There are actually two Walter Cunninghams in To Kill a Mockingbird: the father and his son. Atticus shares experiences with both of them and shows patience, tolerance and respect each time. His example in front of his kids during these times teaches Jem and Scout how to handle difficult people in difficult situations without coming off looking or acting worse.
The first example Atticus sets for his children is in chapter three when Jem invites Walter Cunningham Jr. home for lunch. The young boy pours maple syrup all over his non-breakfast food which makes Scout go ballistic. Atticus is patient and shakes his head quietly at his daughter. Even though it is Calpurnia who lectures Scout on her impropriety, Atticus, as head of the household, shows good form by not reacting inappropriately.
There are two other situations that involve Walter Cunningham, Sr., however, that prove Atticus can be tolerant with others socially and professionally. The first situation is professional in nature because Mr. Cunningham owes Atticus money for some legal work. Atticus is tolerant because he allows Mr. Cunningham to pay in-kind; that is to say, he pays his debts with products and services rather than with money. The following passage lists the ways Mr. Cunningham was allowed to pay Atticus:
"One morning Jem and I found a load of stovewood in the back yard. Later, a sack of hickory nuts appeared on the back steps. WIth Christmas came a crate of smilax and holly. That spring when we found a croker sack full of turnip greens, Atticus said Mr. Cunningham had more than paid him" (20-21).
The second example of tolerance that Atticus shows towards Mr. Cunningham is on the night before the trial of Tom Robinson. While Atticus guards the jail that night, Mr. Cunningham and his kin come to lynch Tom. Scout helps calm the situation down by talking to Mr. Cunningham about how she and his son are friends and how his "entailments" are bad. Luckily, he backs down and convinces the others to leave, but Scout asks Atticus if he is still their friend after that. Atticus explains the following tolerant attitude to her as follows:
"Mr. Cunningham's basically a good man. . . he just has his blind spots along with the rest of us. . . Mr. Cunningham was part of a mob last night, but he was still a man. Every mob in every little Southern town is always made up of people you know. . . you children last night made Walter Cunningham stand in my shoes for a minute. That was enough" (157).
Jem and Scout learn from their father to be peaceful members of their community no matter what other people do or say. Atticus's example leads Jem to read to a mean old woman, Mrs. Dubose, for over a month; Scout stops beating up kids who call her father names; and eventually, both Scout and Jem learn to watch and listen first when faced with difficult people. Scout even turns the other cheek and starts making plans on how to be better friends with her Cunningham schoolmate:
"I remembered the distant disastrous occasion when I rushed to young Walter Cunningham's defense. Now I was glad I'd done it. 'Soon's school starts I'm gonna ask Walter home to dinner,' I planned, having forgotten my private resolve to beat him up the next time I saw him. . . Maybe he could spend the night with us sometime, okay, Jem?" (223).
Eventually, Scout and Jem go from being confused about the Cunninghams to actively wanting to be friends with them because of their father's good example of tolerance.
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