free response, Attisani

Scout is unbelievably smart and mature for her age, and she understands far more then her class mates. During Scouts first day of school, it is lunch time and Ms. Caroline is coming around the classroom checking everybody's lunch. When she came to Walter Cunningham, she realized he did not have a lunch, and Ms. Caroline started to question him. Walter is a very poor kid, and he comes from a family of farmers who don't make a lot of money. When questioned about where his lunch is, Walter lies and says he forgets it. Being a generous teacher, Ms. Caroline offers Walter a quarter and says, "Here's a quarter. Go and eat downtown today. You can pay me back tomorrow."(21) Ms. Caroline says this trying to be a nice person, but she doesn't realize that Walter cannot afford to pay her back. Scout, who is an onlooker, realizes that Walter cannot pay, and she tells that to Ms. Caroline. Scout is very intelligent and she understands situations. Earlier in the book, she was displaying her reading skills, and Ms. Caroline thought that Scouts father was teaching her, when actually she was mostly self taught. Either Ms. Caroline feels threatened by the fact that Scout is so smart, or she just doesn't appreciate her brilliant student.