In the American literary classic, "To Kill a Mockingbird," author Harper Lee illustrates the wickedness of inequality during the 1950's. Specifically differences in social status are explored largely through the social hierarchy of Maycomb and the unjust inequality between the whites and the African Americans. Moreover, Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of a noble lawyer named Atticus Finch and his young family as he attempts to defend a falsely accused black man in an important trial in high expectations of attempting to reach equality within society. In summation, To Kill a Mockingbird, reflects the motif of social inequality through the characterization of Atticus and Lula to a great extent along with references of racial and biased discrimination of African Americans within many areas of the novel. Lee illustrated this motif using the characterization of many of the characters throughout the book. The first and foremost is Atticus Finch, the father of Jem and Scout, and one of the most well-known citizens in Maycomb during the Great Depression, and because of his incisive intelligence, common sense, and ideal behavior, Atticus is respected by everyone, even the poverty-stricken. However, the conscience that makes him so admirable eventually causes his downfall with the people of Maycomb. Unable to comply with the town's comfortable ingrained racial prejudice, he accepts to defend Tom Robinson, an African American convicted for rape. Atticus's action makes him the victim of scorn in Maycomb, but he is simply too impressive an individual to be harshly derisive. Despite the people of Maycomb's callous indifference to racial inequality, Atticus sees much to admire in the people of Maycomb. In addition, he portrays his respect for the African Americans when explaining to scout that "nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything ”like snot-nose. It's hard to explain ”ignorant, trashy people use it when