Caroline Fisher

As an outsider to Maycomb (she comes from the strange and far-off land of northern Alabama), Miss Caroline gets as many lessons from her students as she gives to them. As a main booster for the school’s new educational system (what Jem calls the “Dewey Decimal System” [2.25]), she’s a representative of the confusing world outside, and reinforces the idea that Maycomb is its own little world. She is utterly unable to cope when Scout’s reading and writing exceed first grade standards: "We don't write in the first grade, we print. You won't learn to write until you're in the third grade" (2.26). The absurdity of her must-follow-the-rules attitude suggests that a smarter approach is to adapt the rules when necessary; on the other hand, in facing off with her Scout learns that sometimes when stupid rules won’t bend you just have to make a show of following them to get by.