Aldina Dzanic: Chapter 5 (p.
46 – 55)
Dill had said to Scout that she was the only girl he
loves and will ever love. He had also asked her to marry him but it seemed like
he forgot all about it because he became very good friends with Jem and started
to neglect Scout. Therefore began Scout to spend more time with their neighbour
– Miss Maudie. She was a widow and loved everything about the nature.
“She loved everything that
grew in God’s earth, even the weeds” p.47
One evening Scout asked Miss Maudie if Boo Radley was
still alive. Miss Maudie said that he was because she has not seen him be
carried out yet. Scout tells her what Jem had told her and what they thought
happened to Boo Radley. Miss Maudie was quite surprised and said that Jem was
just like his uncle, Jack Finch who she knew since they were children.
Miss Maudie explained to Scout that Arthur Radley did
not come out because he did not want to and that he was a, so called
“foot-washing Baptist”.
“Foot washers believe
anything that’s pleasure is a sin.” p. 49
“Thing is, foot-washers
think women are a sin by definition. They take the Bible literally, you know” p. 50
Scout did not really understand it and Miss Maudie
said that she was also too young to understand what it was. She said that
Arthur Radley is a nice man and spoke always nicely to her.
The next day Scout joined Dill and Jem in their
planning. They had planned to give Boo Radley a letter trough the shutters. In
the letter they have asked Boo to come out and tell them what he was doing
inside the house. They would not hurt him and they would buy him an ice-cream.
Jem was going to put the letter on the end of fishing pole and stick it trough
the shutters while Dill and Scout watched his back. As Jem was trying to reach
the shutters Dill rang the bell. Atticus saw them. He was very disappointed and
said to them that they should live Mr. Radley alone.
Amal Schnegelsberg: Chapter 6
Jem and Scout are going on a visit at Miss Rachel’s to see Dill because
it is his last day in Maycomb. Dill wants the three of them, to cross into the
Radley’s garden. Scout does not like it, but Jem says: “I declare to the lord
you’re getting’ more like a girl every day!” Scout joins them. They cross the
fence to the backyard and open the gate which leads to the garden, and walk up
to the house.
They look into the window, and see a shadow of a man with a hat on, the
shadow walks towards the children lifts its arm and then walks back where it
came from.
The children gallop away from there as they are running, a shotgun is
being fired off. Jem’s pants entangled in the fence, and he is taking off his
pants to get loose. As the children are back at home, they see a circle of
people, standing in front of Radley’s house.
The neighbours tell that “Mr. Radley shot a Negro in his collard patch.”
Atticus observes that Jem is not wearing any pants, and asks him why, Dill
comes up with a story, and Atticus believes them. As Atticus has said
goodnight, Jem runs back to get his pants, so that Mr. Radley will not find
them in the morning.
p. 57
”I declare to the Lord you’re gettin’ more like a girl
every day.”
Jem says that to
Scout, this makes her join them, though she knows that it is dangerous and
wrong. She thinks: “With that, I had no
option but to join them”. She has been a Tom-boy her whole life and she
really looks up to Jem. She likes to do things with him, and he treats her like
a boy. He does not take care of her as his little sister. I think he does
care but not as if she was a girl. Perhaps he wished he had a little brother
instead, perhaps one like Dill?
p. 60
“Mr Radley shot a
Negro in his collard patch”. There are some different interpretations to this,
but one of them could be that: Mr. Radley calls Jem Finch a white nigger. He
does it because of his prejudices against black people. Because Jem makes he
calls him a white nigger.
p.61
Dill kisses Scout
p. 62
Jem does not want
to disappoint his father, therefore he runs back to fetch his pants. If Mr.
Radley finds them, he will tell Atticus about it, and since Atticus has never
found anything on Jem, he does not want this to be the first time.
The children are
circling around The Radley’s because they are dragged by the dark and
mysterious side of the Radley’s. The Radley’s are a shadow of the prejudices of
the children, and they are curious to look into the family’s lives.
Anna Hollt Langlet (3.j): To kill a mockingbird –
chapter 7
In this capture
Scout has entered second grade, which she finds just as boring and uninspiring
as first grade. She is as unhappy as in first grade, but Jem assures her that
school gets better along the way. The only good thing about it is that she and
Jem can walk home together because they are being let off at the same time.
One day on their way home Jem tells Scout about the night, when he had to get his pants – this was the first real conversation they had had for days. He explains to Scout that at the time he lost the pants they were in a tangle, but mysteriously he found them hanging neatly across the fence. Jem fells like somebody knew he was coming back.
