Walter Cunningham Patterns
In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, ancestral traditions being embedded in the heads of newer generations of society is marked by controversy, but people are stubbornly holding on to the old habits of their forefathers by resisting social change. Scout finds out why the people of Maycomb county are still grasping on to old habits by the analyzation of aunt Alexandra and the criticism Scout faces due to her non female apparel. In addition, Scout also reveals the condition of the Cunningham household by examining the different attributes of Walter Cunningham who represents the state of the Cunningham’s household. Overall the most essential lesson Scout learns is that the people of Maycomb county are not willing to change the traditions
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of their ancestors because they are continuously reinforcing gender expectations and ignoring the conditions of some family households. Humans set gender expectations that pressures one to act accordingly. Aunt Alexandra has been called by Atticus to set an example upon Scout by displaying a women’s influence. Aunt Alexandra criticizes Scout because she is not meeting the criteria of a lady by wearing breeches. Scout states, “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical of the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches” (Lee 108). This quote demonstrates that girls are expected to wear dresses. Scout is being pressured by the females around her to leave her masculine habits and indulge in femininity. Society had already made gender related expectations the day Scout was born which is why aunt Alexandra’s is puzzled to see Scout wear breeches. The action of aunt Alexandra confronting Scout about her appearance is reinforcing gender expectations upon females in society and how they should dress. The old habits are still present because of the continuous reinforcement by the present society in the story. For example, if aunt Alexandra had not brought of appearance, this action would have gradually helped to dissolved the expectations of appearances for girls. Since aunt Alexandra is a part of Scout family, she has a direct impact on Scout’s personal traits, which is why Scout becomes more feminine throughout the book. The conditions of the family household molds the traits of children and can be easily seen in the real world.
Scout meets Walter Cunningham on the first day of school where he arrives with no lunch money and the teacher questions him because of it, after enough debate, Scout decides to defend Walter which gets her into trouble, Scout then proceeds to beat him up. As reconciliation, Jem invites Walter to dinner, where he arrives bare-foot and wearing dirty clothes. After the encounter with Walter came to a close, aunt Alexandra forbade any interactions with Walter because of his dirty appearance. Aunt Alexandra states, “Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him. I’ll not have you go around him, picking up his bad habit and learning lord-knows-what” (Lee 238). This quote demonstrates that the Cunningham family has done in insufficient job in the raising of Walter due to his household environment. Aunt Alexandra called Walter trash for having a dirty attire. Through this, one can see the reason for his dirty clothes is his family’s financial situation at home. Just by his appearance, the conditions of his family household can be seen. The people of Maycomb county are turning a blind eye towards the impoverished family households which can also be observed with the Ewell’s family. Aunt Alexandra is virtually ignoring the poor conditions of the Cunningham’s household by not allowing any interactions with
them. In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper lee, one can see why the people of Maycomb county are still holding onto old habits of their ancestors because of continuously reinforcing gender expectations and ignoring the conditions of some family households. Ancestral traditions are being held on by newer generations because the people of Maycomb County are stubbornly following their old habits. Humans set gender expectations which pressures both men and women into acting accordingly which can make people be someone who they are not by following a standard that all men and women are expected to have, for example, Scout is criticized by the way she dresses which is a part of who she is but unfortunately is not the expectation for girls her age. Family tends to be the deciding factor into changing one’s attributes. One can see this through aunt Alexandra and how she made Scout more feminine over a period of time. The conditions of the family household can be easily seen in the real world by examining the traits of their children, for example, Walter Cunningham came to Scout’s dinner with no shoes which indicated that his family was in a financial crisis. Ancestral traditions being carried through newer generations explains why some in our society are still racist and sexist. Ending these traditions may bring a fresh start to society where everyone is treated equally regardless of gender, class or race.
of their ancestors because they are continuously reinforcing gender expectations and ignoring the conditions of some family households. Humans set gender expectations that pressures one to act accordingly. Aunt Alexandra has been called by Atticus to set an example upon Scout by displaying a women’s influence. Aunt Alexandra criticizes Scout because she is not meeting the criteria of a lady by wearing breeches. Scout states, “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical of the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches” (Lee 108). This quote demonstrates that girls are expected to wear dresses. Scout is being pressured by the females around her to leave her masculine habits and indulge in femininity. Society had already made gender related expectations the day Scout was born which is why aunt Alexandra’s is puzzled to see Scout wear breeches. The action of aunt Alexandra confronting Scout about her appearance is reinforcing gender expectations upon females in society and how they should dress. The old habits are still present because of the continuous reinforcement by the present society in the story. For example, if aunt Alexandra had not brought of appearance, this action would have gradually helped to dissolved the expectations of appearances for girls. Since aunt Alexandra is a part of Scout family, she has a direct impact on Scout’s personal traits, which is why Scout becomes more feminine throughout the book. The conditions of the family household molds the traits of children and can be easily seen in the real world.
Scout meets Walter Cunningham on the first day of school where he arrives with no lunch money and the teacher questions him because of it, after enough debate, Scout decides to defend Walter which gets her into trouble, Scout then proceeds to beat him up. As reconciliation, Jem invites Walter to dinner, where he arrives bare-foot and wearing dirty clothes. After the encounter with Walter came to a close, aunt Alexandra forbade any interactions with Walter because of his dirty appearance. Aunt Alexandra states, “Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him. I’ll not have you go around him, picking up his bad habit and learning lord-knows-what” (Lee 238). This quote demonstrates that the Cunningham family has done in insufficient job in the raising of Walter due to his household environment. Aunt Alexandra called Walter trash for having a dirty attire. Through this, one can see the reason for his dirty clothes is his family’s financial situation at home. Just by his appearance, the conditions of his family household can be seen. The people of Maycomb county are turning a blind eye towards the impoverished family households which can also be observed with the Ewell’s family. Aunt Alexandra is virtually ignoring the poor conditions of the Cunningham’s household by not allowing any interactions with
them. In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper lee, one can see why the people of Maycomb county are still holding onto old habits of their ancestors because of continuously reinforcing gender expectations and ignoring the conditions of some family households. Ancestral traditions are being held on by newer generations because the people of Maycomb County are stubbornly following their old habits. Humans set gender expectations which pressures both men and women into acting accordingly which can make people be someone who they are not by following a standard that all men and women are expected to have, for example, Scout is criticized by the way she dresses which is a part of who she is but unfortunately is not the expectation for girls her age. Family tends to be the deciding factor into changing one’s attributes. One can see this through aunt Alexandra and how she made Scout more feminine over a period of time. The conditions of the family household can be easily seen in the real world by examining the traits of their children, for example, Walter Cunningham came to Scout’s dinner with no shoes which indicated that his family was in a financial crisis. Ancestral traditions being carried through newer generations explains why some in our society are still racist and sexist. Ending these traditions may bring a fresh start to society where everyone is treated equally regardless of gender, class or race.