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“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education.” -Martin Luther King, Jr. Not everyone during the Great Depression had a valuable education. White families were typically the ones who evoked an education. Blacks had a more difficult time being accepted to have a valuable education. In To Kill A Mockingbird, the Finches, Cunningham's, Ewells, and the Black community all live a different stance in education.
The Finches live on the highest caste in the community. Being rich, white, and having a favorable reputation. The Finch’s started school at the appropriate age and are moving through school at the appropriate rate. Jem and Scout go
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Cunningham was a poor farmer and part of the mob that seeks to lynch Tom Robinson at the jail. They have their kids go to school, but they don’t have a bunch. His son, Walter Cunningham was a classmate of Scout’s but he has not passed first grade yet because he skips school every spring to help his father on the farm chop wood. Mr. Cunningham was really poor, but he worked firmly to keep his farm which was right outside of Maycomb. Like most farmers during the Great Depression, he owed oodles of money and paid it off by bringing any crops or plants he could spare from his farm and giving it to Atticus. One night the Finches invited Walter to dinner and he devoured it all and he drenched his food in syrup that was on the table. This shows how the Cunningham family is not always able to access their food. The kids will always be wondering where their next meal will be and when they will have it. The kids don’t always have their lunch with them, too. Instead of paying people back by the money they do it by giving materials they …show more content…
The Ewells are immensely poor, so the city gives them special privileges that not everyone has. They are allowed to hunt wherever they like and whatever they please. Another interesting concept about the Ewell’s that is unlike any other family in Maycomb is they only go to school the first day, then they are marked absent the rest of the year. This keeps them out of trouble because they have no manners and are highly underprivileged. Calpurnia, the Finches caretaker lived in the black community just outside the town of Maycomb. Most African Americans do not get to have an education. They are not allowed to go to school and aren’t remarkably smart and can’t read. In their church, they do not have bulletins or a music program because they are not able to read it. Instead, one man would go up to the front of the church and sing a verse and the blacks would repeat it. All the blacks live in the Quarters. The black community can only acquire exceptional jobs from whites. Calpurnia is the Finch’s nanny and
In Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird" shows and teaches many lessons throughout the passage. Some characters that learn lessons in this passage are Scout, Jem, and Dill. Scout and Jems father Atticus, is taking a case that affects their lives in so many ways. They all learn new things throughout the story and it impacts their lives greatly. There are lots of things including the trial mostly that change the perspective of the world they live in. The kids are living in the Great Depression and it shows just how bad things really where. Scout, Jem, and Dill have experiences that force them to mature and gain new insight.
During the Great Depression receiving an education was becoming more and more difficult for southerners. From not being able to afford the required supplies needed, to not being able to pay the tutions, many people found it nearly impossible to attend school. The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee shows how the lack of education in society during the Great Depression affected Southerners lives, not allowing them to change their futures for the better.
Cunningham demonstrated that he could remain as a good-hearted individual regardless of how poor he is, while still sustaining a role of a responsible parent to his son Walter Cunningham. Mr. Cunningham still however has his own opinions and beliefs towards things like the Tom Robinson situation; he is apart of the mob that tries to lynch Tom before the trial. However when Scout approaches Mr. Cunningham talking to him about Walter, his first action is to go back and leads the mob to do so as well. He was in front of the Maycomb’s jailhouse and cleared the men from harming Tom Robinson by saying “ Lets clear out,” he called. “ Lets get going boys” (Lee 154). Mr. Cunningham conveniently had the option to lynch Robinson in jail and follow through with his own beliefs towards him, however when he acknowledges the consequences regarding Walter, right away he put his beliefs aside and puts his son before them. Scout helps him realize that he should not make the choice of punishment to Tom Robinson. It is obvious that Mr. Cunningham raises Walter very well based on the way that he acts to others even without money or much to offer. It would be expected for him to accept help right away however Walter does not accept anything without feeling like he has earned it. At school, not being able to buy a lunch, the teacher offers him a quarter to have one however he does not accept her charity because he would not be able to pay back. Walter had an option to obtain a lunch, something he did not have and obviously would want because he is unable to afford it, however he put his honor and self respect before taking something away from others, because that is how well mannered he is by his father. Not having a lunch would leave him hungry for the day however that did not matter if he did not demonstrate respect or responsibility to earn it. Walter’s good character came before anything else. Everyday, Walter manages to come to school in fresh clean clothes although he does
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird the two families, the Cunninghams and Ewells are displayed as two completely different families. On one side there are the Ewells, a dirty, lazy and uneducated family who is contempt of the law. Then there is the Cunninghams, a polite, educated and law-abiding family. The Ewells have been the disgrace of Maycomb and because of this, the Cunninghams are the favorable of the two. Upcoming information in this essay will prove that the Ewells may be kicked out of Maycomb.
