ipl-logo

Walter Cunningham Character Analysis

561 Words3 Pages

“…he’s a Cunningham,” (Lee 26). These are the words of six-year-old Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. She speaks down about Walter Cunningham, Jr. due to his family being in poverty. Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird shows the readers through the use of imagery that having privileges will lead to the confusion and ignorance of the lives of the less fortunate through the experiences of Walter Cunningham, Sr., Walter Cunningham, Jr., and the Ewell family. Walter Cunningham, Jr. is judged deeply by Scout throughout the novel due to unwealthy roots. The toll that the Great Depression took on the Cunningham’s made it so that Walter, Jr. is at school, he cannot afford a lunch. Scout, trying to help out a friend, speaks up for Walter about him “[forgetting] his lunch” when “he didn’t have any” (Lee 26). Trying to help out a peer ended up backfiring. Ms. Caroline, Scouts teacher, is angered by her speaking out again and hits her several times. At the Cunningham’s home, Walter does not …show more content…

The “Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump” in a trashed “Negro cabin” (Lee 227). When Lee starts talking about the Ewells, the tone suddenly changed. It went from just telling events of the story to an extremely detailed description. It states how “filthy” their “surroundings” were (Lee 227). The dramatic emphasis on the filth of the Ewells gave them a pitiful outlook on life. The way that the Ewell family must live makes the readers feel pity for their family. In Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird she shows the readers hoe having more privileges will lead to the confusion and ignorance of the lives of the less fortunate through the use of imagery and tone. In the novel Scout is confused and ignorant by Walter Cunningham, Jr. Walter Cunningham, Sr. and the Ewell family. She must learn so much to overcome her ignorance and confusion of others. Tolerance of others. Difficult but

Show More
Related

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Miss Maudie Quotes Analysis

    1126 Words  | 5 Pages

    He explains to Scout that in the world there are “regular” people like themselves, poor people who are like the Cunninghams, even

    Read More

  • Examples Of Archetype In To Kill A Mockingbird

    456 Words  | 2 Pages

    Scout’s family is more middle class, but she is having a lower class kid over for lunch. Calpurnia yells, “Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, any-body sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny and don’t you catch me remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty!” (Lee 33) In this quote, Scout has Walter Cunningham over for lunch.

    Read More

  • Walter Post Character Traits

    189 Words  | 1 Pages

    Walter Post, a character from Hit and Run, is a very intriguing individual. First and foremost, he's a very hard working and determined man. His strong quality of dedication is evident, especially when he works on his cases. For example, when Walter’s solving the hit and run, he's described as a tired man who keeps forcing himself past the breaking point. Furthermore, Walter is an empathetic soul.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Diction In To Kill A Mockingbird

    743 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Harper Lee’s historical fiction novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, two children live in a chaotic world of racial injustice and poverty. In this book, two siblings named Jem and Scout Finch grow and mature in a mysterious area of people battling and supporting racism. Throughout this book, Harper Lee uses symbolism to provide the view of racism. While doing this, she also uses selective choices of diction to shape the story. Harper Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird with a purpose, to bring awareness to racial injustice through hidden symbols and diction.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Adversity

    897 Words  | 4 Pages

    To Kill a Mockingbird is an important text worthy of all the recognition it received in the time following its original publication. A prime piece of fine American literature based in a period of extreme racial segregation and inequality. Set in a southern town of Maycomb Alabama during the depression, Lee follows three years of the life of eight-year-old Scout (Jean Louise) Finch and her older brother Jem (Jeremy) Finch as their father is, for three years, a fundamental figure in a case that had punctured the town as a result of the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man. As the years commence/continue, Scout and Jem, alongside the audience grow increasingly aware of prejudice throughout society as they learn the importance of perspective and being courageous when faced with adversity. By illustrating the influence of prejudice on society, Harper Lee challenges the perspectives of society, criticizing the nature of humankind to stereotype and be prejudice towards one another and in doing so, she successfully convinces the author to look beyond the facade society creates and locate the humanity that is concealed within everybody.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Satire In To Kill A Mockingbird

    744 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author demonstrates the problems in the school systems when Scout enters school she is reprimanded by her teacher, Mrs. Honeycomb for reading proficiently. She is commanded to “tell [her] father not to teach [her] anymore” and stop reading outside of school. Lee’s incongruity of the situation alerts her readers to the flaws within the school system. Lee satirizes the church when Scout and Jem are taken to church by Calpurnia, their black housekeeper, when the children’s father is unavailable. At this Christian church, the children are ridiculed for being white.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

