To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapters 1-3
Episode 06
In this episode, Professor Pipes discusses the first three chapters of Harper Lee's classic coming of age tale, To Kill a Mockingbird, which is surprisingly not a how to guide for murdering songbirds (ikr?). She covers characters, plot summary, themes, and discussion questions.
Transcript
Introduction:
Hello! I’m Professor Pipes, and today I’m reading Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Since you’re here, I’m guessing you want to know more, so I’ll tell you about the first three chapters, for a start.
To Kill a Mockingbird is surprisingly not a “how to” guide for murdering songbirds. Sorry, cats of the world. Instead, it’s an iconic coming of age tale that takes place in a small Southern town in the 1930’s. For something that sounds so sweet and simple, this story gets real deep, real quick. It delves into the difficult issues of gender, race, class, and identity, as they are seen through the naive eyes of a young, white girl. While the story is fictional, or not true, it is based on realistic things that really did go on in small towns across the United States. If you don’t believe me, ask your granny. Harper Lee wrote and published this novel right at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, making a powerful statement in favor of equality.
Characters:
First, there’s the Finch Family, Scout, Jem, and their father, Atticus.
Scout Finch, whose real name is Jean Louise, is narrating the book as an adult, but our story begins when she’s almost six years old. Scout’s a tough cookie. No, Cooper, I know I said cookie, but no treats for you until after the video’s done. Anyway, Scout is very smart, but also short-tempered and likely to start up a fight, which is precisely NOT what nice young ladies in the 1930’s are supposed to be doing. Fiesty tyke, that one.
Scout’s older brother is Jem, or Jeremy, and he’s almost ten at the start of the book. He’s more mature than his younger sister and also more in control of his emotions, well, most of the time. He’s a real thinker, so he struggles with the hypocrisy and illogical behavior of his small town and he dreams of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a lawyer.
Atticus Finch is basically the perfect human. He’s a kind, compassionate, brave, humble, and intelligent widower. When Shakespeare said, “let’s kill all the lawyers,” he definitely was NOT talking about this guy.
Calpurnia is the Finch family’s African American housekeeper, and, for the most part, she’s treated like a member of the family. She is a strict but loving mother figure for the Finch children, and a symbol of strong womanhood for Scout. Calpurnia also serves as a link between the children’s sheltered, whitewashed world and the harsh realities of life for Black Southerners.
Charles Baker Harris, who is inexplicably called “Dill,” is the “going on seven” year old friend of Scout and Jem, who stays at their neighbor’s house each summer. He’s a mischievous dreamer and storyteller. Fun fact: Dill was based on the author’s real life childhood friend, Truman Capote, who went on to write In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Miss Maudie Atkinson is a motherly neighbor and friend of the family who grew up with Atticus. She’s smart mouthed, quick-witted, and obsessed with gardening.
Miss Stephanie Crawford is the town gossip who lives across the street from the Finches. She loves to stir up drama and spread rumors, so you definitely can’t always trust what she says.
Finally, there’s Arthur Radley, who lives down the road, but he’s better known as Boo Radley since he’s so mysterious, mainly because he never comes out of his house.
Summary:
Before we delve right in, we’ve got to get awkward and uncomfortable for a minute. It’s important to know that the terms “Negro” and “colored” are used throughout the story because, at the time in which this story is set, those were the generally accepted terms for African Americans. Times change, and so does language. Just ask anyone who still says, “talk to the hand.” So while nowadays those terms aren’t really used, or at least aren’t used very kindly, they were pretty normal back then. The story also uses the “n word” several times, and just like nowadays, that term was not seen as ok and was used to be demeaning and derogatory. In fact, in the story, it is really only said by ignorant and racist white characters, or by some characters who don’t know any better, like children. And when those children learn better, they do better, and that’s a lesson we should all remember.
Ok, that’s done for now, and we can move on to the story.
