Scout criticizes Walter for his poor table manners and Calpurnia pulls her aside and slaps her for failing to be a good hostess. .
Back at school a large bug crawls out of Burris Ewell's hair, a member of the Ewell clan, another impoverished family of the town, which causes the new teacher to be dismayed. Burris only comes to school on the first day in order to be registered. He shouts abuse at the teacher who is reduced to tears.
At home Scout complains to Atticus about school and that she is never going back, but Atticus says under the law she must go, and that he will continue to read to her provided she doesn't tell her teacher.
Atticus has been Scout's main teacher and he has always said to her that in order to understand a person one must climb into his skin and walk around in it'.
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Interpretation.
We can gather three main aspects from Scout's first day at school.
One: an instant sympathy with our narrator being made to feel guilty and punished by the teacher for her good intentions. Scout always means well and her nature is basically good, and the mistakes she does make are honest and while there are evil influences around her, she appears to go through the story with no ill effects.
Two: we obtain a good description of the Maycomb social ladder and how it works.
Three: we share Scout's confusion that things are not always what they seem. Scout expects all adults, especially those in authority to be the same, but her teacher is far removed from Atticus. Despite the injustices Scout faces she remains buoyant and not disillusioned. .
We also come across the Ewell clan who are a bad bunch. They live next to the village dump and make their living scavenging amongst the items discarded by the rest of the town. Both socially and geographically they are just one step above the black community, which borders their land. They seldom wash and it is difficult to tell from the color of their skin what race they are.
