TKAM with the Great Depression
By Camila Ramirez
It all started in 1929...
On October 1929, the New York Stock Market crashed. The United States began to collapse economically. In 1932, President Roosevelt was elected. The President introduced changes to promote recovery, but failed. By 1933, 11,000 banks failed in the U.S.
"The Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash had hit them the hardest." (Lee, pg. 23)
The people who lived in rural areas were hit hard from the Great Depression, because they relied on agriculture. Farmers lost a lot of money, and were one of the poorest in the U.S. The Cunninghams in 'To Kill a Mockingbird', were country-folk, and one of the poorest families in all of Maycomb County. They didn't have enough money to pay Atticus and had to give him food for weeks to replace their payment. One of their sons, Walter, doesn't even have food to take with him to school. Many farmers in the real world could relate to the Cunninghams in the 1930s.
Society Started to Fall as Well...
People around the United States were homeless and with no money. Many businesses and marriages failed. People were hungry and depressed. Soon, there was a unequal feeling between the rich and the poor. In TKAM, Aunt Alexander believes that the Finches are well-class folk; almost as if they have good amount of money. Aunt Alexander doesn't like it when Scout or Jem play with children who come from poor, uneducated families. This is a good of a relationship between the Great Depression and the book: TKAM.