The book starts with Scout telling us that we’re going to hear the story of how her brother Jem broke his arm. I guess it’s going to take thirty-one chapters to get there. Anyway, first we’re introduced to the Finch Family - done and done. We also learn just how small their small town really is and how everyone knows everyone else. It seems perfect and picturesque, despite the rampant poverty of the Great Depression, with ladies dolled up in pastel dresses, horses trotting down the road, and everyone sitting out on their front porches as the sun sets each evening. All you need is a cold glass of sweet tea, darlin’. Soon, Scout and Jem meet Dill, who is spending the summer with his aunt Rachel, who just happens to be Scout and Jem’s next door neighbor. He reveals that he “doesn’t have” a father and seems embarrassed, which confuses our young narrator, who apparently has never met a “single mother” before. The three become fast friends, and they like to act out stories together. Eventually, though, Dill gets bored, so he asks about Boo Radley, the neighborhood shut-in. Jem tells us all about Boo. Spooky story time! Jem says that Boo Radley likes to comes out at night to spy on the neighbors and eat squirrels and cats. He’s six feet tall, with a scar across his face and red hands, because he can’t wash the blood off them. He also tells Dill that when Boo, ok, Arthur, was a teenager, he got in trouble because he went on a joy ride with a few friends. As punishment, his dad locked him in the house. He wasn’t seen again until fifteen years later, when he stabbed his dad in the leg with a pair of scissors. The townspeople thought Arthur Radley should go to an asylum, but his dad said he wasn’t crazy, and just continued to keep him shut away inside. When Arthur’s dad died, his brother, Nathan, came to live with him, but Boo still never came outside. Dill becomes fascinated by Boo Radley and wants to make him come out, and he even dares Jem to touch the house, which he eventually does. After Jem runs away, Scout thinks she sees a shutter move, as if someone had been watching. Dun dun DUUUUN!
In Chapter Two, Dill goes home, and Scout goes to school for the first time! She’s really excited, until the brand new teacher, Miss Caroline, makes her feel guilty for already knowing how to read and write. In fact, she tells Scout to have her father STOP teaching her, because it will interfere with her learning. Umm… not sure how that works, but okaaaay… When it’s time for lunch, which they call dinner, by the way, Miss Caroline offers a quarter to Walter Cunningham, so he can buy something, since he doesn’t have anything to eat. Scout knows that Walter’s family is very poor, so poor that they had to pay Atticus with turnips and nuts in the past, but that they do their best and they never accept anything that they can’t pay back. So when Walter won’t take Miss Caroline’s money, Scout tries, and fails, to explain why, and Miss Caroline gets confused and annoyed and slaps Scout on the hand with a ruler. Ahh… what a perfect way to foster a lifelong love of education.
In Chapter Three, Scout starts to beat up Walter Cunningham, since she blames him for getting her in trouble, but Jem stops her and invites Walter Cunninham home for lunch. When Walter pours molasses on his meal, Scout is horrified and points it out, which embarrasses him. Calpurnia calls Scout into the kitchen and says that’s not how people should treat their company. Scout says that he’s not real company, because he’s “just a Cunningham.” Umm… rude! Anyway, this really ticks off Calpurnia, who explains that anyone who sets foot in the house is company, and it doesn’t matter what family they come from. When Scout returns to school, Miss Caroline soon gets distracted and terrified in the middle of a lesson when a bug crawls out of the hair of Burris Ewell, a member of the poorest and least respectable family in town. When Miss Caroline asks him to clean himself up before he comes to school tomorrow, his classmates explain that the Ewell kids only come to school on the first day because they are forced to, and then they don’t come back for the rest of the year, and Burris seems proud of this. Burris then leaves, but not before yelling at Miss Caroline, calling her a “snot nosed slut of a schoolteacher,” and making sure he brought her to tears. What a nice guy. When Scout gets home, Atticus can tell she’s upset, and she tries to convince him that she shouldn’t have to go back to school, since the Ewells don’t go to school. Atticus explains that the town kind of bends the rules for the Ewells, since they won’t change their ways. For example, since their father spends all of his welfare money on alcohol, the town lets him hunt “out of season,” even though it’s illegal, because at least then his children will have something to eat. Atticus then explains that the rules don’t bend for Scout, so she has to go to school, but he promises that they will still read together every night.
