Ashlynn Farley

English 10

January 13, 2015

Social Inequalities
 In these three books, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, are based on

social inequalities. In A Streetcar Named Desire, a girl named Stella Kowalski is married to

Stanley Kowalski and he was controlling and very abusive towards her. In Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn, a boy named Huckleberry, goes on an adventure to free a slave named Jim

who was running away from being in slavery. Also, in To Kill A Mockingbird, a slave is put in

jail and on trial for being accused of raping young, white women, but there is no evidence that

shows hes guilty. Racism shows social inequalities because of slavery and color of skin. Gender

shows social inequalities because it depends on how ladies are supposed to act lady-like and

wear dresses while the men are to wear suits and act like gentlemen. Class shows social

inequalities because of how people are treated by how wealthy or poor they are. Social

inequalities in these three books are based on race, gender, and class as a message to show that it

wasnt right to judge people for being different.

Racism in social inequalities shows that slavery was to make the white folks feel like

they had power over others and shows how unequal the civilized community is wrong. The

African americans and the whites were separated because slaves werent suppose to live with the

whites or do anything with them like people do now these days. Calpurnia, Atticus Finchs

slave, brought Jem and Jean Louise, known as Scout, to her church and everyone there was

shocked because of that action. I wants to know why you brinin white chillun to nigger

church. (Lee, pg.117) It came as a surprise that Calpurnia brought Jem and Scout to an African

american church because of the different color of their skin and how whites and African
americans are suppose to be separated. Likewise, Huck thinks Jim as being owned just because

hes a slave. ...and it was Miss Watsons Jim! (Twain, pg.52) Huck called Jim Miss Watsons

Jm but it isnt right because nobody in any color should be owned as or like a slave. Therefore,

people should be equal and not have to tell each other that if they were in their shoes, like when

Tom told Atticus if he were Tom that hed know what he was feeling. Mr. Finch, if you was a

nigger like me, youd be scared, too. (Lee, pg.198) When African americans were accused of

raping a white women and found guilty, they were to be killed and the whole court thought that

Tom Robinson was guilty of the crime but they still had no evidence to prove it. But Tom said

that if Atticus was like him, then he would have run too before he was killed.

Likewise, African americans were accused of things they didnt do or that they believe in

the wrong thing that arent true, like Jim believed that witches put a trance on him. ... Jim said

the witches bewitched him and put him in a trance (Twain, pg.16) It was said that it was an

African american tway that they believe in witches and bad luck signs but anybody can believe

in what they want to no matter what color skin the have. Likewise, some sign may mean

different things to people, just like how Blanche thinks that naked like reveals too much of a

person. Stella: Youre standing in the light, Blanche! Blanche: oh, am I! Narrator: She

moves out of the yellow streak of light. (Williams, pg.53) Not just African americans believe

in signs of bad or good luck but also white people can and this just shows how unequal people

treat the Africans americans.

Therefore, some people are different but they are still equal no matter their skin tone,

gender, or mindset. Blanche extends her hands toward the Doctor. He draws her up gently and

supports her with his arm and leads her through the portieres. (Williams, pg.178) Not just slaves
were treated differently because Blanche was treated as if she was fragile and would break any

moment. But the difference between the African americans and the whites being treated is that

the African americans arent treated with as much care and gentleness. Therefore, whites can

believe what they want and it doesnt mean only African americans should be said to believe in

good and/or bad luck signs, or even witches. Stella: Youre standing in the light, Blanche!

Blanche: Oh, am I! Narrator: She moves out of the yellow streak of light. (Williams, pg.53)

Blanche believed that if people stood in the naked light, that it exposes the secrets and the truth

about them that they never tell and that it's bad to know all the truth. Both African americans and

whites can believe in bad and/or good luck signs or anything else and it shouldnt just be

stereotypical that African americans only believe in that stuff. Social inequalities is shown in

how racist the whites were and how they wanted to be separated from the African americans

because they were different.

Gender in the social inequalities shown in these books shows that the men are more

depended on to provided for the families but it should be and equal between the women and men

since everyone is equal. The men were more depended on so they seemed to control the house

and own their wives so they were very abusive and controlling. He advances and disappears.

There was the sound of a blow. Stella cries out. (Williams, pg.63) Stella could have tried to

fight Stanley off but since Stanley owned Stella and controls everything, she was to weak to

fight back so she got abused and did nothing about it. The dependence on the men was that they

were to be listened to and that they could do what they wanted but the wives had to stay home

unless they told the men where they were going. Therefore, the men were free to do what they

wanted and the women were more like slaves then equals. Stella (calling after him): Stanley!
Where are you going? Stanley: Bowling! (Williams, pg.4) Stanley went walking to the

bowling alley because he didnt have to stay home and tell Stella or help with cooking since the

men were higher than women and more depended on to provided for their families.

