What lessons does scout learn in To Kill a Mockingbird?
The whole of the part one of this novel is a series of life lessons preparing Scout for the hardships she is going to face in the second part of the novel. Due to the influence of the likes of Atticus, Miss Maudie and Mrs Dubose, Scout goes from a naïve young girl who thought with her fists rather than her head, into a more mature, empathetic girl. This essay is going to discuss some of the lessons Scout learns and how they impacted the way she became at the end of part one. One of the first lessons Scout learns is to be tolerant of other people. Walter Cunningham is described as having “looked as if he had been raised on fish food… had no colour in his face… and fingered the straps of his overalls.
The first line is a simile that tells us how poor Walter is because fish food isn’t regular food and humans wouldn’t be able to survive on it which means Walter must be very skinny looking, because he doesn’t get proper food at home. Also, only the poor wore overalls and the colouring of his face is described as if he is ill which tells us the family don’t have enough money to take him to a doctor. When Walter comes to the Finch family and has lunch, he pours molasses all over his meal. This baffles Scout, who doesn’t understand why he is doing this, and wasted no time in commenting on “what the sam hill he was doing.” She is immediately reprimanded by Calpurnia who teaches her that some people do things differently to others but “you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em…”. The way Calpurnia uses language such as ain’t, shows that she is so angry with Scout that she doesn’t care about her bad grammar, and Scout knew this. This incident makes Scout more aware of the ways of other people and that she needs to tolerate and accept them, no matter how alien they may be to her. Scout learns many lessons from Atticus regarding school. In school, Scout is introduced to a lot of different people such as Miss Caroline, Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell whom she doesn’t always understand or get along with. One of the lessons she learns from Atticus is to be empathetic towards other people. After Scouts gets in trouble with Miss Caroline at school, she tells Atticus all that had happened and that she doesn’t want to go back. Atticus tells her that she has to go to school and advises that you can get along with people better if you “…climb into his skin and walk around in it.” He used this metaphor to explain to Scout that you can’t understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.
Another lesson Scout learns regarding school is about the Ewells. Burris Ewell is in Scout’s class and is described as “the filthiest human I had ever seen… a fist-sized clean space on his face.” This tells us that Burris is probably too poor to be able to bathe and the “fist-sized clean space on his face” suggests to us that he is possibly being abused at home because when he was hit, some of the dirt may have rubbed off. Scout learns that the Ewells are a poor family that only come for the first day of school and don’t turn up for the rest of the year. She uses this to try to convince Atticus not to let her go to school by saying “…he just goes to school on the first day…” Atticus tells her that “…common folk must obey the law…” meaning that because the Ewells are poor, the law can be bended for them, for example, Burris’s father is allowed to hunt out of season despite it being against the law because that is the only way his children can be fed. Atticus says “I don’t know any landowner around here, who begrudges those children any game their father can hit.” Meaning that the folks of Maycombe turn a blind eye to it for the benefit of his children. Therefore, the lesson that Scout learns is that it is good to bend the law and to compromise if it is in the interest of a greater cause. Another lesson Scout learns is from Miss Maudie regarding the Radley’s. Miss Maudie’s attitude towards the Radley’s is revealed when Scout asks Miss Maudie if she thought Boo Radley was alive and Miss Maudie replies “His name’s Arthur…”. This tells us that Miss Maudie is very respectful of the Ewells and that she thinks they are equal to everyone else. This is also revealed when she says “Arthur Radley just stays in the house, that’s all.” The idiom at the end gives a sense of finality, that what Arthur Radley does is his business and no one else’s. This same lesson is given to Scout by Atticus after she and Jem are caught trying to sneak a letter into the Radley House. He says “… what Mr Radley does is his own business.” This shows his attitude that people can do what they want provided it’s within the law; which ties into the fact that he is a lawyer. Therefore, Scout learns from both Atticus and Miss Maudie that what people do is their own business and that Scout should be respectful towards them, and also that she shouldn’t always believe rumours. Scout also learns to control her anger and to not react when people tease her. She learns this lesson when Cecil Jacobs says “Scout Finch’s daddy defends niggers” and that he is a “disgrace”. Atticus says “Scout got to learn to keep her head” meaning she needs to control her anger. She puts this advice into practice when Cecil Jones has a go at her again. She “dropped (her) fists and walked away…” because “if (she) fought Cecil (she) would let Atticus down” This shows that she had learnt to control her anger and that she has reached a level of maturity. Scout had always thought her father was useless and that “he didn’t do anything”. The naïve narrator really comes into play here because she thinks Atticus “didn’t do anything that could possible arouse the admiration of anyone” without realising that he was doing the most admirable thing by defending a black man.
She soon finds out that Atticus is the best shot in Maycombe and is nick named “one shot Finch” The way the Mayor called him “one shot Finch” so casually shows that he has been called that many times before and that it is nothing new. Scout, however, is astonished that Atticus never told her or Jem. Miss Maudie tells her that “People in their right minds never take pride in their talents” meaning that if you have a talent, you don’t need to show off about it. This teaches Scout to be proud of what she has and not to judge a book by their cover; that just because Atticus is fifty and doesn’t, in her eyes, have an interesting job, doesn’t mean he can’t do anything. Scout also learned not to judge a book by its cover from Mrs Dubose. Mrs Dubose was an unpleasant old lady, who would constantly criticise the Finch family as well as criticising Atticus for defending a black man, for example she said “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” Scout and Jem hated her for this. However, Scout learns that the reason why Mrs Dubose was so unpleasant was because she was terminally ill and was a morphine addict. She only had a few months to live and was determined to die with a clear head; without morphine. Therefore, from this experience scout learned not to judge people before she knew them, that there is always a reason for why someone is rude or critical. Finally, Scout learns from Atticus what real bravery is. Atticus is defending Tom Robinson despite him knowing that he probably won’t win.
He says “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us to try not to win.” He is trying to say that there was really no chance of them winning since the beginning. However, he explains that that does not mean he shouldn’t put up a good fight. The more he fight’s, the harder and longer it takes for the other people to win. This teaches Scout about bravery because Atticus is fighting for this cause despite him knowing he is going to lose and despite all the hatred and rude comments he and his family get. This teaches Scout that no matter what the consequences are, you should always stand up for what you believe in. In conclusion, Scout learns many lessons throughout the first part of the book in order for her to be able to cope with the events that happen in the second half of the book. Whilst she learns a lot from different people, it is evident that the person who has had the most influence and has taught her the most is Atticus, which shows that he is actually much more warm and caring than he seemed in the beginning of the book. Despite all of the lessons being taught in different ways and from different people, they are aimed at making Scout a more mature and developed character.