Analysis:
This is a coming of age story, so it’s all about the children learning important moral lessons (or in literary terms, themes) as they grow up and mature. However, the first few chapters of most books are really just used for exposition. We are introduced to the main characters and the setting, and eventually the underlying conflict. And that’s where we first start to see evidence of the themes. It’s clear pretty early on that prejudice has taken hold of this town, which relates to multiple themes, beginning with Assumptions.
Now some of the assumptions are so deeply embedded in Maycomb’s culture that even the children see them as normal. Scout mentions at the very start of the book that the name Haverford was “synonymous with jackass” in their town. It’s obvious to the kids what kind of people all the Haverfords are, just because they come from that family. All Haverfords are “donkeys,” or at least that’s what everyone assumes. Similarly, when the first grade meets Miss Caroline, they are apprehensive about her because she’s from “North Alabama,” which is full of people who are different from them. Similarly, Miss Caroline doesn’t see the apparent poverty in front of her and assumes that the small boy with no shoes can afford to pay her back, when Scout says he’d probably never seen three quarters together in his life. The children also make wild assumptions about Boo Radley. Despite having never seen him, Jem goes into detail about his monstrous physical appearance and murderous eating habits, and these childhood legends are accepted as simple facts. Ultimately, Atticus says it best when he tells Scout, “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.” So all these assumptions based on where a person was born, or what family they are part of, or what they look like? There’s a lot more to a person than that.
The need for compassion is also seen in these early chapters, and the first loving, compassionate character I’d like to talk about is Calpurnia. While at the start of the story, Scout refers to Calpurnia’s “tyrannical presence,” and Calpurnia does give her a good spanking when Scout insults Walter, she’s also the one who taught Scout cursive, and when Scout returns from school Calpurnia kisses her, tells her she missed her, and made her favorite snack. There’s a lot more to Calpurnia than Scout sees, at first. She’s clearly a motherly figure, who disciplines and encourages, scolds and loves. On the other hand, Atticus seems a bit more distant, at first glance. In fact, the kids even call him Atticus, rather than “dad” or “papa” or whatever your favorite name for your father is. Scout even says he treats her and Jem with “courteous detachment.” However, I don’t want you getting the wrong idea. It’s not that he is detached or that he doesn’t love and care for his children. Quite the opposite. He treats his children like young adults. He calls them by their first names, so they have learned to do the same. He treats them courteously, rather than barging in on their privacy, and they have learned that same respect. As a result, they love him more than anyone else. Overall, at the center of this story we have a loving, compassionate family.
Finally, I’d like to talk about the first hints of social inequality in this story. And it’s all about the word “just.” Scout doesn’t see Walter as “company” because he’s “just” a Cunningham. She automatically looks down on Walter because he’s from a poor family. She sees him as less than her. She’s a Finch, and he’s “just” a Cunninghman. Where did she learn this prejudice? Not from Atticus. Scout tells us that he and Walter talked happily about farm life, like two adults. He didn’t treat Walter any differently. Not from Jem, either. He invited Walter over, since he knew their fathers knew each other well. And certainly not from Calpurnia. She lectures Scout on the importance of treating everyone who enters the house with respect. Calpurnia even says that acting so rudely to a guest disgraces the “better” family that Scout seems to think she comes from. So where did she pick up this classism that rolls off her tongue so naturally? Well, I don’t have a good answer for that, but I will point your attention back to the tale of the Haverfords. The whole town, she says, knew what their name was synonymous with. It seems that maybe the “whole town’s” views of the Cunninghams may have spread to her, too.
Food for Thought:
As always, here on “Piper’s Paraphrases,” I’d like to leave you with some food for thought. These are questions to consider as you look over and think about these chapters, and as you continue reading the story.
First, in what ways is Maycomb relatable to you or to your town?
Second, do you think your family has a “reputation” in your community? How might that reputation have affected you and your life?
Third, how should Scout have been treated at school? Clearly, she’s ahead of her classmates, so what could Miss Caroline have done to foster her love of learning and education, instead of crushing it?
Fourth, based on Burris Ewell and the description of his family, what can you infer about his home life? Why do you think he behaves the way that he does?
Finally, what do you think of the author’s style? She blends the naive thoughts and experiences of a small child with her vocabulary and knowledge as an adult. Have you ever read any other stories with a similar voice? What do you think of it?
