Martin Luther King, Jr, a famous civil rights activist, once said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." In "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, justice is definitely not served. In the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama in the early twentieth century, whites discriminated the blacks in the worst way possible. Atticus Finch, a well-known and respected lawyer and gentlemen, raised his two children, Jem and Scout Finch, in the little, quiet town of Maycomb. In the era of the novel, the community automatically had a mindset of negativity and injustice towards poverty stricken people, like the Cunninghams, people of different race, such as Tom Robinson, and citizens of mental status, like Boo Radley. .
In the 1930s, people of low income were looked down upon; in the novel, there are many examples of poor families who were treated unjustly. In this specific instance the Cunninghams, a poor, yet honest family living on a farm, were crudely pointed out and discriminated against just for being poor. To bring this to light, Scout says to Miss Caroline, a young, naive school teacher, "You're shamin' him, Miss Caroline. Walter hasn't got a quarter at home to give you, and you can't use any stovewood." (24) To put this bluntly, Scout sticks up for Walter, the child of the Cunninghams, because she knows the Cunninghams are poor and should not be mistreated because of it. Later in the story, Jem invites Walter to their house for lunch. While eating their meal, Walter pours molasses "on his vegetables with a generous hand." (27) Scout remarks and embarrasses Walter, thus showing the difference between the Finches and the Cunninghams.
The community not only looked down upon people of poverty; the community also discriminated those who wore a different skin. A case in point is the conviction of Tom Robinson. Tom was accused of raping a young, white girl.
