What character traits are used to describe Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird?

One thing we learn early on in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is that Scout Finch is very precocious, meaning that she's very advanced for her age. We see her precociousness in the fact that she taught herself to readwell before she started school. We learn this fact when Jem says to Dill, "Scout yonder's been readin' ever since she was born, and she ain't even started school yet" (Ch. 1). We...

One thing we learn early on in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is that Scout Finch is very precocious, meaning that she's very advanced for her age. We see her precociousness in the fact that she taught herself to read well before she started school. We learn this fact when Jem says to Dill, "Scout yonder's been readin' ever since she was born, and she ain't even started school yet" (Ch. 1). We further see Scout prove she is precocious when she later says she's not sure how she learned to read and can't really recall a moment when she could never do it. According to Scout, "[R]eading was something that just came to [her], as learning to fasten the seat of [her] union suit without looking around, or achieving two bows from a snarl of laces" (Ch.2). Interestingly, most children need to be taught how to tie their shoelaces, which further proves how precocious Scout is.

A second character trait of Scout's is that she has a poor temper, which she usually unleashes in physical violence upon her victims. She has such a dominant tendency to get into physical fights that one of Atticus's main concerns is teaching her to control her temper and keep her head. The first example of her poor temper we see is when she attacks Walter Cunningham. When asked by Jem why she was attacking Walter, Scout responds, "He didn't have any lunch," which refers to the fact that she explained to the new teacher why he didn't have any lunch nor was willing to accept any money for lunch, an act that made her get into trouble as a know-it-all (Ch. 3). Scout's decision to unleash her wrath on Walter, though he is actually innocent, shows us just how foul her temper can be.