Compare And Contrast Burris Ewell And Walter Cunningham
Britney Holloway
May 16, 2008
Clarke 6
Walter vs. Burris
Poverty in America is not always was the way people think it is. To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee is based greatly on bigotry. Especially for the two families the Cunningham’s and the Ewell’s. Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell react at Poverty in very different ways. Walter Cunningham had on “a clean shirt and neatly mended overalls” (19) showing that he wants to do well in school, that he has a caring family that has a sense of pride. Walters “face told everyone in the first grade he had hookworms”(19) This statement shows that Walter lives on a farm with dirty animals, and Walters family can not afford shoes. Other than that, Walter’s family can not afford
to fix the frailly simple problem. “The reason I can’t pass the first grade, is I have to stay out every spring an’ help my papa’ with the choppin” (24) The Cunningham’s have little money and where that comes from is mostly coming from the farm that they work on, so if Walter is needed to stay home and make money his parents can not help but keep him from school. Even though they wish they could let Walter stay at home it is just not an option. Walter and his family have some money but “he had probably never seen three quarters together at the same time in his life” (20) Walters family had money issues but, being a Cunningham they never let there pride down and never thought twice about why or what they were doing because they were always careful on what they did. Burris on the other hand, walked into school with “his neck was dark grey, the back of his hands were rusty and his fingernails were black to the quick” (57) Burris came to the first day of school dirtier than a pig and didn’t care about his appearance and his dad Bob Ewell probably did not either. Walter unlike Burris has a caring and loving family that supports and wants him to do well in life, just they can not afford it. Burris and his family do not care about what they do with there life and could not care less about other people in Maycomb, or the United States for that matter. Everybody in the first grade was just minding their business when “it crawled out of his hair” (26) Burris can easily cure his lice problem by washing his hair and showering daily, he just does not do it. Walter, his family wants to get him better they just cant afford the medication needed to cure hookworms. Burris “was another member of the population who didn’t know where his next meal was coming from” (26) Burris’ dad made very little money, mostly from unemployment checks in the mail but they still had some and the little money the Ewell’s had Bob spent it on alcohol. Unlike the Ewell family, the Cunningham spared all there money on things they actually needed and did what they could to get by. The Ewell’s had a rule “they come first day every year and then leave” (27) The Ewell family did not have a lot of respect for other people so they did as they pleased and education was not one of them. Walters’s family wishes that they could send Walter for a full year, unlike the Ewell family it is just not possible. Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell live there lives in very different ways even though they live in poverty. Walter Cunningham was a boy who dressed in clean shirts and mended overalls. Burris on the other hand, had dirty face, nails, everything about him told that his family did not care and were never going to. So, even though both families live in poverty, they lived completely different lives.
May 16, 2008
Clarke 6
Walter vs. Burris
Poverty in America is not always was the way people think it is. To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee is based greatly on bigotry. Especially for the two families the Cunningham’s and the Ewell’s. Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell react at Poverty in very different ways. Walter Cunningham had on “a clean shirt and neatly mended overalls” (19) showing that he wants to do well in school, that he has a caring family that has a sense of pride. Walters “face told everyone in the first grade he had hookworms”(19) This statement shows that Walter lives on a farm with dirty animals, and Walters family can not afford shoes. Other than that, Walter’s family can not afford
to fix the frailly simple problem. “The reason I can’t pass the first grade, is I have to stay out every spring an’ help my papa’ with the choppin” (24) The Cunningham’s have little money and where that comes from is mostly coming from the farm that they work on, so if Walter is needed to stay home and make money his parents can not help but keep him from school. Even though they wish they could let Walter stay at home it is just not an option. Walter and his family have some money but “he had probably never seen three quarters together at the same time in his life” (20) Walters family had money issues but, being a Cunningham they never let there pride down and never thought twice about why or what they were doing because they were always careful on what they did. Burris on the other hand, walked into school with “his neck was dark grey, the back of his hands were rusty and his fingernails were black to the quick” (57) Burris came to the first day of school dirtier than a pig and didn’t care about his appearance and his dad Bob Ewell probably did not either. Walter unlike Burris has a caring and loving family that supports and wants him to do well in life, just they can not afford it. Burris and his family do not care about what they do with there life and could not care less about other people in Maycomb, or the United States for that matter. Everybody in the first grade was just minding their business when “it crawled out of his hair” (26) Burris can easily cure his lice problem by washing his hair and showering daily, he just does not do it. Walter, his family wants to get him better they just cant afford the medication needed to cure hookworms. Burris “was another member of the population who didn’t know where his next meal was coming from” (26) Burris’ dad made very little money, mostly from unemployment checks in the mail but they still had some and the little money the Ewell’s had Bob spent it on alcohol. Unlike the Ewell family, the Cunningham spared all there money on things they actually needed and did what they could to get by. The Ewell’s had a rule “they come first day every year and then leave” (27) The Ewell family did not have a lot of respect for other people so they did as they pleased and education was not one of them. Walters’s family wishes that they could send Walter for a full year, unlike the Ewell family it is just not possible. Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell live there lives in very different ways even though they live in poverty. Walter Cunningham was a boy who dressed in clean shirts and mended overalls. Burris on the other hand, had dirty face, nails, everything about him told that his family did not care and were never going to. So, even though both families live in poverty, they lived completely different lives.