When they come home from school that day, they find a ball of grey twine hidden in the knot-hole. They leave it there for a few days, because they think it is another child’s, but no one takes it, so they claim it for their own. Later on, another present emerge in the knot-hole: two figures, which resemble Scout and Jem, carved in soap. They also find a package of chewing gum, a medal, which ch ildren earlier on won in spelling contest and a pocket watch on a chain with a knife. The next day, Jem and Scout decides to write letter to the person giving them things, but find that the knothole has been filled with cement. When Jem asks Mr. Radley, about the knothole the following day, Mr. Radley replies that he plugged the knothole because the tree is dying.
Analysis
The author, Harper Lee, uses an cryptic technique in telling Boo’s story - she hints and implies at what is happening without showing the reader directly. The reader must read between the lines - for instance, infer that it was Boo Radley who mended Jem’s pants and placed the presents in the tree. In comparison to Scout’s still very childish perspective, it is evident here, that Jem has a more mature understanding of the world. When Nathan Radley fills the knot-hole in the tree, Scout is disappointed but hardly heartbroken. She sees it as merely the end of their presents. Jem, on the other hand, is brought to tears, because he grasps that Boo’s brother has done something cruel. Also his actions through this capture, shows that he has a lot on his mind and that something is wrong – he wants to tell Scout about it, but can not do it. This makes the atmosphere very tense and filled with drama, because you know something is hitting underneath the surface.
In this
chapter it is winter and old Mrs. Radley has died from natural causes. A night
of activities, which Atticus does not approve of, is mentioned.
Apparently,
these activities included strip poker. On this morning Scout, aka Jean Louise
Finch, sees snow for the first time, which startles her, and thus school is
cancelled for the day.
Eula May
is hereby introduced; being the leading telephone operator in Maycomb, she is
the one who calls Atticus to tell him the news. The children go outside with
the hope of being able to create a snowman, even though they do not know how to
make one seeing as they never have.
The
children are permitted to take Miss Maudie’s snow as she does not care for it,
because it kills her flowers. And so
they build a morphodite; a snowman made of dirt on the inside, covered with
white snow and branches for bones.
That
night Atticus wakes the protagonist up at 1 am; Miss Maudie’s house is burning,
during which, Jem and Scout are told to stand in front of the Radleys’ place.
While doing so, Boo Radley places a blanket over Scout’s shoulders but she,
however, does not notice. Scout worries about their own possessions and
particularly about Dill’s book because it does not belong to her.
While
Atticus inquires about the blanket in question, Jem starts to blabber, telling
Atticus about Mr. Nathan and an episode which has long passed. Scout refers to
these mentioned events as secrets.
This
becomes an interesting turn of event. It is noticeable that this appears to be
the first time Atticus hears about these “secrets” but he does not really pay
attention.
Christian Potempa: Chapter 9
At
school, Cecil picks on Scout because Atticus is defending a black person in a
trial. In the beginning Scout does not understand why defending a black person
is a bad thing.
When at
home, Scout asks Atticus why he is defending the black person. Atticus explains
that if he refused to defend the black person he would not be able to look himself
in the mirror.
Atticus
says that Scout should not fight the kids at school but just ignore them. This
goes against Scout’s nature but she tries not to be provoked by Cecil’s
comments because she does not want to let Atticus down. This shows how much she
respects and loves her father.
Atticus’
younger brother, Uncle Jack, came to
The next
morning it was Christmas which meant it was time to go to Finch’s Landing to
visit Aunt Alexandra. Scout did not like visiting Finch’s Landing due to their
annoying cousin Francis. However, Aunt Alexandra’s food was wonderful which
compensated for Francis’ unbearable behavior.
It did
not take long before Francis had made a comment that had annoyed Scout: Scout
had told Francis about Dill after which Francis calls Dill a stray dog. In this
case Scout is able to control herself, but when Francis calls Atticus
“nigger-lover” it gets too much for Scout and she attacks Francis because he
has refused to take it back. Francis screams so loud that the adults quickly
come to his rescue. When asked what happened, Francis lies and claims that
Scout had called him a “whore-lady” and jumped on him. Scout decides not to
tell the truth as it would disappoint Atticus that she could not keep her
promise not to be provoked by what other people say. This is also an example of
how much Scout respects her father because she would rather take the blame for
something she otherwise might have gotten away with.
At home,
Uncle Jack came in to talk to Scout. She says that Jack does not understand children
because he had whipped her without hearing her side of the story. She then
tells Uncle Jack what Francis had called Atticus. Uncle Jack understands why
Scout reacted the way she did and gets angry with Francis himself, but promises
not to tell Atticus because he should not know that Scout had broken her
promise.
Later
that night Scout went downstairs for a drink. She then overheard Atticus and
Uncle Jack discussing her behavior. Scout was worried that Uncle Jack would
break his promise and tell Atticus what really happened. However, Uncle Jack
keeps his promise.
Suddenly
Atticus tells Scout to go to bed and the chapter ends with Scout saying,
"I never figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not
until many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he
said."
