The Effect of the Great Depression

"Reason I can't pass the first grade, Mr. Finch, is I've had to stay out ever' spring an' help Papa with the choppin', but there's another'n at the house now that's field size." (Page 28)

Walter Cunningham, the son of a poor farmer who has to pay for things with his crops, says this to Atticus about why he hasn't passed the first grade yet. During the Great Depression, many people didn't have enough money to afford basic necessities, farmers, in particular took a major fall. Since people didn't have enough money to pay for enough food, farmers couldn't receive enough money for their family. In result, they didn't have enough money to hire people to help them with their crops, so normally, farmers' children would stay home from school to help farm.

It was wrong of Scout to judge Walter for being different than her. I guess she didn't quite understand the situation that the Cunninghams were in. Her family was poor, but better off than them. Atticus should have explained to her exactly what was going on. He should have explained to her about the Depression, and how it affected people. Eventually, Calpurnia took Scout into the kitchen to explain to her it was wrong to be mean to people who were different than her. 

The Great Depression relates to the 2007-2008 recession in which economists have said to have been the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Of course, it wasn't as bad as the Great Depression, but a lot of people struggled. The housing bubble, or large-scale land boom, burst and left many people out of work. A lot of people including my father, got laid off because the companies they worked for didn't have enough money to keep them. This lead to house evictions, foreclosures, and prolonged unemployment due to the lack of jobs.

I hope Scout learned her lesson: do your research before you make assumptions.

-M&M