If this is deemed to be symbolic, it shows how behavior can symbolically represent class distinctions. Walter's family is much poorer than the Finch family. There may be a suggestion here that poorer families have different eating habits. Poorer families eat whatever they can get, so drowning food in maple syrup is not a big deal. Or, because Walter's family is so poor they may not always have food to eat. So, when Walter gets...
If this is deemed to be symbolic, it shows how behavior can symbolically represent class distinctions. Walter's family is much poorer than the Finch family. There may be a suggestion here that poorer families have different eating habits. Poorer families eat whatever they can get, so drowning food in maple syrup is not a big deal. Or, because Walter's family is so poor they may not always have food to eat. So, when Walter gets the chance to eat a lot of food, he eats ravenously. On the other hand, Walter's father is a farmer, so they probably usually have some food. But for someone like Walter, maple syrup might be a luxury. Like a kid in a candy store, Walter seizes as much syrup as he can. Any of these suggestions could be the case. Cal scolds Scout for criticizing Walter because she knows this is simply the way Walter eats or he is just a kid who is eager to eat something he doesn't normally get.
“There’s some folks who don’t eat like us,” she whispered fiercely, “but you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t. That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?”
If you want to get more symbolic, note that molasses is sweet. Maybe this is a statement that poor people are deprived of some of the sweeter things in life. With a farmer for a father, Walter probably eats a lot of meat, potatoes, and vegetables. Walter covers his food with sweetness. Perhaps this is symbolic of an attempt to cover a poor, bland life with sweeter, richer flavor.
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