Final Essay-To Kill a MockingBird

The Great Depression is the topic I choose from my final essay. My essay focuses on explaining these two following questions, how does this economic catastrophe affect the actions of characters such as Walter Cunningham Sr., Tom Robinson or Atticus Finch? and why does the author state that the economy has no bearing on the actions of people like Bob Ewell? The main idea of the essay was to link the topic the Great Depression to the novel "To Kill a MockingBird" which I really enjoyed writing about.

Alreem Alsuwaidi

The Great Depression

Mrs. Nida Jay

December 1, 2015

9-1

The Great Depression

“To Kill a Mockingbird”

“The most striking development of the Great Depression of 1929 is a profound skepticism of the future of contemporary society among large sections of the American people’ –C.L.R James. The Great Depression was the most profound and longest economic downturn in the history of the western world. Due to the stock market crash that occurred in 1929, America was drowned into the greatest economic depression. There were numerous severe, rigid, and challenging causes of the depression that Harper Lee as a child experienced. As a child in Alabama, Harper Lee used the memories of her childhood in writing the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” which was set during the Great Depression.

Scout, the main character that represented Harper Lee as a child, experienced the toughness of the Great Depression. As it was written in the novel, due to the Great

Depression “There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.” (p.6) They couldn’t live in luxury as a result of the Great Depression. Clearly, Maycomb's imports, exports and all economic activities were affected by the crisis. From Scout perspective, Maycomb was a poor

old country. “Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it.”(p.5) What Scout knew is that Maycomb was in a stressful condition. Evidently, the depression impacted America and Scout miserably.

The economic catastrophe affected many characters such as Walter Cunningham, Atticus, and Tom Robinson. Most of the characters were affected since they’re living in poverty conditions in one way or another. Walter Cunningham, due to the economic disaster, refused to work in a company called WPA fearing and dreading that it will fall which in consequence would cost him much if he got released. “Cunningham could get a WPA job, but his land would go to ruin if he left it” (p.21). Apparently, Cunningham was affected negatively by the depression. While, for Atticus, he studied economy for countless years, however, because of the Great Depression the study of economy wasn't beneficial at the country's current condition. This forced him to shift to law. “During his first five years in Maycomb, Atticus practiced economy more than anything.” (p.5) As for Tom Robinson he encountered the Great Depression in various ways. The black families like the Robinson’s were hit the hardest in the Great Depression since they were denied every avenue of achievement. Also, the Robinsons were Depression-era farmers who experienced the Great Depression and couldn’t handle it. All these characters were affected by the economic catastrophe negatively.

Harper Lee as well stated that the economy has no bearing on the action of some characters like Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell was the only one that was fired from his job because of his laziness. As Scout states in the novel “He was the only man I ever heard of who was fired from the WPA for laziness” (p.248). He didn’t have the potential to work. The Ewells lived like

animals, and they were a disgrace of Maycomb. Atticus said, “the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day’s work in his recollection.” (p.30) “They were people, but they lived like animals.”(p.31). The Great Depression had a significant impact on Maycomb, on the other hand, it had no bearing on the Ewells. In either way if the Great Depression occurred or not the Ewells won’t change.

In conclusion, the Great Depression was one of the hardest longest downturns that impacted the history of Maycomb and the whole World. The economic catastrophe affected the lives of many characters drastically. They all lived in a poverty condition that made the economic catastrophe affect them negatively. Despite the fact that the Great Depression affected the actions of many characters it had no bearing on some characters. Harper Lee, choosing the setting of the novel during the Great Depression was a smart move that made all readers realize how harsh and challenging their lives were.