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To
kill a Mockingbird Summary: Chapter 3
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Jem invites Walter Cunningham over for lunch when he finds out that the boy
doesn't have any food. Walter hesitates but then takes them up on the friendly
offer. At the Finches' house, Atticus and Walter discuss farming, and Scout
is overwhelmed by their adult speech. Walter asks for some molasses and proceeds
to pour it all over his meat and vegetables. Scout rudely asks him what he's
doing and Calpurnia gives her a lecture in the kitchen about how to treat guests
- even if they're from a family like the Cunninghams.
Back at school, there's a big scene when Miss Caroline screams upon seeing a
louse ("cootie") crawl off of the head of one of the boys in the class.
This boy, Burris Ewell, comes from a family so poor that Atticus say they "live
like animals." Their children come to school on the first day of the year
and then are never seen again. The children inform their teacher of this, explaining
that "He's one of the Ewells." Miss Caroline wants Burris to go home
and take a bath, but before he leaves the room for the rest of the year, he
yells crude insults at her and makes her cry. The children comfort her and she
reads them a story.
Scout feels discouraged returning home from school. After dinner she tells Atticus
she doesn't want to go back. Atticus asks her to understand the situation from
Miss Caroline's point of view - Miss Caroline can't be expected to know what
to do with her students when she doesn't know anything about them yet. Scout
wants to be like Burris Ewell and not have to go to school at all. As Atticus
explains, the town authorities bend the law for the Ewells because they'll never
change their ways - for instance, Mr. Ewell can hunt out of season because everyone
knows he spends his relief checks on whiskey and his children won't eat if he
doesn't hunt. Atticus teaches Scout about compromise: if she goes to school,
Atticus will let her keep reading with him at home. Scout agrees and Atticus
reads to her and Jem from the papers.
Analysis
Atticus's patient teaching gives Scout a lesson that he says will help her
"get along better with all kinds of folk:" she has to remember to
judge people on their intentions rather than their actions, and put herself
into the other person's shoes in order to understand them best. The chapter
establishes that Atticus can relate to all kinds of people, including poor farm
children -he's a master of seeing things from other people's perspectives. The
last sentence of the chapter, "Atticus was right," applies not only
to his prediction that Jem will come down from his treehouse if left alone,
but also to most issues of character judgement. The opinions of Atticus can
usually be trusted, and he is convinced of the importance of dealing fairly
and reasonably with all people.
The chapter introduces the Ewell family for the first time, who will figure
heavily into the latter part of the book. Burris Ewell and his family manage
to live outside the local and national laws because they are so poor and ignorant,
belonging to the lowest circle of white Maycomb society. The Ewell children
only need to come to school for the first day, and then the town will overlook
the fact that they are absent even though schooling is mandatory for all children.
Likewise, Mr. Ewell is allowed to hunt out of season because he is known to
be an alcoholic who spends his relief money on whiskey - if he can't hunt, his
children may not eat anything. This shows an example of how the law, which is
meant to protect people, can sometimes be harmful if followed too absolutely.
Sometimes it is in everyone's best interests to bend the law in special cases,
and the community of Maycomb is willing to allow the Ewells to live outside
the law in certain cases, turning a blind eye to their activities. The opinion
of the town is that no law will ever force the Ewells to change, because they
are set in their "ways" and will never change - rather, the law must
change to accommodate them and protect the children, who should not have to
suffer needlessly.
Scout also learns that the reason Walter Cunningham doesn't pass first grade
lies in the fact that he has to leave school in the spring in order to help
around the farm. The Cunninghams are not all necessarily illiterate and ignorant
because of a lack of intelligence, but because they are subject to a system
which subverts their chances of getting a good education. Because they must
keep the farm running in order to survive, and because the school system does
not make any accommodations for farm children, there is a self-perpetuating
societal cycle for farm families to remain uneducated and ignorant. They are
victims, generally, of a social system and, at the time of the book's events,
bad economic times. This shows that the county or state needs to make some educational
changes in order to help such families and increase literacy and learning -
however, the misguided educational measures that Scout is subjected to do nothing
for students like Walter and only impede and bore advanced students like herself.
Reform energy is currently being channeled inappropriately and unrealistically,
and all of society is suffering.
