Similarities Between Walter Cunningham And Boo Radley

The Mockingbirds of Maycomb:
Boo Radley and Walter Cunningham
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is considered a “rare American novel that can be discovered with excitement in adolescence and reread into adulthood without fear of disappointment” (National Endowment of the Arts). The ideas of racism, hatred, and bigotry run throughout the entire work, and though these are common themes throughout the work, the concepts of isolation and stereotyping are two that can often become overshadowed by Tom Robinson’s guilty verdict. Two characters of the work- Boo Radley and Walter Cunningham- are the characters that the ideas of isolation and stereotyping impacts the most.
Boo Radley is the town hermit that the children fear. It is said that Boo leaves his house at night to peep in windows, commits all small crimes in Maycomb, and even once stabbed his father with a pair of

scissors. His ‘violent’ or ‘creepy’ past is only the beginning of his isolation from the town of Maycomb. Living as one of the social rejects of Maycomb, Boo is confined to his house. He doesn’t leave his house; therefore making him the subject of the town children’s antics and pranks. Once, Jem, Scout, and Dill, the main
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characters of the work, crawl under the fence to get onto the Radley property so that the boys can get a good look at Boo Radley. Though they were scared off by Nathan Radley- Boo’s father- shooting a gun in the air, the kids were trying to get a good look at the town hermit- a man who would later come to the Finch children’s rescue with a warm blanket on a chilly Maycomb day.
Walter Cunningham, on the other hand is not the town hermit; he’s just a boy with an unfortunate home situation. The Cunninghams are known around Maycomb to be just that- Cunninghams- nothing more. They are dirt poor and Walter often cannot attend school, because he must work for his family. Because of this, Walter is less educated than the other children his age, and that leaves him out of many things in Maycomb. Between work and lack of education, Walter is found the scapegoat to Scout’s getting in trouble with the new teacher- Miss Caroline- on the first day of school. Walter’s small size allows him to become Scout’s ‘punching bag’. Though Jem breaks them up and even invites Walter to dinner, Walter Cunningham will always be seen as less than the Finches or anyone else because of who and what he is- a Cunningham.
Throughout the work, Boo Radley and Walter Cunningham are hardly ever mentioned in the same sentences, and their connection throughout the work is easy to miss. Boo and Walter are two seemingly unrelated characters,
but their strategic placement in the work allows them to work together to create the ideal that treating those who appear to be weird, odd, or just
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different in a negative way is never okay.

Atticus sets the Finch children (Scout and Jem) this example as he welcomes Walter Cunningham into their home for dinner and pays for Walter’s lunch after he’d forgotten it one school day.
Boo Radley’s reclusive nature caused by years of hiding away in his house is not due to his ‘evil’ nature, but rather a disability that causes Boo to look and act differently than most citizens of Maycomb. Boo’s mental handicap is used to drive the first part of the novel, and sets up for Tom Robinson’s jury case in the second part. His reclusiveness and disability sets up an interesting idea in the work that those who don’t look or act a certain way in Maycomb are considered outcasts or rejects. This is also true for Walter Cunningham and his family. The townspeople of Maycomb believe that because of who and what he is- a Cunningham- Walter will never amount to much more than a dirt-poor farmer

boy.
This is used as a teaching tool for Scout and her brother, as Atticus teaches them that all people should be treated the same. Atticus reminds Jem one afternoon that “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee, 103). Though Atticus never says that this is about Boo Radley specifically, it is easy to correlate the two. Miss Maudie’s response to Atticus’s statement gives an explanation to Atticus’s vaugeity. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy...” (Lee, 103). The subtle connection between the mockingbird and Boo

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Radley is an example of Boo and Walter’s connection to the work in a more influential way than just to push the plot.
The connection of the mockingbird made to Boo Radley can be equally made to Walter Cunningham. Walter’s family is a farming family. Everything they do is to provide for not only their family, but also other families such as the Finches. Walter’s life revolves around helping others, and though his family struggles to make their own ends meet oftentimes, they’re always doing their best for others. This is proven when the Cunninghams pay Atticus back with stovewood, hickory nuts, smilax and holly, and turnip greens throughout the year. The life of a farmer is to make everyone else’s life a little bit easier, even if they struggle themselves. Just as Miss Maudie said, “... they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us” (Lee, 103).
Bigotry, though usually associated with Tom Robinson and his case in the second half of the book can also be applied to the situation of Boo Radley. Many people fear him, or just disregard him as even being a human being anymore. After being inside his house for years, Boo Radley is seen as a hermit. Someone that no one in town can be associated with both by choice and because he never leaves the sanctity of his house. However, Boo’s choice to never leave his house can be partially attributed to the fact that the townspeople of Maycomb speak so awfully of him and make up stories of things that have never happened. Though Boo’s mental disability keeps him
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cooped up inside the house to a certain extent, Maycomb’s old-fashioned southern ways are unforgiving. Those who look or act different are spoken harshly about. This is not only true of Boo Radley and Walter Cunningham, but also that of Tom Robinson and Burris Ewell.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee approaches these topics with grace and understanding. This is shown through Atticus Finch’s ability to “climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee, 33). His understanding character allows him to later represent Tom Robinson as he would any other white man in Maycomb. Atticus, speaking in metaphors to his young daughter, explains that it is impossible to truly understand what someone is going through or feeling until one walks in their shoes for a while. Atticus’s statement is something that Scout finds to be true about Boo Radley, Walter Cunningham, as well as Tom Robinson. After Jem’s accident at the end of the work, Boo Radley comes to visit him. Boo has grown to admire and maybe even love the Finch children, something no one even thought possible for him.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee, 103). Miss Maudie’s quote about killing a mockingbird is meant to represent the social outcasts, the quiet, and even the poor. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Arthur (Boo) Radley is discriminated against,
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feared, and tormented by the people of Maycomb. Though a simple man with a mental disability, living inside his home and only leaving when absolutely necessary, Boo is met with persecution from the outside. He is isolated because of his illness, and though he’s done nothing to the community of Maycomb, he became an easy scapegoat to the townspeople. Walter Cunningham is thought to be nothing more than his last name. It is believed that because of who and what he is that he will always be a poor farmer. The concepts of isolation and stereotyping are presented through Boo Radley and Walter Cunningham, the characters’ development throughout the work as well as the teaching opportunities that Atticus uses carries the whole ideal of treating each person as equals, no matter the situation. These two characters are often seen as simple characters to push the plot along, but rather they are two very important characters that are used to express the idea of acceptance leading up to the trial of Tom Robinson.