In the book, “ To Kill a Mockingbird “ there are two groups of people who are close to being completely different. These two groups of people are known as the Cunninghams, and the Ewells. Both of these turn out to be families who both live in Maycomb, Alabama. In fact these families are so similar, and yet so different it’s a little strange. To start off the essay let's talk about the similarities between the two families.
President Harry Truman was the thirty-third President of the United States. President Truman was from Lamar, Missouri and he came from a farming family. When he was a young child his family decided to move to Independence, Missouri where he grew up. Turman did not attend college because his family couldn 't afford it so after high school he worked many sales jobs and helped with the family farm. During this time Turman also he served in the Missouri National Guard.
In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Burris Ewell and Walter Cunningham are both poor, but they are very different in several ways. They are like two sides of the same coin, and Scout learns a lot about the poor through them. First, Burris Ewell and Walter Cunningham's appearances contrast greatly. Walter tries tries to look presentable, while Burris does not.
(Lee 24). The Ewells also do not care about how dirty they are, or how disgusting they look. Scout explained how gross Burris looked by saying “ he was the most filthiest human I had ever seen. His neck was dark gray and his hands were rusty and his nails were black deep” (Lee 25). This proves that they obviously do not care about their appearance or how ridiculous they look in public.
The Ewells and Cunningham families in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee or complete opposites of eachother. The first way they vary is in their appearance. The Ewells don 't care what they look like so their “necks are dark grey, backs of hands are rusty, and fingernails black deep into the quick” (27). However, the Cunninghams look as best the can with a “clean shirt and neatly pressed overalls” (19). Another way they differ is their education.
Y - They are Dirty Burris has “cooties” aka head lice Burris has dirt layers on his skin Y - They are Disrespectful Law breakers Burris only shows up for the first day of school Burris goes hunting during the non-hunting season G - Clearly the ewells are dirty, disrespectful people and above were just some of their family's traits The Ewells are portrayed in the book as careless and rude people, and there are many traits that can be used to describe them. One example of an acceptable trait for the Ewell family is the word dirty. Burris comes to school with layers of dirt sewn to his skin.
Ewells vs. Cunninghams In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee two families, Ewells and Cunninghams, have many differences. One difference would be, their respect toward their teacher. While the Ewells are rude, the Cunninghams are very polite. An example of the Ewells rudeness is when he says, “Ain’t no snot-nosed slut of a school teacher born c’n make me do nothing” (28).
They are also responsible for not protecting Tom Robinson from being wrongly accused of something he did not do. Bob Ewell is the main antagonist in the novel, he is an abusive racist and drunk. The Ewells are the trashiest people in the town of Maycomb county but not because of where they live. In the novel, it states, “Atticus said the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations” (Lee 33) They are the source of all the town’s problems, especially Bob Ewell. The Ewells are a family that has never been able to gain respect from the rest of Maycomb.
“He said that the Ewells were members of an exclusive society made up of Ewells” (Lee 40-41). This shows how they are divided from the rest of the people from the town. “There’s ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes” (Lee 302) This quote from Jem explains how Maycomb is broken up into different social classes. Social inequality caused the Ewells to be shunned in a way or looked down on which made Mr. Ewell
The Ewell’s were the kind of people in the county that should never be trusted, but once they were put in a situation regarding a black man, suddenly they were the truthful ones. Furthermore, during a conversation with Calpurnia on page 164, Scout thought about how believable the Ewells were, “‘It’s because of what folks say Tom’s done,” she said… ‘Old Mr. Bob Ewell accused him of rapin’ his girl an’ had him arrested an’ put in jail…’ ‘Why, Atticus said they were absolute trash - I never heard Atticus talk about folks the way he talked about the Ewells…’” The Ewell family had the reputation of being terrible people, and even Atticus said that. However, a majority of people in town still thought Bob Ewell to be speaking the truth because he was accusing an African American, and they are always below everyone
In what ways is the Finch family and the Ewell family different from one another? The two families are different from each other in numerous ways. The Finches and the Ewells contrast in ways such as the Ewells don’t have any money to spend while the Finches have do have money to spend, the Ewells are people who don’t work for what they have when the Finches are independent and work for what they have, and the Finches have good education while the Ewells aren’t very academically successful. The Finch family and the Ewell family are different from each other because the Ewells don’t have any money to spend while the Finches do have money to spend.
The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee includes many Characters. Some that are alike and some that are completely different. And just some who differ in a few ways. Bob Ewell and Walter Cunningham Sr. are two characters who just differ in a few ways but these things are major differences. Some of these similarities are.
The Ewells are known for being “poor white trash” and do not follow morals or have manners of any kind. On Scout’s first day of school, Burris Ewell makes Miss Caroline cry. When his teacher tells him to go to the principal’s office, he responds with, “‘Ain’t no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c’n make me do nothin’!’” (Lee 37). Burris continues to insult her until she is crying as he storms out of her classroom leaving everyone in astonishment.
The Ewell family consists of Bob, the father, Burris, the son, and Mayella, the daughter. The Ewells are your prime example of a poor, desperate, almost redneck family. In the book, Burris Ewell comes to school with cooties (lice) in his hair, dirt under his nails, dirt on his face, clothes dirty, and generally an absolute mess. This shows that how low they are on the system affects not only affects their hygiene, but their education. It is well known that the Ewells only go to school on the first day, never to return after that.
In the novel, ‘To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the small, imaginary town, the Maycomb County, as a place where racism and social inequality happens in the background of 1930s America. Not only the segregation between whites and blacks, but also the poor lived in a harsh state of living. As Scout, the young narrator, tells the story, Lee introduces and highlights the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb County by using various characters such as Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell. Firstly, Harper Lee portrays Boo Radley as a victim of social inequality through adjectives and metaphor in the phrase, “There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten;” ‘Long jagged scar that ran across his face’ tells us that Boo Radley has stereotype about his appearance, which forces to imagine Boo as a scary and threatening person. The phrase, ‘yellow and rotten’ make the readers think as if Boo Radley is poor and low in a social hierarchy, as he cannot afford to brush his teeth.
