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Walter Cunningham Character Analysis

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“…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

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