To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Chapter 3

Scout is taking out her anger on Walter Cunningham for making her start off on the wrong foot with Miss Caroline. Jem stops her and after finding out what happened, invites and convinces Walter to go with them home for lunch. Atticus joins them for lunch and engages Walter in a conversation about farming. Through this we learn that Walter hasn’t attended school regularly due to his duties on the farm. Then, Walter asks for molasses and starts to put it on his entire meal until Scout starts yelling at him. Now embarrassed, Calpurnia pulls Scout into the kitchen and scolds her about her treatment of company at the table. Scout thinks that because Walter is a Cunningham, it doesn’t matter but Cal sets her straight about treating people regardless of background with respect. How fortunate that Scout has Calpurnia in the absence of a mother to teach her these important life lessons. Scout doesn’t understand any of this and decides to eat in the kitchen rather than face the dinner table and reminds herself that it is Cal’s fault for teaching her how to write. She tries to get Atticus to get rid of her but he supports Cal.

Returning for the afternoon at school, Miss Caroline starts screaming and everyone thinks it’s a mouse. Turns out that it was rather large head lice on Burris Ewell’s head. This is just the cutest scene where Little Chuck Little acts the southern gentleman to Miss Caroline calming her down and getting everyone settled. She proceeds to tell Burris to go home and rid himself of the lice with something she pulls from a book and to bathe before returning to school. He tells her that not only isn’t he going to do this but he has done his time for the year. Now another child explains that there is an agreement in the town that the Burris’ only have to show up for the first day of school to satisfy the truant officers. We get such a picture of life in this town just through this first day of first grade. As Burris leaves, he calls Miss Caroline all sorts of names until she starts crying. This poor girl is in totally over her head here. All of the children try to comfort her. Scout begins to think that school won’t be so boring after all with all of this drama going on for 9 months even if she isn’t allowed to read for the rest of the year.

She and Jem return home and meet Atticus and Calpurnia where all is forgiven. Cal admits to Scout that her day was lonely without them. Then Atticus calls her to the front porch to read and she tells him about her day with Miss Caroline. Atticus uses this as a way to teach Scout a lesson about empathy. He reminds her that she learned a lot today but that Miss Caroline also learned a lot also. Both Scout and Miss Caroline acted from ignorance of one another. Scout thinks that she can use the Burris 1 day of school rule, but Atticus explains that the Ewells lived like animals for generations and more was expected of Scout. He tells her something that may come back later, “In certain circumstances the common folk judiciously allowed them certain privileges by the simple method of becoming blind to some of the Ewells’ activities.”

Scout gets back to her problem at hand, not being able to read anymore. Atticus teaches her the art of compromise. He tells her that it’s an agreement reached by mutual concessions. If she’ll go to school, they’ll go on reading every nights as always. Atticus never speaks down to the children which is one of the reasons that they display such intelligence and wit.

Pauline, thank you for the great summary. This slice of life really gives the reader a taste of Maycomb. I keep thinking of the Little Rascals and all the scrapes they got involved in both in and out of school.

Scout receives another life lesson in this chapter, namely having respect for others, including Walter who indulges in the molasses, to the distate of Scout. Atticus and Calpurnia both lead by example and are better teachers than Miss Caroline ever will be. As the saying goes, teaching begins in the home. Atticus' demeanor with the children is firm, but respectful, and never condescending. His comment about turning a blind eye is echoed later on when prejudgement comes to a head.

Pauline, thanks for the great summary.

I think that with Scout scolding Walter for overuse of molasses we again have an instance of Scout meaning well but lacking in some tact. Her mistakes, though, are honest ones so we can forgive her.

I was also strongly moved by the difference in characterization between the two poor families we have encountered: The Cunninghams and the Ewells. It seems that the Cunninghams are what you'd call working poor, or honest poor, and the Ewells are, well, just plain trash. It's definitely a deeper look into the social and moral pyramid of Maycomb: At the top are people like The Finches, next are the working poor like the Cunninghams (poor but have a good moral code) and at the bottom are the Ewells who are willfully ignorant and proud of that fact. It seems that Maycomb is not exactly Mayberry.

I think in this chapter we start to get a "feel" for Maycomb - and it's inhabitants - there are great lessons to be learned around the subject of social tolerance. We learn more about families and the place they held in the town....outsiders are viewed with suspicion - (where have we seen that before - Outlander springs to mind !)


I love the way Atticus reasons with Scout...."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 ".


Thanks for a really insightful summary Pauline

I enjoyed your chapter summary, Pauline.

It's horribly ironic that while Scout is punished for being ahead of the arbitrary notion of when a child should be reading and writing in cursive, the town allows the Ewell boy to flounder with no hope for any sort of an adequate education.

Again, it's the same problem with rigidity in thinking that Miss Caroline displays with adhering to her educational system. It's the rule, so therefore we must follow it to the letter. Ridiculous.

Yes, very ridiculous, while all the time turning a blind eye to the problems that need to be addressed.

In a lot of ways Scout is a lot like Miss Caroline, although one is an adult (obviously quite sheltered) and one is a child. Both of them are learning lessons today about the people that they live with and how to treat them with respect.

That is very true, Pauline.

It was a clever way of introducing the townspeople through the children since by knowing the children's history, we later understand the parents. All through the 1st day of 1st grade, very clever!

That's such a good point, Pauline. Also, children are brutally honest, so we get a clear picture of how these different families are judged by the community.

very good points. Also we get to see how these families interact with each other and how they "really" act since few first graders have any type of guile. Will definitely bear looking back at during the course of the book as we get into the later chapters.