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In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, education came to be a concern for families due to poverty. Poverty creates obstacles to an equal chance at education, it is by far harder to receive schooling if a family is struggling with money.
Walter Cunningham Jr. and his family pose as a great example as to how poverty can affect a person’s chances at an education. Walter comes from a very poor family, the Cunninghams, and almost everyone in town seems to know this. When Walter Jr. is offered a quarter from his teacher, he won't accept it because him and everyone else knows that he won't be able to pay it back. “Insert quote”. Walter and his family do not have any money, they can only pay people with crops and other materials
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This is a difficult task for her to accomplish. Because she lives in a tiny apartment with four other family members on the southside of Chicago, the reader is able to assume that money is tight with the Younger family. Luckily, they have a check of $10,000 soon to be theirs. When discussing what this money will be used for, Mama says “Some of it got to be put away for Beneatha and her schoolin’-and ain’t nothing going to touch that part of it. Nothing.” Beneatha’s chances of attending medical school was slim because poverty got in the way, but thanks to the check, it's more likely that Beneatha will be able to become a doctor. Without money, it is a strenuous task to get advanced education, especially in Chicago for a black person when black people were continually being discriminated …show more content…
Beneatha Younger defies all stereotypes of a black woman by striving to become a doctor. On top of this, she and her family struggle with poverty. How did all this happen? “My family and I had a big check coming in the mail for the death of my father. My mama said that we would put a lot of it towards my medical schooling,” said Younger. The family got a compensation for Walter Sr.’s death of $10,000. With medical school costing around $1,500, the family will be using a large portion of the compensation to pay for Beneatha’s education. With the family of five all living in one tiny, two bedroom apartment on the disadvantaged side of town, it’s safe to say that the Youngers were in desperate need of some extra money. Beneatha is able to attend college, while the rest of her family didn’t get the opportunity to do so. Struggling to find nickels and dimes, $10,000 was an incredible amount of money. Beneatha's family is very excited about her going to college, although they all had personal plans for the money, but a set portion would be put aside for Youngers medical school. put away for Beneatha and her schoolin’-and ain’t nothing going to touch that part of it. Nothing.” said Beneatha's mom, Lena Younger, about what the money will be used for. Although not everyone is pleased with this decision, *insert angry Walter quote,* everyone is very proud of a young girl with
Her mother Gladys, worked very hard for her children. Gladys was from African American slaves and Cherokee Native Americans ancestors. Patricia was blessed with a brother and once he was born her mother began to budget for the future. She saved her money from her jobs as a housewife and a domestic worker, to help pay for her children’s education. To pay for Pat’s medical schooling, Gladys scrubbed floors. “Mom and dad were the fuel and engine to my empowerment, she once said.” (source 9 page 99) Her parents helped her work toward what she has achieved today. She...
Poverty can be a terrible thing. It can shape who you are for better or for worse. Although it may seem awful while you experience it, poverty is never permanent. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which takes place in Alabama in the middle of the Great Depression, Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell are both in a similar economic state. Both of their families have very little money; however, they way they manage handle themselves is very different. In this essay, I will compare Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell’s physical appearance and hygiene, their views on education, and their manners and personalities.
“We wonder. But not well! Not for a minute! Since Number Five is out of the bathroom now, we think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it” (Brooks 11-13). The speaker indicates that even if someone has a dream, they cannot really consider pursuing it, for it is not as important as the basic necessities. Instead, they replace the dream with a practical desire: getting into the bath before the water becomes cold. This demonstrates that the speaker believes that it is essential to take care of basic human needs before fantasizing about unrealistic ideas. Beneatha, on the other hand, is determined to accomplish her dream of becoming a doctor. Unlike the speaker in “Kitchenette Building,” Beneatha strives for a dream that seems far-fetched. She is not satisfied with just the basic needs, so she yearns to do something important with her life. In fact, one of her nicknames is “One for Whom Bread-Food-Is Not Enough” (Hansberry 65). Unlike the speaker of the poem, Beneatha refuses to let her dream die just because of her family’s unfortunate financial situation. Furthermore, Beneatha’s ambition does not fit into the gender stereotypes of the time period. “Ain’t many girls who decide ‘to be a doctor’”
It can be inferred, even by someone with very limited information of to Kill a Mockingbird, the Walter can’t attend school- someone who owns no shoes, has hookworms, doesn’t have proper hygiene, and works on his family’s farm is very obviously not going to be able to go to school for longer than a few weeks. Robert Peck is told by the town clerk that “You’ll [Peck] have to register and attend school” (line 20 APOTS). Both of them not being able to attend school is clearly from living in poverty- if they were not quite as poor as they are, then they would have had to attend school for more than a few
Through the protagonist, Bone's narration, her mother known as Mama is a victim of the bottom class. Her life is cheap and inconspicuous, as the beginning of the novel mentions, "Mama...hated the memory of every day she's ever spent bent over other people's peanuts...while they stood tall and looked at her
Walter Sr. was Walter and Beneathas father he died and his wife mama received ten thousand dollar for life insurance. Walter wants the whole ten thousand dollars for himself and put it down on the liquor store. But Beneatha wants to go to medical school and be a doctor. Walter thinks that it is selfish of Beneatha that she wants to attend medical school because he then wouldn't get all of the money for the liquor store. Beneatha "that money belongs to Mama, Walter, and its for her to decide how she wants to use it. I don't care if she wants to buy a house or a rocket ship or just nail it up somewhere and look at it. It's hers. Not ours hers." Mamas getting all the money and it is up to her if she wants the money for herself give it to Beneatha for school or give it to Walter for the liquor store. Now that it is getting closer to the date in which the money will arrive. Walter is acting more and more desperate for that money.
