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To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter 2 And 3 Analysis

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Atticus states that “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” How is this idea explored in Chapters 2 and 3? Atticus makes a statement which resonates through a vast majority of the novel. It can be clearly represented in chapters 2 and 3, when Scout first goes to school and Walter Cunningham comes to dinner with the Finches. Scout shows a lack of understanding for some characters, as does her teacher, Miss Caroline. This statement explored when Walter Cunningham comes over for dinner with the Finches. When presented with his food, he askes for some molasses and promptly covers the entirety of his dinner in syrup. Scout is shocked by this and protests. Atticus tries to prompt her to stop but she goes on to say “But he’s gone and drowned his dinner in …show more content…

When Scout explains Walter’s situation to her, explaining that the Cunningham’s can’t afford much and never take anything they can’t pay back, and explains that she is embarrassing him, Miss Caroline reacts harshly, tapping Scout’s hand with a ruler and forcing her to stand in a corner. When the Ewell’s case is explained to her, she decides to try and keep Burris in school, however when this backfires, resorts to sending him away again, stating “If you don’t go I’ll call the principal...I’ll have to report this anyway.” This shows her lack of understanding of the townspeople, as she still believes that the principal and herself will be able to keep Burris and the other Ewells in school. It also shows her naivety as a new teacher, as she lacks good knowledge of the local community. This is therefore another representation of how Atticus’ statement can be represented in these chapters, as Miss Caroline does not seem to understand the students, but also makes no effort to try and

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10- This quote is when Walter Cunningham has not brought any lunch to school, and is interrogated by Miss Caroline. Scout has to explain why Walter couldn’t have a lunch, and is “whipped” after explaining that Walter is poor. Scout knows that the Cunninghams only pay back in favours, are poor, and work hard, but she can’t explain this all as “well as Atticus did.” This quote is important because it shows how unfamiliar Miss Caroline is to Maycomb, and that Scout is the one looked to to explain these

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In this quote, Scout is talking about how Aunt Alexandra doesn’t ever let a chance to nag people about how pure her family is and how impure their families are. This, however, is just her facade so she could hide her true self. In the following quote, it will show how Aunt Alexandra really is and this is after Atticus tells her, Scout, Calpurnia, and Miss Maudie that Tom died trying to escape jail. “I thought Aunt Alexandra was crying, but when she took her hands away from her face, she was not.

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Atticus is a substantial example of compassion in Scout’s life. Once Scout gets home from school, she explains her distress on not wanting to go back to school because of Miss Caroline and reading, so he tells her, "to climb into someone's skin and walk around in it," (Lee 87) to make Scout understand that compassion is based on sympathy. Atticus tries to make Scout see from Miss Caroline’s point of view so Scout is able to

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How could Miss Caroline have avoided conflict with Scout? SInce Miss Caroline knows Scout can read she assumes her dad (Atticus) taught her how to read and tells Atticus to stop teaching her. Miss Caroline should have not told Scout’s dad to stop teaching her the skill of reading and she should have also not have picked on her for how she called Walter Cunningham and other things. In chapter 2 summer comes to an end and Dill leaves Maycomb.

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You never really understand a person until you understand things from their point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. ”(39) This advice summarizes Atticus’s approach to people. His ability to interpret other people’s views makes him an extremely righteous character. Another example of Atticus’s empathy reflects in his reaction to Bob Ewell’s threats.

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In Chapter 12 of Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many events and situations in which irony is used to support the theme of the chapter. An example of this is in the very beginning of the chapter, when Scout is concerned about how distant and moody Jem is acting, and asks Atticus, “’Reckon he’s got a tapeworm?’” (Lee 153), to which Atticus replies no, and that Jem is growing. This is dramatic irony because the readers understand that Jem is acting oddly because he’s growing, but Scout doesn’t know this until she asks Atticus about it. This quote supports the theme of Chapter 12 by showing when Jem started to grow distance from Scout, getting aggravated with her and telling her to stop bothering him, and shows how the children

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Scout asks him “what in the sam hill” he is doing and Walter ducks his head and puts his hands in his lap, seemingly embarrassed. Atticus shakes his head at her disapprovingly and then Calpurnia asks to see her in the kitchen. Calpurnia informs Scout, “There’s some folks who don’t eat like us,” she then goes on to say, “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 tablecloth you let him, you hear?”

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Atticus is giving Scout the lesson that he has to do what he feels is fair and right because if he doesn’t, he couldn’t live with himself. One should the right thing even if it means going through some tough times, the alternative, is humilation within oneself which is much worse than what others can say. Doing what is fair is more important than affirming others humanity especially in situations where people are being dehumanizing. This is

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When the rumors about Atticus are spread across the town, Mrs. Maudie does not speak about him like the rest of the town. She performs small and subtle actions to show that she is trying to defend the Finches, such as by holding Scout’s hand when she is near the townspeople. During Aunt Alexandra’s usual neighborhood meeting in the Finches’ home, the guests discuss the Tom Robinson case. Mrs. Merriweather, one of the guests, begins rambling about how her servants have acted poorly since the beginning of the Tom Robinson case. Mrs. Merriweather states, “I tell you there are some good but misguided people in this town…

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Atticus gives her a tip to understand why people do the things that they do after she has some issues with her first grade teacher at school. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (39). Atticus tells Scout this to help her get along with others better. This takes place early on in the novel, but later in the novel Scout remembers this lesson.

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In the passage Jem and Scout walk home during the dark hours,giving Bob Ewell an opportunity to stage an attack. As Bob Ewell attacks them Boo Radley rushes in to rescue Jem and Scout. After this Scout now understands what Atticus meant it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. The killing of a mockingbird is much like killing the innocent. It is beyond a crime and worse than the most heinous atrocities.

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This quote stands as one of the main themes of the book, To Kill A Mockingbird. Jem is only a little boy. He and Scout both see things as they are, and lack understanding. Atticus really wants to stress to them that you must understand a person for what they have gone through, and what has happened. You can’t make sense of a person just by their actions and words; you must dig deeper.

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”(39) He says this to Scout because she did not understand Miss Caroline was

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Scout is initially naïve and does not think about how her actions affect others, showing that children can be offensive when their naïveté equates to a lack of empathy. For example, when Jem invites Walter Cunningham over for dinner, Scout is not accustomed to the way he eats. She says to Calpurnia, “But he’s gone and drowned his dinner in syrup, he’s poured it all over” (Lee 32). Scout’s youth prevents her from understanding the differences in other people’s life circumstances, including Walter’s. Her family is wealthier than the Cunninghams and she knows proper manners; Walter, on the other hand, likely does not.

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This is evident when Miss Caroline looked at Scout “with more than faint distaste.” after she reveals to Miss Caroline her capability to read and write. The noun phrase, faint distaste, shows that Miss Caroline is pull out by Scout’s knowledge, as she preserve that grade one students were not suppose to know how to read and write. From what she expected, we can deduce that Miss Caroline’s teaching method is impersonal, and does not suit the needs of the students in Maycomb’s society. With her incapability to differentiate for different abilities, Scout will not be challenged academically and learning is lost.

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