What are the four kinds of people Jem says exist in Maycomb county? Do you agree with his assessment? Coughlan

According to Jem, there are four types of people in Maycomb-" There's four kinds of folks in the world. there's the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there's the kind like the cunninghams out in the woods the kind like the Ewells down at the dump and the negroes." Harper Lee is showing a divide in the town that Jem and Scout have not yet seen. The Trial shifted his point of view. Before, he thought there was just Maycomb and they were all the same, like Scout does. During the trial, he sees that Maycomb can be cruel because Tom Robinson was clearly not guilty, yet that is what they said he was. This shows that is more than wealth and black and white like the kids are used to, but opinions and racism. Both Jem and Scout see how racist parts of the town can be. That is what really divides Maycomb. 
The utopia they thought they lived in is not what they thought. The town is filled with hate and that is what separates people. "The thing about it is, our kind of folks don't like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don't like the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the colored folks.", not just the Ewells hate the colored people, but most of Maycomb. Almost the entire town treats them like a dead eel that will be made into unagi. Jem and Scout are not "Ordinary kind" because they do not have this hate. The Finches, Dill and Miss Maudie are not at all like the rest of Maycomb. Scout has more awareness then Jem though, pointing out how they are not the only people in the world. This shows how she is still using what Atticus taught her about perspective by the way she understands that are lots more people that are probably nothing like the people in Maycomb.

How do you think each group has different general options, like the Cunninghams hating the Ewells?
Are these groups a part of the Maycomb Way or can they be changed?
How do you think opinions and people can vary, even in these groups?

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2019 at 8:55 PM

    I think that these groups, and their stereotypes are an essential part of the Maycomb way, and that if anything were to change for an entire group, the Maycomb way would start to fall apart. Individual people inside these groups could, and have been seen to change their viewpoint, but if the group as a whole maintains the ideals, the people who change are quickly pulled back in. Each group hates the people that are less fortunate than they are, simply because it is easy to pick on them, and because no one will come to their defense. The only people who consistently keep away from their families ideas are Atticus, Jem, and Scout. This is because Atticus sees that it is wrong to simply hate someone because they are lesser than you in some way, and makes sure that Scout and Jem see it too.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 1, 2019 at 4:27 AM

    I believe that all the people in Maycomb must fit into a category and if they don't then they're labelled. Each group is a stereotype that makes up the Maycomb Way and I'm not sure that they can be changed. No one in Maycomb really think about it much, at least it's not depicted that way in the book but in the end it's a chain. The Finches and people "like them" are at the top and then it goes down to black people, the Cunninghams, and the Ewells. Atticus has taught Jem and Scout to have a new perspective on people and to realize that they aren't just what they are labelled to be. It is still evident that some people do not agree with that statement because of the Maycomb Way.

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