To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird

In the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are two
families that are textbook examples of complete opposites on the moral ladder,
and in the community. The Cunninghams and the Ewells have two distinctly
different reputations. The Cunninghams, although extremely poor, are highly
respected throughout Maycomb County. The Ewells, being just as poor as the
Cunninghams, are deeply despised.
The Cunninghams are very respected by the citizens of Maycomb. They
take nothing, unless they can pay it back, and that is virtually nothing. On the
first day of school, the youngest of the Cunningham family, Walter, had no
lunch. The new teacher didn't know the ways of Maycomb, or the Cunninghams.
She tried to offer Walter money to buy lunch, and could not comprehend why he
could not accept. Scout tries to explain to Ms. Caroline, "Walter's one of the
Cunninghams, Ms. Caroline...The Cunninghams never took nothin' they can't give
back-no church baskets, no scrip stamps. They never took nothing off anybody,
they get along with what they have. They don't have much, but they get along on
it." Walter knew he could not pay back the quarter, so he did not take it.
On that same first day of class, Bob Ewell's son Burris also had an
altercation with Miss Caroline. She asked him to go home and wash his hair with
lye soap, and then treat his scalp with kerosene to get rid of the "cooties." Burris
would have none of it. He to...

To Kill A Mockingbird

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