"Fine Folks"
During the time at which this novel is set, the racism was a common characteristic of most people. However, this quote is controversial to the assumed racism of the people of Maycomb. While the Levys sound like they are respected in the community for being a hardworking, decent family, they stand up for black people- a quality that many believed was negative: it made them "nigger-lovers". As one can see from the quote below, Atticus is describing Sam Levy's actions against the Ku Klux Klan.
[Atticus]: 'They paraded by Mr Sam Levy’s house one night, but Sam just stood on his porch and told ’em things had come to a pretty pass, he’d sold ’em the very sheets on their backs. Sam made ’em so ashamed of themselves they went away.’
The Levy family met all criteria for being Fine Folks: they did the best they could with the
sense they had, and they had been living on the same plot of ground in Maycomb
for five generations.
This is observed by Scout during the novel, showing that even the white people of the community are subjected to judgement, though not nearly as harsh as the prejudice against the black community.
Although they were not as drastically separated as "the blacks" and "the whites", it was normal for the "higher" figures in the community to look down upon those who treated the black people as friends. The Levy family is an interesting exception to this general "rule".
[Atticus]: 'They paraded by Mr Sam Levy’s house one night, but Sam just stood on his porch and told ’em things had come to a pretty pass, he’d sold ’em the very sheets on their backs. Sam made ’em so ashamed of themselves they went away.’
The Levy family met all criteria for being Fine Folks: they did the best they could with the
sense they had, and they had been living on the same plot of ground in Maycomb
for five generations.
This is observed by Scout during the novel, showing that even the white people of the community are subjected to judgement, though not nearly as harsh as the prejudice against the black community.
Although they were not as drastically separated as "the blacks" and "the whites", it was normal for the "higher" figures in the community to look down upon those who treated the black people as friends. The Levy family is an interesting exception to this general "rule".