Chapter 3

Plot Summary:

At the school playground, Scout bullies and rubs Walter Cunningham’s face into the dirt for getting her in trouble with Miss Caroline. Of course Walter does not deserve this so Jem stops them and invites Walter to lunch. Later, back at the Finch household Walter and Atticus get along and talk about business things over lunch. Scout makes rude comments to Walter when he puts molasses on his vegeteables and meat. Calpurnia makes Scout eat the rest of her lunch in the kitchen and scolds Scout for being rude and a bad hostess, before returning to the dining room. After, Scout, Walter, and Jem walk back to school and an incident occurs in Miss Caroline’s class. Miss Caroline gets upset and afraid, when a small bug crawl’s out of her student Burris Ewell’s hair. Burris is extremely poor and less respectable than the Cunningham family, which means he is struggling a lot in life. Burris only comes to school on the first day of school every year so he will not get in trouble with law. After Miss Caroline asks Burris to bathe and then return to class, he answers her by calling her a slut and making her cry. When school finishes, Scout comes home upset and tells Atticus she is not feeling well. She then tells him she does not want to go to school anymore, just like every other kid, and for him to teach her. Atticus explains to Scout that it is the law to attend school, and as long as she does not tell her teacher, he will continue to keep reading to her.

Major Changes and Developments:

There are several changes and developments in this chapter. We first see Scout’s aggressive and impulsive side in which she fights with Walter. However, by the end of the chapter she better realizes how to act around the less fortunate people, and is hoping to stay that way. Walter is depicted in this chapter as an innocent, caring person who is just trying to work for his life and family. His family repays Miss Caroline in goods instead of money. A big development is the character of Atticus. Instead of just being portrayed as a wealthy man around Maycomb, the author shows his personality of pride and respect when speaking about the poor families in town, and especially Walter. We are introduced to Burris Ewell, a boy who comes from an extremely poor family that is rude to his class and Miss Caroline. This boy is shown to readers of one with little respect towards anyone. Lastly, Calpurnia is shown as much more than just the cook of the Finch’s. She lectures Scout in a good way that will hopefully effect Scout’s ideas and decisions in the future.

Significant Quotations:

“I told Calpurnia to just wait, I'd fix her: one of these days when she wasn't looking I'd go off and drown myself in Barker's Eddy and then she'd be sorry. Besides, I added, she'd already gotten me in trouble once today: she had taught me to write and it was all her fault."

pg .29

- This quote shows that Calpurnia tries to help and scold Scout, Scout has yet to understand.

“ You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of you… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

- This quote is said by Atticus Finch, speaking to Scout. He explains this to Scout because Scout does not have a very good idea of how other people feel and live with their life. He tries to help Scout realize that not everyone has it easy and there are reasons for everyone’s actions. Scout means well in everything she does, but sometimes she needs to be much more selfless and that is what Atticus means by this quote.

Literary Elements:

There is an example of foreshadowing when Atticus makes the deal with Scout about reading. This is foreshadowing because there is absolutely going to be another problem that occurs with Miss Caroline.

Vocabulary:

Critical Thinking:

Why is Miss Caroline truly upset and flustered with everything going on in her classroom? What does this tell us about the ways of society back then?

Do you think Scout understands everything Atticus and Calpurnia have explained and taught him?