At Christmas, Scout, Jem, and Atticus go to Finch's Landing to spend it with Aunt Alexandra, Atticus" sister. It is there that Scout finds that even her own family disapproves of her father's doings. Her cousin Francis says " I guess it ain't your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I"m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family- (83)" Scout demands to know what he means but all Francis continues to do is call Atticus a "nigger-lover". Scout's response is " I don't know what you"re talkin" about, but you better cut it out this red hot minute! (83)" Even the adults in the neighborhood take their turn needling Scout and her brother. Mrs. Dubose tells the children "Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for! (102)" From all of these comments, Scout realizes that all of these people have turned against her and her father. This is very confusing for her because she had had a friendly (or at least somewhat indifferent) relationship with most of them. This is when the realization that the world is not really a very friendly place starts to sink in.
The realization becomes firmly implanted in Scout's mind before and after Tom Robinson's trial. The night before the trial Tom is moved to the Maycomb jail. Jem and Scout see Atticus leave the house and follow him to the jail. They see Atticus conversing with a group of men who appear to be hostile towards their father. What they experience and witness there makes Scout see that people she had formerly trusted and thought of as friends, had turned against her father. One of the men in the crowd is Mr. Cunningham, a man with whom her father frequently helped with legal matters. Scout approaches him and tries to start a conversation with him, first about his son Walter (with whom she attends school with) and then about his "entailment". All of her attempts at starting a conversation fail and she can't figure out why.
