Unlike Jem, Scout seems to be dispassionate when regarding her deceased mother. “I did not miss her…”, being my main reasoning. Scout has no motherly figure at this stage. We know her mother is dead, and that she rejects the only other feminine presence in her household, Calpurnia. She, at one stage labels Cal as a “tyrannical presence”, and additionally separates her from their family, stating that Cal is merely her cook. We gain the impression that Scout is a tomboy, being heavily involved socially as well as domestically with her brother. Her lack of appreciated feminine influence being the main cause of her boyish qualities, her clothes for example.
Furthermore, Scout reveres her father. She believes him to be at the top of the hierarchy, royalty in some way, “…he knew his people, and they knew him.” She perceives Atticus as the father of Maycomb, elevating his status in the community. We see Scout to be a girl who is reliant on the teachings of her father, and is absorbent to everything that happens around her.
Scout perceives herself as an adult, which explains her problems with Calpurnia. “Asking me why I can’t behave as well as Jem when she knew he was older”. The fact that Jem is treated differently to herself angers her. Being able to read fluently at the age of six is an admirable achievement, although this premature ability, among others leads Scout to believe she is fully developed. In my opinion, at this stage, I see Scout as the innocent, truthful and naïve character in the novel.
Dill, being a newcomer to Maycomb has done well to fit in. Jem and Scout see a certain appeal in Dill; Dill was something new, unlike the dusty, monotonous roads of Alabama. Once Dill cunningly wormed his way into the duo of Jem and Scout, it became clear that he was a manipulative boy from Meridian. “Dill got him the third day, when he told Jem that folks in Meridian certainly weren’t as afraid as the folks in Maycomb.” Dill, in my judgment, is the most mischievous and rebellious of the trio. Once the tale of Boo Radley is told, he becomes additionally inquisitive of the whole concept. Dill, to me, is a dreamer, unfamiliar with general divisions of reality. He is wrong in thinking that both he and Scout could jump on six foot Boo and “hold him down”.
Residents of Maycomb do not recognise individuality. There is a set trend in which it is considered proper to follow. “They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation…”, referring to the Radleys. Society was expected to maintain a certain moral standard; it was considered degenerate to use fowl language in the presence of a female. Society as a whole were quite collected in their beliefs also. I gain the impression that as much as Atticus may seem to appreciate the Radley household as members of the residential area, the surrounding community doesn’t. Scout states that “Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events…” and even when the culprit was found people were still “unwilling to disregard their initial suspicions”. To me, this indicates that society are hypocritical of themselves. They attend church regularly, and missionary circles, yet they find not the time to treat the Radleys as they wish to themselves, violating clear Christian beliefs.
Harper Lee devotes a fair proportion to the Radley family mainly because, as a child, that particular household was something of an anomaly, different to any other, an incongruity. The Radley household is seen to be a child’s dream. Because of the rare goings on within the walls of the building, children can let their imagination run wild with concepts and situations about the people who live there. Jem, Scout and Dill, along with many other children in Maycomb have a certain fascination with the Radleys; it was an important part of Lee’s childhood; it needed to have a primary position in chapter one. Additionally, Lee needed to stress the importance of the Radley’s place in the novel, and her life, so it was appropriate to devote the opening chapter to them.