Middle - Beginning of Part 2.
Theme: Education
"... Background doesn't mean Old Family ... it' how long your family's been readin[g] and writin[g]..."
Chapter 23, Page 258.
In this particular scene, shortly after Atticus' loss in the trial of Tom Robinson's case, Jem ponders deeply on the difference of the Finches to other people in Maycomb. Surely enough, the Finches were nearly the same as some of the folks in Maycomb, like the Cunninghams, but the Finches had something that was lacking within some folks in the County - it was education. In this particular scene, Aunt Alexandra expresses her loathe towards the so-called, "trash", Cunninghams as Scout shows her childish affection towards her classmate, Walter. Because of this, Scout and Jem were baffled as to why their Aunt has this much hate on these, "trash". Jem then came up to a conclusion that their Aunt just wanted them to be spared from the uneducated and were to take pride in their family's background and education. During the previous chapters, the Author gave us hints that a lot of people in Maycomb were uneducated. Like some of the Ewells and Cunninghams who barely attended school, or the African-American community that was introduced when Calphurnia invited Jem and Scout to their Church. Much to our surprise, most of them lacked the basic necessities we now take for granted during our education. Most of them were diligent enough to be self taught or were disciplined enough to be taught at home without the presence of a professional teacher forcing them to do homework. (E.g. Atticus, Zeebo, etc.) Like in our society today, a child's future would normally be foreshadowed through the child's educational prowess. Although, education does not ensure a successful future for anyone, it, without a doubt, plays a big role as to whether or not we would be like the, " noble Finches " or like the, " trash[y] Cunninghams" when we grow up. It is important that we take education seriously because as seen in the book and even in our era, education is a privilege that not all are entitled to have. To conclude, it certainly is an advantage that we all invest our time upon this sought for a higher education but - education is definitely not something that we should take for granted.
You've done it again! Great post, Lorenzo! The way you covered the exchange between Aunt Alexandra, Jem, and Scout was great! I completely agree with you; it was Scount's childlike affection, or innocence that made her look past the fact people may see Walter as trash. It was great of you to think to include the Atticus and Zeebo had not been educated with the conventional methods. Finally, I'm glad you included that education is not something that should be taken for granted, because that happens all to often, and it is a great priviledge. Fantastic!!
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