Knowing Oneself
In the award-winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, set in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930's, many characters go through different struggles in their day-to-day lives. These storms teach the reader different things about the characters. Walter Cunningham Sr., a farmer, goes through two very difficult struggles, trying to stay afloat during the economic crisis and trying to decide for himself if the prejudice Maycomb's people have for the African Americans is right.
First off, one of the storms Walter Cunningham Sr. goes through is trying to provide for his family during the Great Depression. In the beginning of the novel, Atticus, the best lawyer in all of Maycomb, is telling his daughter, Scout, and his son, Jem, that "If he held his mouth right, Mr. Cunningham could get a WPA job, but his land would go to ruin if he left it, and he [is] willing to go hungry to keep his land and votes as he pleased"(Lee 12). Clearly, this shows that Walter Cunningham is very passionate about what he does, and could not bear to let his farm go, even if it means that he will struggle to provide for his family and may only be hurting himself. But, Walter, being the strong character he is, continues to fight by putting everything he has into his farm in order to keep his family alive and just barely get by on what he has. A little while later in the novel, Scout explains to the reader how Walter pays them. "One morning Jem and I found a load of stovewood in the back yard. Later, a sack of hickory nuts appeared on the back steps . . . Atticus said Mr. Cunningham had more than paid him" (11). This illustrates the idea that Walter Cunningham is a very responsible individual who is making the best of his situation by paying wi...
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...n. These storms reveal many things about him, such as his passion, sense of responsibility, and his ability to complete an introspective journey, as well as a glimpse inside the mind of Mr. Cunningham. Writers create characters in order to teach the reader something, and Walter Cunningham clearly embodies the idea of knowing yourself and being your own individual, along with the evidence that a warped society can corrupt the minds of its innocent. Walter Cunningham shows the readers that people can be both passionate and responsible, and can decide for themselves what to believe in. Lee invites the reader to take their own introspective journey in order to figure out who they are and what they believe. All in all, Walter Cunningham Sr. shows the arduous journey of sticking to what your love and truly knowing oneself.
Works Cited
Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird
Poverty can be a terrible thing. It can shape who you are for better or for worse. Although it may seem awful while you experience it, poverty is never permanent. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which takes place in Alabama in the middle of the Great Depression, Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell are both in a similar economic state. Both of their families have very little money; however, they way they manage handle themselves is very different. In this essay, I will compare Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell’s physical appearance and hygiene, their views on education, and their manners and personalities.
A person’s identity is created by his family, friends, and neighbors. These influences can be people that choose to interact or have to interact with each other. The decisions made based on these interactions define a person. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, the narrator, is affected by numerous sources. Scout’s identity is shaped in part by Atticus, Miss Maudie, and her experience with the court case.
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is based during the era of racism and prejudice. This era is commonly referred to as The Great Depression and is during the mid-late 30’s. The novel is set in a small town and county called Maycomb, Alabama. The novel follows the story of the Finch’s and their struggle before, during, and after a rape trial that is set against an African American by a white woman and her father.
Whether we read books, watch movies, or simply live life, we cannot ignore that writers, directors or people create pairs of characters that may have things in common and characteristics that show them as opposites. Sometimes, they may seem obvious but at other times, the individuals have to be analyzed and understood. They are placed in stories to show the good and the bad in the story. However, placing similar and somewhat opposite characters together is clearly portrayed in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. These characters go through some of the same situations but they can be distinguished differently by the way they choose to deal a situation. Sometimes, their intention may be alike however, in the end, their doing is what makes them two different people. This contrast is especially evident when comparing Walter Cunningham Sr. and Bob Ewell, Boo Radely and Nathan Radely, and, lastly, Miss. Maudie and Miss. Stephanie.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a classic novel. The story takes place in the 1930's, in a small southern town called Maycomb. The book is about the town and their struggles as they go through a difficult trial. Throughout the novel the author shows how courage is displayed through characters like Mrs. Dubose, Jem Finch, and Atticus Finch.
Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” takes place during the 1930’s in the fictional and quiet town of Maycomb, located in Maycomb County, Alabama. The town of Maycomb is described as a tired old town that moves very slowly and its residents have nothing to fear but fear itself. Being in set in the South during the 1930’s the story does tackle racism and inequality for African Americans as racism was becoming more and more prominent in the 1930’s. The fact that the story takes place in a backwater county in Alabama makes the the injustice even more prevalent. The story goes through the early years of the main characters Jem and Scout so the exact time is always changing, however, the more important and intense parts of the story takes place
Harper Lee grew up in Alabama in a time when racism was rampant and the people were merely sustaining an adequate life due to the Great Depression. The story is set in the rural town of Maycomb, which is a place where, “there was no hurry, for there was no place to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with...” Maycomb is a slow paced, hot, poverty-stricken Alabaman town with outdated infrastructures where people had old-fashioned values and traditional views. These factors then spread an outbreak of fear, which dramatically steers the course of the novel.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It is set in the 1930s, a time when racism was very prominent. Harper Lee emphasizes the themes of prejudice and tolerance in her novel through the use of her characters and their interactions within the Maycomb community. The narrator of the story, Scout, comes across many people and situations with prejudice and tolerance, as her father defends a black man.
To kill a mockingbird, written by the award winning author Harper Lee, is a story filled with stereotypes, misconceptions and racial prejudice. It is set in the mid 1930’s in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Much of the novel was based around a court case between Tom Robinson; a negro citizen of Maycomb, wrongly accused of the sexual assault of Mayella Ewell; a poor, mistreated and abused white girl, desperate for affection.
To Kill a Mockingbird takes places during one of the country's darkest times, The Great Depression. Something to be kept in mind was the fact that the area in which To Kill a Mockingbird takes place was a rural area. The Depression actually hit rural areas like the fictional town of Maycomb 10 years earlier. Following the first World War areas like Maycomb went through both a recession and depression from 1918 continuing into the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s.
Life was hard for people of color in the South during the Jim Crow laws. More than l4,000 blacks were lynched in the South throughout this time, and racism was at its peak. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in the Jim Crow South during the 1930s. The novel tells the story of Scout Finch and her family in Maycomb, Alabama. Scout is the daughter of Atticus Finch, a white man chosen to defend a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. In this coming-of-age story, a young girl becomes aware of the prejudice in the world around her and she changes over the course of the novel. She begins as innocent and naive them becomes confused, and finally understand the racism in the end.
In life, obstacles are everywhere, but hints are given as to how to overcome those obstacles with which we are faced daily. In short, To Kill a Mockingbird is based in a small town in Alabama known as Maycomb. Just outside of Mobile, Maycomb happens to be a typical southern town where not much happens until one summer Tom Robinson is accused of rape. Tom, a black man, in the segregated south in the thirties has the odds stacked against him when going on trial. However, Tom's case has been taken on by the best lawyer in town, Atticus Finch, but proving Tom's innocence has challenges due to the strong white presence in the town. Throughout Harper Lee’s novel, Atticus’ name and the relationship between Tim Johnson and Tom Robinson, symbolize how
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, takes place in a small southern town of Alabama called Maycomb, in the 1930s. During this period in Maycomb, like in the rest of nation, many families suffer from the economic hardships of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. Families such as the Cunninghams and Ewells are examples of this, which only had enough to survive. In addition to the economic events that marked the 1930s, there was still great resentment in the south from the Civil War and in many southern states there was inequality for African-Americans. During this period, laws such as Jim Crows Laws illustrated the racial time period the US lived across. Jim Crow Laws allowed discriminating against African-Americans since they were still consider
Not many people can say they’ve had a bird fly into their car while driving, but I can. It was about 2 years ago and my mom had just picked me up from volleyball practice. We both decided to roll down our windows as it was a beautiful spring day outside. Five minutes into the drive, the unthinkable happened. I looked to my left and saw a bird flying straight at me. Before I could even say anything the bird was inside the car and had hit me on the side. I screamed at the top of my lungs and we definitely would have won America’s Home funniest videos if it had been recorded. I was in full panic mode and my eyes were tightly shut closed. Now realizing what had happened my mom swerved into the nearest parking lot and we both ran out of the car.
The racism during the 1930’s brought a wave of pessimism and negativity across the United States. So a tale of the old, poor, and racist town of Maycomb may sound pessimistic. Especially since in Maycomb, a black man by the name of Tom Robinson is sent to jail, and ultimately loses his life over a false rape accusation from a racist jury. However, despite these points of sadness and despair, Harper Lee uses To Kill A Mockingbird in order to illustrate having optimism to positively impact others, motivate people to do their best, and show that people can end any challenge with a positive outcome.