What is the relationship between Scout and Miss Caroline in Chapter 2 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Miss Caroline and Scout had a student-teacher relationship in chapter two of To Kill a Mockingbird. Their relationship was a tumultuous one, as they did not understand one another. On the first day of school, before the day was even close to being over, Miss Caroline "hauled [Scout] up to the front of the room and patted the palm of [her] hand with a ruler, then made [her] stand in the corner until noon." Miss Caroline thought that Scout was being impertinent and a liar because the child told her that no one taught her to read. Miss Caroline did not understand that Scout was telling the truth, and Scout did not understand why Miss Caroline would treat her so. Later, Scout tried to explain to her teacher that she was making Walter Cunningham feel ashamed by offering to loan him money for lunch. Miss Caroline thought that Scout was trying to cause trouble, and this was when she finally decided to punish her.

Miss Caroline was a young teacher with little experience. As Scout left the classroom, she saw the woman "bury her head in her arms." Scout admitted that she "would have felt sorry for her" if she had not treated her so badly.

If you are just looking at Chapter 2, I would say that the relationship between these two is very poor.

Formally, their relationship is that of teacher to student.  This means that Miss Caroline should be the superior.  She shows that she has this kind of formal authority by hitting Scout's hand and making her stand in the corner.

But in some ways, Scout is the real teacher in this relationship.  She is actually trying to help Miss Caroline learn things about Maycomb society.  And she shows the teacher more sympathy than the teacher shows her.

What is the conflict between Scout and Miss Caroline in To Kill A Mockingbird?

Scout’s main conflict with Miss Caroline is that her teacher does not try to understand her or Maycomb before making a judgement. 

Miss Caroline’s problem with Scout is that she doesn’t understand her, and she is in way over her head.  She is a new young teacher, “no more than twenty-one,” and she is new to Maycomb too.  Scout tries to help her out by explaining the ways of the town to her.  It does not go well. 

The biggest conflict between Scout and Miss Caroline is over Scout's reading.  Miss Caroline is prepared to teach the first grade the alphabet, and here she has a little girl who can read the newspaper.  You can see how she would be a little threatened. 

[As] I read the alphabet a faint line appeared between her eyebrows, and after making me read  … she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste. Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to teach me any more, it would interfere with my reading. (Ch. 2) 

Scout is puzzled by this, because her father never actively taught her to read.  She is also upset by the idea that she would not be allowed to read, because she loves to read. 

Nonetheless, Scout tries to help Miss Caroline out.  She is obviously out of her depth and Scout aims to please.  

… I would have saved myself some inconvenience and Miss Caroline subsequent mortification, but it was beyond my ability to explain things as well as Atticus, so I said, “You’re shamin‘ him, Miss Caroline. Walter hasn’t got a quarter at home to bring you, and you can’t use any stovewood.” (Ch. 2)

Miss Caroline decides she has had enough.  She spanks Scout with a ruler and sends her in a corner.  When the children realize that the teacher whipped Scout, they all laugh.  That was probably a little embarrassing to both of them.

When Scout complains about Miss Caroline, Atticus tells her that she needs to learn to look at things from others’ point of view.  She is getting her first lesson in empathy and growing up.  Miss Caroline is not from Maycomb.  She doesn’t understand Maycomb’s ways.  Scout tried to help her, but she didn’t realize that the teacher wouldn’t appreciate the way she did it.

What events lead to the conflict between Scout and Miss Caroline in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Miss Caroline is not only an inexperienced teacher; she is also a "foreigner" to Maycomb County.  In Scout's precocious eyes, these are both marks against her first teacher.

Miss Caroline's inexperience causes her to become defensive when she discovers that Scout can read. Instead of being impressed or praising Scout, she insists that Scout no longer read at home.  Of course, this does not sit well with Scout.

Later, when Miss Caroline insensitively offers little Walter Cunningham charity in front of the other students, Scout--in an attempt to assist Miss Caroline--informs her of the Cunningham family's ways.  Miss Caroline does not appreciate a first grader telling her how things are done and punishes Scout.

Lee includes these incidents with Miss Caroline to satirize the flaws she had recognized in America's educational institutions.  She obviously felt that students with talents and academic abilities were held back by inexperienced or bullheaded teachers and that what was taught in schools was not useful for every day life (hence, Jem's discussion about learning the Dewey Decimal System).

The author also includes the Cunningham scene to illustrate Maycomb's idiosynchracies, incomprehensible to outsiders.

Scout not only knows about everyone in Maycomb, but she isn't afraid to stand up and speak out for everyone in her class.  The first thing she did that upset Miss Caroline was that she discovered that Scout knew how to read.

"[Miss Caroline] looked at me with more than faint distaste.  Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to teach me any more, it would interfere with my reading."

The second thing that caused her trouble was when she informed Miss Caroline of the Cunningham family's situation.  Although she didn't mean to come embarrass her, Scout hurt Miss Caroline's feelings for not knowing "how things are" in Maycomb. 

"You're shaming him Miss Caroline.  Walter hasn't got a quarter at home to bring you, and you can't use any stovewood."

These were the two major events that lead to her getting in "trouble" with her teacher

What is Scout's attitude toward Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Scout greatly loves and respects her father. She sees him as a role model and an endless source of wisdom and knowledge. The big old world outside can be a dark and scary place sometimes and Scout needs Atticus' shining example of decency, integrity, and good sense to light the way. Scout is forever asking Atticus questions, seeking his guidance on matters that she's too young to understand. Whether it's race relations in Maycomb or the nature of empathy, Atticus is always on hand to provide his daughter with sage advice.

Having said that, Scout—like just about every child at some point in their lives—feels a little embarrassed at her father. For one thing, he's older than most other fathers in town, less energetic. He doesn't lead a particularly active lifestyle; when he's at home, he just sits there and reads. Atticus may have many admirable qualities, but being a cool dad isn't one of them.

That's why Scout's so astonished when Atticus demonstrates his skills with a gun by shooting dead the rabid dog Tim Johnson. Atticus is so modest that he never told his children about his reputation as a crack shot. So when Scout witnesses his incredible skill as a marksman at first hand, she's suitably impressed. Not only is Atticus wise, humane, kind, and unfailingly empathetic, it now seems that he's also kind of cool in his own little way.

What is Scout's attitude towards Miss Caroline in To Kill a Mockingbird?

For someone who so looks forward to her first day of school, things certainly go awry for Scout in Chapters 2 and 3 of To Kill a Mockingbird. Her teacher, Miss Caroline, is fresh out of college on her first teaching assignment, and she is not at all what Scout expected.

She looked and smelled like a peppermint drop.

Although Jem was in a haze over her youthful good looks, Scout is not impressed. Her new-fangled ideas "mystified" Scout. Miss Caroline hailed from Winston County in North Alabama, an area that, according to Scout, is inhabited by "persons of no background." Miss Caroline then berates Scout because she already knows how to read, and condemns Atticus as a father who

"... does not know how to teach."

At recess, she gets a pep talk from Jem, but things only get worse afterward. When Scout tries to defend Walter Cunningham Jr., she is "whipped" and then sent to stand in the corner. Later, Burris Ewell calls Miss Caroline

"... a snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher."

Although Scout joined her classmates in trying to comfort their crying teacher, her heart wasn't really in it.

Had her contact been more friendly to me, I would have felt sorry for her. She was a pretty little thing.