How is the idea of prejudice shown in chapter 2-3 in To Kill A Mockingbird

During Chapter 2, Scout is met by a new teacher called Miss Caroline Fisher who is an ‘’outsider’’ to Maycomb. Scout immediately stereotypes the woman according to her dress sense and style assuming that she would be kind and sweet as she ‘’looked and smelled like a peppermint drop’’. However Scout later learns that Miss Caroline is a stern teacher and abides strictly by the rules. Scout develops a new dislike for the teacher as Miss Caroline tells her off for already being able to read and write, "We don't write in the first grade, we print. You won't learn to write until you're in the third grade". Scout is not able to understand the true reason for her teacher’s dislike to her ability of reading and writing as she is not able to look beyond her own beliefs. Miss Caroline told Scout off as she did not want one student to have an unfair advantage over the others and so was actually trying to look after the feelings of the other students in her class. Scout also forgets that Miss Caroline is unaware and ignorant to the class system in Maycomb and the town social customs as she is originally from Alabama. This is shown during the conversation between Miss Caroline Scout and Walter as she offers him money for lunch which he promptly refuses, and to which Scout replies ‘’Miss Caroline, he’s a Cunningham.’’ Scout is naïve and assumes that Miss Caroline would understand what she meant by the phrase as any other Maycomb citizen would gather the reason as Walter cannot pay Miss Caroline back.

Finally Walter Cunningham is introduced as a new character in Chapter 2. Walter is described by Scout as having hookworms suggesting that he is poor and cannot afford shoes. Scout is shown to already have increased knowledge and prejudices about the social classes in Maycomb commenting that Walter will probably have ‘’never seen three quarters together at the same time in his life’’ as he is a Cunningham. During Chapter 3, Walter is invited to lunch by Jem. Scout is surprised when Walter and Atticus ‘’talked together like two grown men’’ as she believed that as Walter is from the Cunninghams, who were of lower class than the Finch’s, therefore he would be unable to have an intelligent conversation. Scout was prejudging his ability according to his class before she got to know him properly. Scout’s own ability to understand is exceeded when Walter pours molasses all over his lunch at the Finch’s; ‘’Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand. He probably have poured it into his milk glass had I not asked what the sam hill he was doing.’’ Scout is unable to accept what Walter was doing as it was against etiquette she had learnt previously. She believes that the way Walter ate was wrong and assumes that she is of higher status and class as she is a Finch and he is a Cunningham. However Scout later learns from Calpurnia that just because someone’s different does not mean she gets to judge them, ‘’Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny, and don’t let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you so high and mighty!’’.

In conclusion, the idea of prejudice is explored through several characters in order to highlight the nativity of Scout as she is only a six year old who still has a lot to learn about Maycomb County and its residents. The characters show how much Scout still has to progress and also hints at the main moral of the story which is to not prejudge anyone before all of the details are known about them. It also foreshadows to further exploration into the theme of prejudice and the negative effects they have on Maycomb society.