Scout first tells us about the "Cunningham tribe" in
Chapter 1, when she relates that young Boo Radley had "become acquainted" with the
Cunninghams, who hailed from Old Sarum, an area of northern Maycomb County. The
Cunninghams were a ne'er-do-well group that hung out at the Dew-Drop Inn and drank
stumphole whiskey.
Nobody in Maycomb had nerve enough to tell Mr.
Radley that his boy was in with the wrong
crowd.
In Chapter 2,
Scout tries to defend Walter Cunningham Jr., a classmate who has hookworms and no lunch
money. Walter is too shy to stand up for himself, so Scout tries to explain about
Walter's poor family to her teacher, Miss Caroline. Instead, Miss Caroline spanks
Scout for her efforts.
Scout knew about the Cunningham
family because Atticus had once represented Walter's father. Mr. Cunningham, a poor but
honest farmer, told Atticus that he didn't know when he'd be able to pay for Atticus'
services.
"Let
that be the least of your worries, Walter," Atticus
said.
Atticus explained to
Scout that he would eventually be repaid, and sure enough, Atticus was right. Mr.
Cunningham paid for Atticus' counsel in trade--hickory nuts, smilax, holly and turnip
greens.
No comments:
Post a Comment