To Kill a Mockingbird — Chapter 3

About This Passage

This passage is the heart of Atticus's porch lecture to Scout. Harper Lee compresses a civics lesson into four sentences: the Ewells are a known quantity, a generational failure, and yet Atticus insists on calling them 'people' before he admits 'they lived like animals.' The word order matters — Lee will not let Scout, or us, skip past the human designation to reach the verdict.

Narration Prompt

Retell chapter three in three or four sentences. Begin with Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard and end with Scout and Atticus's compromise on the porch.

Discussion Questions

1. When Walter Cunningham pours syrup over his meat and vegetables at the Finches' table, Scout loudly asks 'what the sam hill he was doing' and Calpurnia marches her to the kitchen. Calpurnia tells Scout that 'anybody sets foot in this house's yo' comp'ny.' What does Calpurnia mean by 'company,' and why does that standard apply to a Cunningham but not, in Scout's mind, to her own behavior at her own table?
2. Burris Ewell's hair hides 'cooties,' and when Miss Caroline discovers one he tells her the Ewells come the first day of every year, then leave. The 'truant lady' accepts his name on the roll and the law lets him go. What does Miss Caroline's shock, and the class's matter-of-fact explanation, reveal about how Maycomb handles laws it has decided not to enforce?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide