Jean Louise Finch (Scout) Timeline and Summary

Scout lives on a main street in Maycomb.
Her mother died when she was two.
The summer Scout is five, she meets Dill.
That fall, she starts school, and gets in trouble for knowing how to read.
She tries to explain to the teacher why Walter Cunningham doesn’t have a lunch, but gets in trouble for that too.
At recess she beats Walter up, but Jem steps in and invites Walter home for lunch.
When Walter pours molasses all over his food, Scout asks him what he’s doing, and gets scolded by Calpurnia.
All in all, Scout’s first day of school makes her want never to return, but Atticus convinces her that she has to go back.
One day on her way home from school Scout finds some chewing gum hidden in a tree in front of the Radley Place.
On the last day of school, Scout and Jem find a box containing two Indian-head pennies in the same tree.
Dill arrives for the summer, and Scout tells him Jem is just making up his stories about Hot Steams.
In revenge Jem gives Scout an extra push when she’s riding inside an old tire, and she lands right in the Radleys' front yard.
A dazed Scout runs out of there as fast as she can, leaving Jem to retrieve the tire.
Despite being uneasy about the whole thing, Scout joins with Jem and Scout in acting out scenes from Boo Radley’s life.
Scout really wants to quit the game for two reasons: one, Atticus caught them and told them to stop, and two, when her tire dumped her in front of the Radley Place she heard someone laughing inside.
Scout passes many of her evenings hanging out with neighbor Miss Maudie on her porch.
Miss Maudie tells Scout about Boo Radley and foot-washing Baptists.
Scout finds out that Jem and Dill are still trying to get Boo Radley to come out, but joins in when Jem calls her a girl for objecting.
Scout accompanies the boys on their midnight raid of the Radley Place, and waits at home in terror when Jem has to return for his pants.
Scout and Jem keep finding treasures in the tree, until Nathan Radley fills the hole with cement.
Scout and Jem have a rare snow day off from school and build a snow man.
Atticus wakes Scout up in the middle of the night: Miss Maudie’s house is on fire.
Scout watches the doomed efforts to save the house from a safe spot in front of the Radley Place.
When she returns home after the fire is out, she gets a surprise: she’s wearing a blanket she didn’t have when she left, and the only person who could have draped it around her is Boo Radley.
At school, Scout fights Cecil Jacobs for calling Atticus names.
Atticus hears about it and tells her not to get into fights on his behalf.
At Christmas, Scout and Jem look forward to seeing Uncle Jack but dread spending time at Aunt Alexandra’s.
Scout fights her cousin Francis because he insulted Atticus and gets in trouble with Uncle Jack.
Later she convinces Uncle Jack to listen to her side of the story.
When he hears what Scout has to say, Uncle Jack wants to go take on Francis himself, but Scout makes him promise not to tell anyone, not even Atticus.
Scout eavesdrops on Uncle Jack and Atticus talking about the Robinson case, but Jack doesn’t make a peep about Scout’s fighting ways.
Scout and Jem feel bad that their father can’t do anything interesting or impressive.
Scout talks to Miss Maudie about it, but she doesn’t change her mind.
Scout and Jem see a mad dog coming down the street, and watch as Atticus shoots it.
Scout wants to brag to everyone about how her father is a good shot, but Jem tells her not to.
Jem buys Scout a baton, but he breaks it destroying Mrs. Dubose’s camellias after the old woman insults Atticus.
Scout talks to Atticus about why he’s defending Tom Robinson.
Scout accompanies Jem as he performs his penance: reading aloud to Mrs. Dubose every day after school.
Jem’s getting older, and Scout’s having more difficulty understanding him.
Scout is miserable when Dill doesn’t turn up in Maycomb for the summer.
With Atticus away on a Sunday, Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to her own, African-American, church.
Seeing Calpurnia at her own church prompts Scout and Jem to ask her questions about herself.
Scout and Jem arrive home to find Aunt Alexandra on the front porch.
Scout doesn’t like Aunt Alexandra and the way she tries to make her niece into a lady.
Scout, after hearing cryptic town gossip, asks Atticus what rape is, and he explains.
