Difference between Ewells and Cunninghams

The Ewells and Cunninghams are two families described in Harper Lee’s masterpiece, “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Both of these families passed through hard times during the depression in the 1930’s, and their circumstances had a completely different impact on their way of thinking and doing things. Both families have many differences which are so glaring that no one can confuse them, or compare their ways of  dealing with the major aspects of life. There are many sharp differences between these two that make the Cunninghams good and the Ewells a bad family.

As described in “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the Cunninghams are very respectable people in their community because of their honesty and polite behaviour. On the contrary, the Ewells are not considered noble people because of their disrespectable and shady activities. The Cunninghams are famous among the working class because they are hard working, while the Ewells are famous for their laziness and for shirking work.

The Cunninghams love education, and their children attend their class at school on a regular basis; the Ewells, on the other hand, do not heed education and their children do not go to school regularly. The Cunninghams have a higher level of self respect and they always try to earn things or take things that they think they can return. On the contrary, the Ewells borrow things without a sense of self respect, and they even resort to stealing money. The most important characteristic of the Cunninghams is that they are just, upright, and honest, while the Ewells are known as liars and cheats.

Instructions

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    Ewells:

    The Ewells belong to the poor class and have no sense of self respect, cleanliness, education, or hard work. They do not try to become good people and are quite satisfied with the bad activities they indulge in. They have no concerns about what people might think of them. The Ewells are selfish people as they always try to cheat, steal and borrow things; in addition to all this, they are also alcoholic. Bob Ewell, the head of the family, always tries to steal money for alcohol, and he never tries to provide food for his family with fair means. On the whole, the Ewells are notorious in the community, and are generally shunned.

    Image courtesy: mockingbirdpetet.blogspot.com

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    Cunninghams:

    The Cunninghams belong to the lower class but they have earned respect from everyone in the community. They are very hard working and always meet people with a great level of affection and simplicity. The Cunninghams love education and all of their children attend school regularly. Despite having passed through hard times economically, they always seem ready to help others in every possible manner. The whole community gives due respect to the Cunninghams and they make sure they deserve it.

    Image courtesy: static.tvtropes.org

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