Poverty In To Kill A Mockingbird

According to NPR, there are about 50 million poor people in the United States, which is about 13% of the U.S. population (Fessler). Statistics like this could lead some to say that poverty is a large issue and isn’t given enough attention. Poverty is determined, “based on estimates of the level of income needed to cover basic needs. Those who live in households with earnings below those incomes are considered to be in poverty” (How is Poverty Measured in US). In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the Cunningham and Ewell family are poor. Both families are treated unfairly because of their lack of money, similar to the poor in society today. Society turns a blind eye to the poor and view poverty as subordinate. The poor are modern-day

Some colleges turn down students if they have a less fortunate family or won't be able to pay off debt. An article on Washington Post said, “low-income kids would still have a hard time getting ahead...they're targets for diploma mills that load them up with debt...even if they do get a good degree...they're more likely to still live in impoverished neighborhoods that keep them disconnected from opportunities” (O’Brien). Poverty-stricken have a difficult time staying in college because they can’t keep up with the expensive tuition. They drop out and can’t finish school, leading them not to be able to find jobs. It’s an endless cycle that they can’t control because they weren’t able to finish school, unlike the more fortunate. Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell are both poor children in the novel, they both have an extreme lack of education due to their poverty. Walter has to keep repeating the same grade and Burris can only attend the first day of school to help his family make ends meet. A student in class telling the teacher, “[the Ewell kids] come the first day every year and then leave” (Lee 36). It gives other kids advantages on education for them to get better jobs. Connecting to people today, those with a degree will have an advantage for jobs and other opportunities. Unlike how the poor could have been able to have better jobs, if they were able to pay for their own

The Cunningham and the Ewell families have a hard time in society with fitting in. Both families in the novel, as well as many in modern day, didn’t choose to be poor. Those born into a poor family will usually stay poor. Aunt Alexandra is a great example of people’s opinions on the impoverished; “He is trash...I’ll not have you around him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows what” (Lee 301). Walter Cunningham was born into a poor family, which sadly made people stereotype him into the idea that all poor people are disgusting, gross, and less than. Idea’s of a person such as those can make one feel like an outcast. Also, having less money leads many poor people to live in impoverished neighborhood because it’s the only thing they can afford. Isolationism is a cause of highly populated poor areas because then they are put in their own “bubble”. Accoring to a Washington Post artilcle tha discusses isolationism in classes: “Rising income inequality has led to a growing number of Americans clustering in neighborhoods in which most residents are like them...increasing isolation of...the poor” (Morello). Situations of impoverished being lonely and isolated happen all over the