Scout wants to visit Calpurnia at home, but Aunt Alexandra puts her foot down and says No.
After stepping on something strange, Scout finds Dill hiding under her bed.
Scout talks to Dill and tries to understand why he ran away from his family.
Scout and Jem watch as Atticus talks with a group of men who arrive on their doorstep one night, concerned about the Tom Robinson case.
The next night, Jem goes out, and Scout joins him.
Picking up Dill along the way, they go to the town square looking for Atticus.
The trio sees him sitting in front of the jail reading, and are about to leave when some men drive up.
While Atticus is talking to the men, Scout runs up to join them.
Scout is surprised and embarrassed to find that they are different men from last night, men she doesn’t know.
One of the men grabs Jem, and Scout kicks him.
While Jem and Atticus face off over whether the kids will stay or go, Scout starts talking to the one face she does recognize in the crowd, Mr. Cunningham.
Mr. Cunningham doesn’t respond to Scout’s attempts to chat at first, but when she mentions his son and her classmate Walter, he talks to her a bit and then leaves with the rest of the men.
Scout’s not scared until she goes home and goes to bed, and then she starts crying.
The next morning, Scout, Jem, and Dill watch the crowds on the way to the courthouse for Tom’s trial.
They go to the courthouse themselves, but the only seats they can get are in the balcony where the African-Americans sit.
Scout watches the trial until Dill starts crying and Jem makes her take him out of the room.
With Dill, she talks to Mr. Dolph Raymond, who is also outside the courthouse.
Scout and Dill return inside to hear Atticus’s closing remarks.
After he finishes, Atticus finds out the kids are there, and sends them home for dinner.
After dinner Scout, Jem, and Dill return, to find the jury still out.
Scout dozes for a bit, but wakes up to hear the verdict: guilty.
Reverend Sykes tells Scout to stand up, as the African-Americans are doing, as her father leaves the courtroom.
The next day, Scout, Jem, and Dill try to avoid their adult neighbors, but join Miss Maudie for cake.
After Bob Ewell spits in Atticus’s face and threatens him, Scout and Jem are scared he will make good on his threats.
Scout wants to hang out with Walter Cunningham, but Aunt Alexandra tells her she can’t, which makes her mad.
When Aunt Alexandra throws a tea party, Scout joins the ladies, who both attract and repel her.
Miss Stephanie makes fun of Scout, but Miss Maudie gives her silent support.
Atticus comes home and calls Aunt Alexandra to the kitchen, and Scout follows to hear that Tom Robinson has been shot and killed while trying to escape from prison.
After Atticus leaves with Calpurnia to tell Helen Robinson, Scout joins Aunt Alexandra in keeping up appearances at the tea party.
Scout starts third grade, which means passing the Radley Place every day.
Scout’s no longer scared of Boo, but still kind of would like to see him.
At school, Scout is confused why her teacher Miss Gates criticizes Hitler but supports Tom’s conviction.
Scout is cast as a ham in the school’s Halloween pageant.
Jem walks Scout through the darkness to the school.
On the way, Cecil Jacobs jumps out at Scout and Jem and scares them.
Backstage at the pageant, Scout falls asleep, misses her cue, and enters late.
To shield her embarrassment, Scout keeps her costume on so no one can see her, and waits with Jem until everyone else leaves.
On their way home, Scout and Jem are attacked by someone, but Scout can’t see anything because of her costume.
A stranger picks up the unconscious Jem and carries him home while Scout follows.
Scout is worried that Jem is dead, but Dr. Reynolds reassures her that he’s not dead yet, and in fact is getting better.
Mr. Tate arrives, tells them Ewell is dead at the scene of the crime, and asks Scout to tell them what happened.
Scout tells what she knows, but she can’t say how Ewell got stabbed.
Scout finds out who the stranger is: it’s Boo.
Scout sits with Boo while Tate and Atticus argue over what to do, and then walks him home.
Scout looks at her neighborhood from the new perspective of the Radleys’ front porch.
Scout returns home to fall asleep while Atticus reads to her.

Next Page: Jeremy Atticus Finch (Jem) Timeline