In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout said, "He ain't company, Cal, he is just a Cunningham." What did she mean by that, and what was Cal's answer?

In a novel that is largely about the falseness of
prejudice, so to speak, Scout's views of Walter Cunningham (and, by extension, his
family) are highly significant. 

Saying the Walter does not
qualify as "company," Scout is implying that the popular view of the Cunningham's as
nothing more than poor may be expanded to also suggest that the family should not be
counted and do not belong in the category of "real
people."

Scout's statement is an example of "classism" or
class discrimination. Calpurnia's response is that Scout should not put herself (or her
humanity) above that of others. 

This opposed pair of view
points resonates with many other episodes of prejudice being challenged in the novel.
Boo Radley is pre-judged by many in the community, but turns out to be quite a different
person from the prevalent, gossip-driven view of his
character.

Thus the novel's examination of race prejudice
stands alongside its treatment of class prejudice, age prejudice and gossip-based local
prejudice.

The notion of empathy and subjectivity of
perspective is repeated throughout the novel and addressed directly on several
occasions.

The lesson Atticus gives to Scout can be said to
stand as a unifying thread that connects the various episodes of the novel and which
functions also as the moral of the book. 

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“First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a
simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never
really understand a person until you consider things from his point of
view—“

“Sir?”

“—until you
climb into his skin and walk around in
it.”