to kill a Mockingbrid
Especially at the beginning of the novel, fighting is her solution to everything: she goes after Walter Cunningham after she gets in trouble on his behalf on the first day of school, she beats up Dill when she thinks he’s not paying enough attention to her, and she kicks a member of the lynch mob (in the balls, no less) when he grabs Jem. When news of Atticus’s defense of Tom Robinson percolates down to the schoolyard, it’s no wonder that she responds with her fists to the kids’ parroting of their parents’ insults. Why is violence almost always Scout’s first response? Well, for one thing, she does seem to win her fights most of the time, so it’s a technique that’s working for her. For another, if might makes right, then it skips over the trickier business of thinking about the moral right: righteousness goes to whomever is the better fighter. Scout’s fighting shows her quick temper and lack of self-control, but it also suggests her simplicity when it comes to moral matters, and her desire for a quick fix to complicated questions. While Scout doesn’t see a problem with her Mortal Kombat approach to dealing with people, Atticus thinks otherwise, and tells Scout not to fight any more. Scout has difficulty obeying him, but manages it at least some of the time, starting with her classmate Cecil Jacobs. I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away, "Scout's a cow- ward! " ringing in my ears.