There are many instances of Scout's being curious in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.l For, whenever she hears something being said that concerns her father, she is quick to inquire about it. One such instance occurs in Chapter 2 as she asks her father, "Why does he pay you like that?" when Mr. Cunningham pays Atticus in turnip greens. It is then that Atticus explains the concept of entailment and how Mr. Cunningham is too proud to take a WPA job.
In another instance, Scout talks with Miss Maudie and asks her about Boo Radley's remaining in his house: "Why doesn't he?...Nobody ever told me." Then, she asks Miss Maudie to explain the term she uses, "foot-washing Baptist." As Miss Maudie relates the history of Boo Radley and the foot-washing father who sees all women as Eves, Scout inquires," Is that why Mr. Arthur stays in the house to keep away from women? In Chapter 10 after Atticus shoots the rabid dog, Miss Maudie talks again with the children, telling them that Atticus has always been an marksman. In curious reaction to this statement, Scout says, "Wonder why he never goes huntin' now."
Scout also asks her father "Do you defend niggers?"(9)and "What is rape?" (14) when she hears these words used in reference to Atticus and his defending of Tom Robinson.
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