What internal and external conflicts does Uncle Jack face in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Uncle Jack decides to play "parent" to Scout in chapter 9 of To Kill a Mockingbird. He hears that Scout has been swearing up a storm to get attention, recently; so, he tells her that while he is visiting them for the week of Christmas, he doesn't want to hear any of her bad words. When she and Francis get in a fight, apparently Scout calls her cousin "a whore-lady" and jumps on him. When Jack discovers this, he says, "You know I told you you'd get in trouble if you used words like that? I told you, didn't I? . . . Well, you're in trouble now. Stay there" (84).

As Uncle Jack is spanking Scout, she screams that she hates him, she'll hate him for the rest of her life, and she'll never speak to him again. Now the external conflict is how tough it is for him to hurt Scout physically. The internal conflict is dealing with Scout's resentment after being physically punished by her favorite uncle. These conflicts seem to go hand-in-hand because afterwards, Jack asks Scout, "Why, I didn't think you'd hold it against me. . . I'm disappointed in you--you had that coming and you now it" (85).

Therefore, externally, Uncle Jack is faced with having to deal with Scout's decision to use a bad word and him having to hold himself to his threat to spank her. Then, he is faced with the internal and emotional backlash of having disciplined Scout for her actions. Both conflicts damage the relationship between the two of them until the truth is revealed about why Scout called Francis a "whore-lady"--to defend Atticus. Later, Atticus tells his brother the following:

". . . you had the right answer this afternoon, but the wrong reasons. Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they're not attracting attention with it. Hotheadedness isn't. Scout's got to learn to keep her head and learn soon" (87).

In the end, Uncle Jack decides to keep the reason Scout used bad words with Francis a secret by not telling Atticus. This helps to mend his relationship with Scout and solve both external and internal conflicts for the future.