To Kill A Mocking Bird Journal #1 Chapters 1-3

Journal #1
Chapters 1-3
Perspective of Scout

This summer was really cool. Jem and I met Dill, but his real name is Charles Baker Harris. He’s from Meridian, Mississippi, and he stays with our neighbor Miss Rachel during the summers. We would play and all, but one day Dill found interest in the malevolent ghost of the Radley Place. The eccentric house became the subject of talk for quite a while. In fact, dill even dared my brother to touch the Radley House! He eventually did it and Dill had to give up his copy of “The Gray Ghost”. Then in September, he left to return back to Meridian, which left me pretty lonely. Then school started. The fact that I had to learn at such a place irked me. My father, Atticus Finch, never had to go to school! He learned from his father everything he knew. Why couldn’t it be the same with me? The pronouncements of our teacher, Miss Caroline, intimidated me. She even said that Atticus was teaching me all wrong and that I should stop reading and writing! I felt condescended after that. Then it was really horrible. I was trying to show Miss Caroline that the Walter Cunnigham wouldn’t accept anything from Miss Caroline, because the Cunninghams never took what they couldn’t pay off. Instead of making a point, I was given half a dozen hits on my arm and was told to go sit in the corner. This humiliated me as I heard my entire class laughing. It wasn’t fun at all, but then Atticus told me to try to get into someone else’s skin and try to feel what they feel. It was a pretty disappointing time, and can’t wait for next summer.