To Kill a Mockingbird Topic Tracking: Innocence
Chapter 1
Innocence 1: Scout tries to explain to her teacher that she is embarrassing Walter Cunningham by offering him something that he won't be able to pay back. Scout realizes that because her teacher isn't a local, she won't know that about the Cunningham's, but Scout's explanation gets her into trouble. She wasn't trying to be insulting, but Miss Caroline mistook her frank and innocent explanation as condescension or rudeness and punished her for it. Scout's perception of the world and her classmates is not yet marred by the social divisions that adults see.
Chapter 3
Innocence 2: Scout really does insult Walter this time as she questions the way he eats and makes him feel self-conscious. She's not doing it intentionally -- she's just curious because she's never seen people who eat that way. She's too young to understand the social graces of Southern hospitality that dictate that you always make people feel at home and welcome no matter how unusual their habits may be.
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