Family life is a theme that runs through the entire novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

The Finch family is a positive example of a healthy family life. Atticus Finch, the father, he gives his children a sense of security and confidence. When Bob Ewell spit at Atticus and threatened him, the children couldn’t eat or play because they were worried. Jem, the brother, take care of his younger sister. For instance, when Scout eats the Radley’s chewing gum in the tree, Jem makes her gargle to prevent dangers like infection. Jem is a good and caring elder brother. For Scout, she is warm and friendly for her family. When her teacher said that everything Atticus taught her was wrong during her first day at school, her immediate reaction was to protest against her teacher and defend her father. From all these examples above, it is clear that the caring family life of the Finch family fostered two caring and friendly children, the positive example of their father has clearly acted positive on them, too. The whole family sticks together, bras dessous. Overall, they had a fabulous family atmosphere.

Harper Lee uses the Ewell family as anegative example of family life. In chaper 12, even the tolerant man, Atticus, describes the Ewell family as “absolute trash”. For the father, Bob Ewell, he never works and always take the little money they had to buy whisky for himself. After leaving the court, he shows his mean, arrogant, and cowardly spirit by stopping Atticus at the post office corner, spatting at his face, and telling Atticus he would get him if it took the rest of his life, as in chapter 22 and 23. His son, Burris Ewell, was being described as “the filthiest human-being I had ever seen” in chapter 3. He was rude and dirty. The daughter, Mayella, was trying to keep herself clean and look after her families. But her father may be sexually abusing her, and shecould only be an ignorant girl with no friends. They are nefarious, ignorant, violent, sottish, dirty, and arrogant, they were like street rats and pariahs, because they live an awful life and have an awful family.

Harper Lee uses the Cunningham family as another contrasting example of the Ewell family, in addition to the Finches. In chapter 23, Atticus said “the Cunninghams hadn’t taken anything from anyone”. In fact, the Cunningham family are known to have nerves of steel. Even in their extreme poverty, they still pay their debts, and they are too proud to accept charity. Harper Lee’s presentation of the Cunninghams indicates that they should be and deserves to be respected, much more than the Ewells. They are hard-working, independent, and that they show prejudice towards racial discrimination, and their determination. All these shows their good qualities in contrast of the Ewells cand similar to the Finches. They also have a healthy family life.

Family life is therefore an important theme of the book. And the contents show that healthy family lives create and foster healthy and positive offsprings and atmospheres.