Walter Cunningham Quotes

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“It matters not what someone is born but what they grow to be”- Albus Dumbledore. When you are born you can’t immediately go and start living your life like an adult. You can’t start driving a car, get a job, or take care of yourself. You will need guidance from your parents to help you grow to be a responsible person. Your parents will try and mold you into the best thing possible or not even care about your future. This quote shows the responsibilities that lie on the parents shoulders. They are in charge of the path leading to your adult life. School teachers will only help with education. The main teachers in your life are your parents. The most influential teachers in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are the parents in Maycomb. Atticus’ …show more content…

The Cunninghams like the Ewells are poor. But the 2 families are really different from each other. The Ewells are white trash and the Cunninghams are very poor people that try to have some honor. An example of Walter Cunningham’s honor is not taking charity. “ The Cunninghams never took more that they could pay back- no church baskets and no scrip stamps...They don’t have much but they get along with it.”(26) Everybody in town knows about the Cunninghams and have some sort of respect for them. Walter comes to school in attire that shows that he wants to try and look his best. Unlike the Ewells Walter doesn’t show up at school only for one day and leave.To save Walter Cunningham from being humiliated in class Scout decides to tell the teacher about the Cunninghams. Walter was refusing Miss Caroline's quarter because his father had taught him not to take anymore than he could pay back. This shows a sign of honor because he doesn’t want people to pity him because they are poor. Mr. Finch was helping Mr. Cunningham with his . Everybody knew that he would never be able to pay him fully in money. “One morning Jem and I found a load of stovewood in the backyard. Later, a sack of hickory nuts appeared on the back steps… That spring… Atticus said Mr. Cunningham had more than paid him” (27). Instead of not paying Mr. Finch at all or taking a lot of time to do it, he paid him as quickly as possible and with what he had. This is a sign of honor in my eyes. He did not expect pity from anybody and did what he could. Another sign that Mr. Cunningham taught his son well was how Walter talked to Mr. Finch. “ Walter and Atticus talked together like men, to the wonderment of Jem and me.” Scout was surprised that someone like Walter could talk like a man with such maturity and respect. This was another sign that Walter’s father raised him right by making him act like a grown man. A little boy

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