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Walter Cunningham a normal young boy despite one thing, he has no money. Though all people during the Great Depression were suffering through hardship, the Cunningham's couldn't bear a quarter. Notwithstanding they had no money, Walter indicates pride, but everyone else still discriminates, his label is poor. To young children who picked up this the richer, older generation, a man with no money is a man with no worth. The discrimination is the wealthy against the needy, the upper-class believe to be superior. Moreover, this concludes that the society Maycomb, County represents is not just racist but additionally bigoted for irrational
judgments.
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.
Sometimes, people discriminate one thing, but strongly oppose the discrimination of another thing. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, this issue is very much expressed throughout the story. This thought-provoking story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during a time when there’s a rape trial against a falsely accused African American named Tom Robinson. There is also a discrimination, of sorts, towards a man named Boo Radley, by three young children named Jeremy “Jem” Finch, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and Charles “Dill” Baker Harris. Both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are similar in their own ways through their inherent goodness.
Imagine a world where anyone who was born with brown hair got to give orders to anyone born with blonde hair. If you're born with brown hair, you could have better careers and the better education whereas the blondes wouldn’t even been given a fair court trial. If something like this happened overnight, there would be a huge uproar, but what if it happened over time and generations grew to accept it? Eventually, people would start to argue that brown haired people were naturally superior to blondes. If you were living in a tiny town in the Deep South, such as Maycomb, you’d have even less of a reason to question the status quo. Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird is trying to teach his kids, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.” Furthermore, the largest forms of discrimination in the novel are racism and classism.
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
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
Mr. Cunningham is one of the men that shows up at the jail, with violent intents towards Tom Robinson. He is one of many men from the town, who, in their everyday lives, seem normal, kind and decent. The "blind spots" that Atticus refers to is the fact that Mr. Cunningham is blind to the fact that black people are their equals. They are racist, and their racism makes them blind to any sort of rational thought when it comes to black people. That blind spots leads him to the jail, to enact violence upon an innocent black man, just because he is black. Cunningham would never do this to a white man--he is blind to white man's cruelty, and overly sensitive to any possible scandal involving a black man.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”-Martin Luther King Jr. This quote shows how racism is like darkness and hate and love and light are the only way to drive racism out. The story takes place at the time of the great depression. Scout lives in a very racist and judgement city in the south. A black male is accused of raping a white woman. Scouts dad Atticus gets appointed to be the defendant's lawyer. Racism is an antagonist in To Kill A Mockingbird because the white people of Maycomb discriminate the blacks and make them feel lesser. The theme racism can be harmful to everyone is shown by many characters throughout the book.
How would you like it if someone walked up to you and berated you based on the color of your skin? A characteristic like that isn’t even something you can control, so an insult of that nature can leave one furious and oppressed. Discrimination is inevitable in any culture, throughout history, in modern times, and even in ancient times. For example, the oppression and murder of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust, the African Slave Trade which occurred for multiple centuries, and more recently, the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar, brought on by the government of the Asian nation, all of which are tragedies doomed to happen when history repeats itself and people do not learn
Prejudice is arguably the most prominent theme of the novel. It is directed towards groups and individuals in the Maycomb community. Prejudice is linked with ideas of fear superstition and injustice.
Racism presents itself in many ways in the town of Maycomb. Some are blatant and open, but others are more insidious. One obvious way that racism presents itself is in the result of Tom Robinson’s trial. Another apparent example is the bullying Jem and Scout had to endure as a result of Atticus’s appointment as Tom Robinson’s defense attorney. A less easily discernible case is the persecution of Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who chose to live his life in close relation with the colored community.
Prejudice as defined by the Merriam Webster’s Dictionary is, “a feeling of like or dislike for someone or something especially when it is not reasonable or logical.”prejudice is prevalent through many of the characters in the book. Scout, is the book’s narrator and is 7 at the beginning of the book. Her father, Atticus is a lawyer in the town of Maycomb, where the story takes place. Tom Robinson, a black character, is also very important throughout the plot of the book. Tom was accused of raping a white girl, Mayella and was sentenced to a trial which the book centers around. Throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, she implies that prejudice, whether it be social
The Cunninghams were the poor family they were so poor they couldn't afford shoes for the family and they also never had any food. "Walter Cunningham's face told everybody in the first grade he had hookworms. His absence of shoes told us how he got them." Page 19. This quote shows that the Cunningham's don't have a lot of money at all. This quote also shows that the Cunningham's are so poor they cant even afford a pair of shoes. "Walter Cunningham was sitting there lying his head off. He didn't forget his lunch, he didn't have any. He had none today nor would he have any tomorrow or the next day. He had probably never seen three quarters together at the same time in his life." Page 20. This quote shows that the Cunningham's are so poor they can't even take care of there own child. This quote also shows that the Cunningham's never have any money and they cant afford food. The Cunningham's would be a very hard family to be, because you would have nothing you own right now, you would be flat broke.
To Kill a Mockingbird: Race Relations Racism is a problem that has been around for multiple centuries. In To Kill a Mockingbird, it demonstrates how racism can affect one person even in the court of law. In this story, the case of Tom Robinson is told. It is obvious that Robinson is a victim of racist people that see him guilty only because of his race, African American. From the beginning, it seems obvious that Robinson does not have a chance of winning his case, whether he is guilty or not.
In a desperate attempt to save his client, Tom Robinson, from death, Atticus Finch boldly declares, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). The gross amounts of lurid racial inequality in the early 20th century South is unfathomable to the everyday modern person. African-Americans received absolutely no equality anywhere, especially not in American court rooms. After reading accounts of the trials of nine young men accused of raping two white women, novelist Harper Lee took up her pen and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a blistering exposition of tragic inequalities suffered by African Americans told from the point of view of a young girl. Though there are a few trivial differences between the events of the Scottsboro trials and the trial of Tom Robinson portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the accusers’ attitudes towards attention, the two cases share a superabundance of similarities. Among these are the preservation of idealist views regarding southern womanhood and excessive brutality utilized by police.
"Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones"- Charlotte Brontë. Nearly every problem and unfortunate mishap in Harper Lee's, To Kill A Mockingbird, has been somehow revolved around prejudice or discrimination. Many different forms of prejudice are found throughout the novel, with racism, sexism, and classicism the most common. The residents of Maycomb have discrimination running through their veins and were raised to be racist and sexist, without realizing. They see nothing wrong with judging other people and treating people that they find inferior harshly. Prejudice is a destructive force because it separates the people of Maycomb, both physically and mentally.