    915 Words  | 4 Pages

    The way the people and the town influence Jem and Scout make the characters more realistic and the overall story much more interesting. To Kill a Mockingbird is an exceptional novel that conveys many positive messages throughout. In her novel, Lee creates honest and relatable characters that take the reader on a journey through life in the south during the Great Depression. Readers are impressed by Lee’s eloquent writing and amazing characters, all of which make To

    Read More

  • Hypocrisy In To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis

    738 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Hypocrisy is the mother of all evil and racial prejudice is her favorite child” (Don King). In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, a young girl named Scout is receiving a first hand experience of racism and its brutality. In Chapter 26, during school, Scout’s teacher, Mrs. Gates explains what a democracy is and how it differs from the events taking place in Germany with Hitler and the Jews. Using her biased opinion, Mrs. Gates shows Scout that the world can be a cruel place in more ways than one. During the scene, “Mrs. Gates,” Scout learns that hypocrisy exists in the most trusted through the character of Mrs. Gates, the internal conflict of Mrs. Gates and racism, and the settings of both the school and the Finch home.

    Read More

  • Runner By Robert Newton Character Analysis

    942 Words  | 4 Pages

    Runner Essay Charlie faces many challenges in the novel ‘Runner’ and generally overcomes them by making the right choices. The novel Runner is a novel written by Robert Newton which describes life in Richmond, Melbourne in the 1919. The novel follows the protagonist, Charlie Feehan, as his family and himself struggle with the effects of poverty, corruption and sorrow.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1914 Words  | 8 Pages

    Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that show the life of a southern state od Alabama during the “black racism” time period, where majority of the people had the mentality that (quote) with the exception of a few. To chosen to portray it from the eyes of Scout Finch, from a child’s point of view. Living in Maycomb, in the midst of a conservative society of the 1930’s and 20’s Southern America Scout Finch is an extra ordinary child.

    Read More

  • The Literary Context Of To Kill A Mockingbird

    4088 Words  | 17 Pages

    The poorest white families in Maycomb County were the Cunninghams and the Ewells, who were living behind the town 's garage dump. “ ' '... The Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them the hardest. ' '”18 For example, Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewells ' characters are both bullied at school, since they do not have the money for lunch or clean clothes. “...Walter Cunningham was sitting there lying his head off.

    Read More

  • Difference Between Cunningham And Burris Ewell

    1090 Words  | 5 Pages

    The otherwise vague distinction between Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell in To Kill a- Mockingbird becomes increasingly more transparent overtime as the reader begins to “read between the lines” and comprehend the actions and descriptions of both characters. Harper Lee’s way of contrasting the difference between both characters (Walter and Burris) is initially vague because the reader would usually tend to “clamp” on the fact that both are poor and relatively uneducated, though to different extents. However, the idea of this essay is to prove the alternative notion by which both characters, although similar at first glance, are entirely different through their own psychological behaviors, history, and what the foundation of their own habitual actions are (e.g. farm life, a contentious father, etc.) Concepts of medical research will be implemented to provide a source of documentation and resourcefulness to further emphasize the contrast

    Read More

  • Theme Of Poverty In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1033 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Cunningham’s have nothing to offer and the majority of their lives they refuse to take anything that they can’t pay back. “‘Atticus’... ‘Are we as poor as the Cunningham’s?’” (Lee 27). This shows that people don’t think that they are actually poor until they are “Cunningham” poor.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

    714 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us the righteousness of empathy. Harper Lee 's technique of writing and coinciding Christian beliefs weaved through emphasizes the importance of the story 's moral and themes. It is through Scout, the young dynamic and protagonist, that Lee opens the reader 's eyes to a realistic world of prejudice and inequality during the 1930s. Though introducing many characters throughout the novel, it is through Lee 's wise father character, Atticus Finch, that she further helps teach her readers life lessons, one being empathy. While narrating in first person, Lee further details her novel with the setting and use of style and diction.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Scout In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

    725 Words  | 3 Pages

    Because Scout learns from Atticus some of the processes that take place between the poor folk of Maycomb, she can be innocently nosy at the wrong times. Thoroughly, Atticus explains to Scout how some folks must pay for labor or items with crops since they can afford payment in nothing else. As one example of this, the Cunninghams possess very little, and thus,

    Read More

More about Walter Cunningham Character Analysis

Open Document