirt. I was at the top of the hill grabbing on to Taylor who was on her own tray and sitting in front of me. Off we went down the extremely steep and dirt covered CUC hill. I’m not really sure how it all happened but I ended up falling off my tray, unsurprisingly, and get my face caught between Taylors back and the ground. We had gone a couple ten metres or so and through at least one large dirt patch before I finally got loose and went roweling down a little father. My face was burning and covered in dirt. We got back to the top of the hill and I asked Taylor, ‘Is my face bleeding?’”  She said no. My face was still burning and I remember this lady driving by and asking “Are you alright?”  We replied yes of course but inside I was starting to freak out inside, I had kept touching my face and was pretty certain that it was bleeding. Taylor’s dad finally got there and took me home he was pretty concerned, more concerned than Taylor who was supposed to be one of my good friends. When I got home my mom had a little heart attack and washed my face a million times and yet the cuts were still filled with dirt and the pain was horrid. When I looked at my face in the mirror I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor. It was beaten up pretty badly, there ended up being a large cut along my nose, a few scratches across my left cheek and my forehead was covered in scratches and my left eye was so swollen I could barely see out of it a few days later. As a result of this decision I know have a scar on my nose, and even though my mom insists it’s not there I can see it quite plainly, and I have a little fear of sledding. Whenever we went crazy carpeting in grade eight, the year my accident occurred, I refused to go sledding because I didn’t want anything to happen again. Even now when I get brave enough to go down the hill I still get a little scared and hope that nothing like that ever happens again.

Chelsea Dawson    

Reflection 

This was one of the first personal response assignments that we had really done in the year and when I started I wasn't sure how specific you needed to be so my first journal entry isn't very specific and contains nothing personal, it was very general but as I get to my second entry it was more specific and actually about me.

Multiple Perspectives

When we're younger we don't think about the reasons why people immigrate, they just do. One day there's a new kid in the class telling stories about where they came from and you never ask them why they came to Canada instead we just listen in awe to their stories. As we get older we begin to understand there are many different reasons why people immigrate, sometimes people just want a new expierience and sometime it's for work or family and sometimes it's more. Fiddler on the Roof teaches us about the different reasons that people immigrate. In Fiddler the main reason that the family immigrated to America and Poland was because of the pogrom that was forced onto them. Teyve and his family was forced to leave Russia because the government didn't want them. Now people immigrate to escape their home counrtry or because of natural disasters. Being forced to leave your country still isn't a thought on your mind because living in Canada it's  something you could never imagine your government doing to you. After reading "Fiddler on the Roof" it's really opened my mind to the reasons why people immirgate to different countries.
Reflection
This assignment helped to show us how historical globalization has effected globalization today. The reasons that people move have changed a lot in the past century or so but some of the reasons have stayed the same such as escaping a place that isn't safe for you to be in. Overall I quite enjoyed reading Fiddler on the Roof and most of the assignments that went with it.

Visual Text 1

This assignment, that was completed along with a analysis of a poem about Canada, is to visual the Canadian identity. Without an idenity the world would all be the same, like meat with no flavour, they would be no originality to the world. Understanding the Canadian and your own idenity is key to helping you understand globalization and your place in the world. I enjoyed this assignment because it gave me a chance to see what others and myself think of Canada.