ipl-logo

Walter Cunningham Character Analysis

561 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Character analysis of walter

“…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
1537 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout this novel, Scout goes through many realities of the adult world. When she is young, she learns about people in poverty, like Walter Cunningham in her class. When he comes over to her house, he starts piling food onto his plate like he has never eaten before. Then as he pours a ton of molasses onto his food, Scout decides to speak up. “But he’s gone and drowned his dinner in syrup.

Read More
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
1013 Words | 5 Pages

Scout is talking to her teacher about Walter Cunningham and his family when she says, ‘The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back-no church baskets and no scrip stamps. They never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what they have. They don’t have much, but they get along on it’” (Lee 26). Scout tries

Read More
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
930 Words | 4 Pages

The main characters Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Bob Ewell face moments that deal with racism all told from the perspective of a six year old girl, Scout. The intended purpose of expressing racial relations in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,”

Read More
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
1253 Words | 6 Pages

By analyzing the struggle of these individuals throughout Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader observes that the prejudiced society hurts the mockingbirds; this is important because the author demonstrates it is a sin to harm an innocent being. To start, Mayella Ewell symbolizes a mockingbird that the discriminatory society misjudges as a result of her low social class. When Scout is in first grade, readers see that the Ewells are poor and struggle to survive. Atticus tells Scout, “the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations” (Lee 40).

Read More
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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

More about Walter Cunningham Character Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document