When Walter loses his "sister's school money," the consequences are widespread and Beneatha sees that dream diminish before her eyes. She sees her slipping through Walter's fingers and finds her lifelong goals changing. From the days of her childhood, she has longed "to be a doctor" and "fix up the sick." While her family and friends do not understand Beneatha's dream, she continues longing for the education she needs to create a successful life she desires rather than one where she is waiting "to get married.
Formerly poor or upper and middle class black people, may look down on poorer black people because of the financial decisions they make, while not realizing that these fiscal decisions that have been deemed “irresponsible”, have a value that cannot be priced. In order to be respected in certain professional atmospheres, to be employed at certain businesses, or to just simply to have their humanity acknowledged, poorer black people must present themselves in a way that rejects any stereotypes that come with being poor and black. Cotton explains that she grew up as a “good poor” an lived within her means, however, her grandmother and mother both had a certain privilege that they passed along to her, the “ability to talk like white folks.” Cottom recalls several times throughout her life where this privilege was necessary and proved to be extremely helpful. Her mother once dressed in her “classiest”outfit, with a short bob, pearl earrings and spoke Queen’s english in order to help and elderly black neighbor navigate through the bureaucracies that were preventing her from receiving certain services. What had taken the elderly lady years, was finalized by Cottom’s mother in a day. Although both the elderly lady and Cottom’s mother were of similar economic standing, Cottom’s mother had an advantage in this situation
Walter and Beneatha’s relationship is very complex. The spiraling tension between the two siblings causes confrontation to form and creep into the Younger household. Walter needs his family to respect him as the man of the family, but his sister is constantly belittling him in front of his mother, wife, and son. This denigrating treatment taints Walter’s view of himself as a man, which carries into his decisions and actions. Beneatha also subconsciously deals with the dysfunctional relationship with her brother. She desires to have her brother’s support for her dream of becoming a doctor, yet Walter tends to taunt her aspiration and condemns her for having such a selfish dream. Mama as the head of the family is heartbroken by the juvenile hostility of her adult children, so in hopes to keep her family together she makes the brave move of purchasing a house. Mama’s reasoning for the bold purchase was,“ I—I just seen my family falling apart….just falling to pieces in front of my eyes…We couldn’t have gone on like we was today. We was going backwards ‘stead of forw...
Connie was born into a very poor family. She described herself as living in poverty for the first eighteen years of her life. She often went without food, shelter or financial support. Connie’s mother worked extremely hard to support the household; she worked shampooing hair for only $50 a week. Connie’s father did not work at all, he was in charge and demanding yet put no effort into any aspect of the family. Connie was the first in her family to graduate from high school. It was more common for women to become pregnant, and marry young than finish high school. College was not even an option for Connie because of a lack of means. Subsequently, she followed in her mother’s footsteps; and the cycle of poverty and worked low paying, unfulfilling jobs for many years. "All Americans do not have an equal opportunity to succeed, and class mobility in the United States is lower than that of the rest of the industrialized world " (Mantsios 200). It is very difficult to get out of the cycle of oppression, when the system is created to keep the poor in the same socioeconomic status. Connie stayed very poor until she was about eighteen years old.
Beneatha believes that education is the way to understanding and self-fulfillment through knowledge and wisdom. It was rare at this time to find a poor well-educated black woman with such high ambitions. Her Mama knowing how much her education meant to her, told Walter to save $3000 for Beneatha's medical school. When they discovered that Walter had invested the money in his liquor store scheme and Willy had run off with all the money, Beneatha was devastated. Her dream according to Langston Hughes poem Harlem”Or does it explode?” She had lost all hope and even though her spirits may have been lifted after her talk with Asagai and the chance to move into a new house, it seems that Beneatha will never realize her
Beneatha’s dream is to become a doctor. She believes that her dream was deferred when she was born since she is coloured and a female. Although she fights this, her dream is deferred even more when Walter looses the money which she needed to get into medical school.
The lack of education can lead to poverty and poverty can lead to a lack of education, this is a cycle that is hard to get out of. Author Wes mother was able to go to college and get her degree. She wasn 't the first to go or the first two finished. She was able to overcome the situation poverty and found a way to go to college. This desire for college was something she gave to author Wes. She knew the public school was a bad place to be for her son so she did what she had to have the money to send Wes to Riverdale Country School. Author Wes got the schooling that had more of a focus on attending college as an end goal by attending Riverdale Country School. Since he went to Riverdale Country School he got the desire to get a degree that he probably would have never got in the public school in his neighborhood. The other Wes mother 's life was different and she didn 't put that need to get a degree into her
Beneatha is Mama's youngest child. She aspires to become a doctor. Mama wants Beneatha to become what she wants so she decided to put aside some of the insurance money for Beneatha's schooling. Beneatha struggles as a young independent woman who has yet to find her identity. She finds herself trying new hobbies and dating two very different men. During a conversation with one of those men, Asagai, Beneatha is forced by Asagai to realize that she is not very independent at all. In fact she has been depending on the insurance money to get her through school. After this realization, Beneatha gains thoughts on how to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor (Kohorn). She presents her mother with her decision of getting married and how she "plans to find her roots in Africa" with Asagai (Silver).
In A Raisin in the Sun, there is a poor family named the Youngers who struggle everyday of their lives. It is around the time where slavery is over but very racial. Luck comes along when Mama Lena receives a ten thousand dollar life insurance check from her husbands death. At Mama Lena’s residence there is her daughter Beneatha and son Walter. They both have their own dreams and plans on what to do with the money. Waltes who resides at Mama Lena with his wife and son plans to invest in a liquor store. On the other hand, Lena’s daughter Beneatha plans to invest the money in medical school which she is estatic to attend after finishing her college years. Mama Lena also has plans for the money which is to invest in a house for her family and send Beneatha to medical school.