Jem believes there are 4 different kinds of people in Maycomb. First there are regular people who are divided into different groups by money, education and social status. Then there are the Cunninghams who are poorer, less educated, but hard working farmers or laborers. After that there is the "white trash" or the uneducated white folk who don’t have jobs. These are people like the Ewells. They are at the very bottom of the white social ladder. Finally there are the Negroes. In the segregated south, no matter how kind, hard working, or smart they are, Negroes will always be looked down on and definitely not treated like equals. Scout does not agree with Jem and tells him "No, everybody's gotta learn, nobody is born knowin'. That Walter's as smart as he can be, he just gets held back sometimes because he has to stay out and help his daddy. Nothin's wrong with him. Naw, Jem, I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks" (Lee 304). This shows that Scout sees everyone in the white community equally and based on their opportunity to education. Jem was certain that Atticus was going to win the case but it wasn't likely due to the fact that the jury simply could not let a black man be innocent. For all of Jem's life, he was accustomed to a simple world, but now that he is older his view on the world will change. He is starting to see how mean the people in their small quiet town can be. I think Harper Lee put this in the book to show how the children are beginning to grow up and mature. Jem believes he has a firm understanding on the background of everyone in Maycomb but Scout cannot make sense of it.
Jem's opinion of the four different types of Maycomb people capture the town in an extremely general status. Even though Jem understands many things average children at his age would not, this grouping shows he still has a lot to learn. Partially, his deduction may be true, like when he says Negros will always (in that time period) be at the bottom of the barrel. Realistically, one can never categorize entire towns of people into simply four different groups or types of people. Sure, many people are poor, many work hard and can be said similar, but no one is so similar that they are all identified in specific groups. Scout understands what Jem is trying to tell her, but even at her age is developing more accurate ideas, like what Eve said in her quote about Jem and Scout's conversation.
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