The book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is an engrossing novel about a girl named Scout, and experience of living in a small southern town in the 1930’s. Scout lives with her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem, and their cook/maid, Calpurnia. They live in a part of Maycomb County where mostly common-folk live, and it seems quite obvious from the very beginning of the book that Scout is unfamiliar with people who are different than the families living just near her. She knows other people exist but she is inconsiderate and naive, not only to poor people, but to minorities in general, and people who are not exactly “normal”. Scouts innocence throughout this book comes at a disadvantage to her being liked by the people around her.
Scouts innocence does not help her adjust to the new school community. On the very first day of school, Scouts teacher already hates her, because she says whatever pops into her mind, even if its not exactly socially acceptable. For example, in Scouts class, there is a boy from the Cunningham family. The Cunninghams never took anything that they couldn’t repay, and being poor, there wasn’t much that they could repay. When Walter Cunningham couldn’t afford lunch, and refused to take the teachers money and pay her back, Scout insensitively blurted out his financial situation, which she only knew because of an overheard conversation. Later, Scout beat up Walter Cunningham for getting her in trouble on the first day of school. Scouts inability to keep some necessary things to herself is a problem for everyone in her surroundings.
In conclusion, Scout is too young to understand what is and what is not appropriate, and she is expected to be more mature than she can by her family. Although I have read very little of this book so far, I can tell that this personality trait of Scouts will not be a helpful trait, and it may get her in some trouble later on.