The Ewells are “ the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day’s work in his recollection” (Lee 30). They had lack of education, no parental guidance and no morals. The Ewells had not gone to school for no more than a day and takes the rest of the school year off. They were “members of an exclusive society made up of Ewells” (Lee 30). They were looked as below the normal because Mr. Bob Ewell would “spend his relief check on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains (Lee 31). Mayella is the oldest sibling of the Ewells and is responsible for taking care of all her brothers and sisters while her father is either drunk or in the swamp. Nonetheless, they live in the dump, with little
In To Kill a Mockingbird the theme of poverty is expressed with characters such as the Cunninghams and the Ewells. Walter Cunningham shows up to school with clean clothes but lacks shoes and a lunch. “She stopped at Walter Cunningham’s desk. ‘Where’s
Jill McCorkle's Ferris Beach, a contemporary novel, shares numerous characteristics with Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written in the 1960's. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, McCorkle's novel documents the life of a young girl in a small southern town. The two narrators, Kate Burns and Scout Finch, endure difficult encounters. A study of these main characters reveals the parallels and differences of the two novels. Jill McCorkle duplicates character similarities and rape from Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to show the reader how young girls think and develop.
Scout Finch, our narrator and protagonist, grew up in a close-knit town of Alabama where people have clear social stations according to their living conditions and their family history in the town. The Finch family
The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, takes place during a racially intense time in history. Harper Lee’s novel was intended to bring a harsh sense of reality to the real world, and demonstrate how it really was during this time in history. This novel is set in Maycomb, Alabama, somewhere during the time period of 1925-1935. Times were hard for the citizens of Maycomb during this period, because of the depression. There are many fictional events in this novel related to non-fictional racial events in history.
Additionally, Lee uses Atticus in this scenario to shine a light on how poverty-stricken small southern towns are. The Ewell family “lived like animals” due to being stuck below the poverty line. Most families in Maycomb are poor, but the Ewells are especially bad off, which shows how tough life was for many families during this time period. It is easy to get lost in this story because of the sense of realism the author gives to
In the average person’s life education is everything and is shown everywhere, even in places you would not expect to find it. Education is important for life in today’s average society because if you do not have an education you most likely would not get a high paying job or no job at all because education is needed for almost everything. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Education in Maycomb is showed by many people and is interpreted to Scout, Jem and Dill in many ways even though it is flawed and sometimes backwards in most cases. Other ways education is taught throughout the book is moral; school and through their dad which effected scout the greatest through the book.
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
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, education played a huge role, especially in Jeremy Finch’s life. Known as Jem, he learned many valuable life lessons that not many people today even know. Throughout the novel, he learns bravery, in many different case scenarios. He also learns about cultural divisions and prejudice, which happens to be based on education.
To Kill a Mockingbird “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 30). Atticus Finch teaches his children to look at life and people in a different way, and he also practices what he preaches to his children. By focusing on the coexistence of good and evil, the importance of moral education, and the existence of social inequality, one could argue to prove these points and how they form the themes of Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the novel, readers see the good and the evil come out of most people.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee contain a very engaging family who are the Cunninghams. The Cunninghams are very poor; they are people who live in the woods. They are a family who depend highly on crops. Walter Cunningham, the 'father' of the family has to work hard on the cultivation of crops because crops is the only form of wages for them. The Cunninghams have no money. Their only way to survive is through paying others with their crops. The Cunninghams are not main characters in the book, but they are characters who 'brought out' other characters' personality. Harper Lee displays that there is a lot of prejudice going on in Maycomb by putting the Cunninghams in the book. "The Cunninghams [were] country folks, farmers"(21) who are very honest people in Maycomb, they "never took anything they [could not] pay back"(23), but they are unfairly mistreated by part of the society in Maycomb.