Likewise, there is a difference in how girls and boys act and their movements that can

tell them apart if one is dressed like the other gender, just like when Huck dressed up as a girl

and the woman could tell that he was really a boy. ...she dropped the lump into my lap just at

that moment, and I clapped my legs together (Lee, pg.70) The woman Huck went to see

about the news, knew Huck was a boy because he could throw the ball like a boy and not weakly

like a girl and he caught the lump with his legs instead of just letting it fall in the skirt of the

dress like a girl would do. The different motions between how boys and girls do things like

throwing or catching is show by how much more athletic the boys are and how more feminine

the girls are. Therefore, the women were treated like the were to only do chores and stay home

instead of being depended on like the men were depended on. Betsy (this was a nigger

woman), you fly around and get him something to eat... (Twain, pg.108) Even the African

american women were to stay inside and do the chores while the men did the hard work outside

like chopping wood or fixing a machine and feeding cattle, etc.

Therefore, the women are to be inside and doing chores and acting lady-like instead of

doing what the men do. ...would be best for you to have some feminine influence. (Lee,

pg.129) The women were supposed to act like ladies and they had to dress like them and the

slave women were to do chores that was suited for women and not men. Likewise, the men were

to act like gentlemen and dress up in suits and provide for their families instead of depending on

the women to provide for the family. ...Jem was growing. I must be patient with him (Lee,
pg.117) Jem was growing up and and acting more mature like the gentleman he was suppose to

be like and how everyone expected him to turn into instead of staying like a little boy his whole

life. The social inequalities of genders is that the men were depended to provide for the family

and they controlled their wives and the women were to be feminine and do chores inside and that

were more lady-like then the men's chores.

Class shown in the social inequalities of these books, is that the people in the higher

classes wore more fancy things and were looked up to while the less fortunate ones were

frowned upon and that isnt fair that people were judged just because they were not as wealthy as

the higher classes. Some people werent used to dressing the way the higher class did because

they could have been raised differently before they got rich and would have rather been filthy

like Huck had rather been. She put me in them new clothes again...: (Twain, pg.12) Miss

Watson, the widower who took Huck in when his father left after his mother died, made Huck

wear clothes that were clean and new to make it so he wore what the people in the same class as

him wore but he still would have rathered to be in filthy clothes since he was raised that way.

Likewise, when Huck and Tom Sawyer found all that money the robbers had stolen and they got

to keep it, they never dressed like their class. ...and it made us rich. (Twain, pg.11) After Tom

and Huck had found the stolen money and gotten to keep it, they should have dressed like the

class they were in but since they were still boys and still had imaginations and adventures, they

wanted to wear filthy clothes and not be clean all the time.

Although most slaves wore work clothes everyday, they got fancy for when they went to

church because they wanted to dress good for when they went into the house of their Lord. When

Calpurnia was bringing Jem and Jean Louise, known as Scout, to her church, she fancied them
up so that the other African americans knew that she took care of them. She went over my

patent-leather shoes with a cold biscuit until she saw her face in them. (Lee, pg.120) Calpurnia

dressed Jem and Scout all fancy like because she wanted to dress them like their class and she

wanted to show the other African americans that she took care of them and dressed them like

they should have been dressed everyday. Likewise, when Blanche Dubios arrived to Stellas and

Stanleys apartment room that they live in, she looked at it in shock because Stella was from a

wealthy place but since she married Stanley the ended up in a less wealthy home and place. Her

expression is one of shocked disbelief. Her appearance is incongruous to the setting. (Williams,

pg.5) When Blanche first arrived at Stellas, she couldnt believe what place her sister lived in

because they both came from a wealthy place and lived on a cotton plantation and her family

came from a high class.

Likewise, Blanche wanted to know where she was going to bed and was very

uncomfortable with where she was going. What kind of beds this - one of those collapsible

thing? (Williams, pg.16) Since Blanche and Stellas background was one of well and high class,

Blanche wasnt used to the cot she slept on because she used to sleep on the real full sized one

when she lived in Belle Reve. Therefore, when Scout was home she had to be around women

and they had to teach her how to talk, dress and act like a lady in her type of high class. The

ladies were coolin fragile pastel prints: most of them were heavily powdered but unrough

(Lee, pg.232) When Scout was with the ladies she learned that they dressed up in dresses and not

wear any childish clothes and they wore lipstick, powder, and lots of perfume for the type of

class that shows off how high they are. Class in the social inequalities shown in these books
show how people are treated differently in each class and how they also act and dress

themselves.

The social inequalities in these three books shows how unequal slaves and less wealthy

people have been treated because they are different color, class, and even gender. In A Streetcar

Named Desire, the social inequalities were that the men were depended to provide for the women

while they stayed home to be housewives. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the social

inequalities were that slaves were treated poorly and unequally. Also, in To Kill A Mockingbird,

the social inequalities shown in the novel was that a slave was accused of raping a young, white

woman but they had no evidence that he was guilty and he ended up dying anyways. The social

inequalities were were not good because the whites thought that they could have power over the

African americans since they were a different race. The men in these books were depended on

and the women had to stay home because they weren't seen as equals. The class shown as a

social inequality was that the higher the class the better they were then anyone else but everyone

should have been seen as equals because they are all different in their own ways. My personal

opinion is that slave and white people should have been treated equally because everybody's

different but it shouldnt matter about their skin tone, gender, or how high or low their class is.

Everyone is different but we are all equals and should be treated as equals.