Christine Ilsøe: To kill a mockingbird – chapter 10
The chapter begins with Scout pointing out how old her father is. He is nearly fifty: Something Jem and Scout find hard to understand because he is so much older than the parents of their schoolmates. Actually they find it hard to tell anything interesting about him at all. According to them, Atticus doesn’t do anything really - except sitting in an office all day long. They would like him to do something that could awaken the admiration of anyone: so their friends think he is a cool dad to have! It is clear that Jem and Scout find it embarrassing that their father isn’t like their schoolmates fathers. Furthermore, Atticus won’t let them use their air rifles – he is afraid that Jem will shoot down a mockingbird. He says: it is a sin to kill a mockingbird: A line that is the source of the novel’s title.
Scout thinks a lot about that saying and asks Miss Maudie why it is so. She says that a mockingbird doesn’t do any harm at all – they just make music for people to enjoy*.
One day a mad dog appears, wandering down the
main street toward their house. Calpurnia
calls Atticus, who returns home with the sheriff of Maycomb. The sheriff asks
Atticus to shoot the animal. To Jem and
Scout’s amazement, Atticus does so, hitting the dog with his first shot*.
Scout and Jem is suddenly not ashamed of their
father anymore – especially not when Miss Maudie
tells them that, as a young man, Atticus was the best shot in the county -
“One-shot Finch.” Scout would really much like to tell that to all the kids in
school, but Jem will not let her, because there has to be a reason why Atticus
hadn’t told them himself…
Analysis
* This idea of “mockingbirds” as good, innocent creatures that are destroyed by evil can be connected to Boo Radley for in stance. He is like a mockingbird: He does not harm anyone; instead he leaves Jem and Scout presents. But despite his innocence, however, Boo has been damaged by an abusive father according to Miss Maudie.
* This incident symbolizes the town’s
dependence upon Atticus’ protection.
Dorte Nordestgaard – Chapter 11
Jem and Scout confine there activities to the southern neighbourhood. Because of the business section of Maycomb it is impossible to go to the town without passing Mrs Duboise’s house unless they walk a mile out of the way. Previous minor encounters with her, left Scout with no desire fore more, but Jem said that she had to grow up sometimes.
Except for a Negro girl in constant attendance, Mrs Duboise lived alone. She was very old, but even though, she kept a CSA pistol concealed among her numerous clothes. Jem and Scout hated her because they couldn’t do anything to please her.
Scout does not remember her mother but Jem does. He tells about her sometimes. Countless evenings Atticus had find Jem furious at something Mrs Dubose had said when he went by. But Atticus said that she is an old and ill lady so Jem had to be a gentleman towards her.
It makes Scout very proud when her father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, confronting Mrs Dubose and pleased her fairly well.
Jem invades Mrs. Dubose’s privacy and he is told by his father to go down and have a talk with her.
Scout can not understand how her father could be so cold when his only son has to go down talking with Mrs. Dubose.
They went down to Mrs. Dubose’s house every day to read for her as a punishment. She was always hounding Jem by calling his father a nigger-loving person until she would fall asleep.
One evening Jem and Scout asked their father if he really were a nigger-lover. Atticus answers them by saying that he certainly was, because he do his best to love everybody. When a person says something like Mrs Dubose does, it just shows how poor this person really is.
One evening Atticus said that he had to go down to Mrs. Dubose and when he came back he told Jem and Scout that she was dead. She did not suffer anymore because she had been sick for a long time. Atticus tells Jem that the reason why he had to go down and read for her was because he wanted him to see what real courage was, instead of having the idea that it had something to do with a man holding a gun in his hand. And according to Mrs. Dubose she died beholden to nothing and nobody.
Frederik Ågesen: Chapter 12
Chapter 12 is the first chapter in the second part of the book. Jem has turned 12 and he does not behave like normal – he has grown, he eats a lot, he is getting more wise, and he has become temperamental, which he shows when he tells Scout, that it was time she “started bein’ a girl and act right!”. The father, Atticus, explains Scout, that Jem has grown and that she rather should be waiting for Dill. But she gets disappointed when she receives a letter from Dill, which explains that Dill’s mother has found a new husband, which makes it impossible for him to visit her. But he promises to come and marry Scout one day, when he can afford it.
Atticus has to leave home for two weeks, because the Governor had called him in to an emergency session, and then he leaves the two children with Calpurnia, who then takes care of them. When Atticus has left, Calpurnia realizes that Atticus has forgotten to tell if Scout and Jem’s teacher will be at the church on Sunday. Instead Calpurnia takes the children to church at Sunday, but this time it is in the First Purchase African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is the first church the freed slaves paid by themselves, so the church means a lot to the Negroes.
At the church they meet a woman, who says to Calpurnia that she should not bring white children in the Negroes’ church because the Whites have their church and the Blacks their, but the rest of the congregation welcomes them in the church. This incident shows the relationship between the Blacks and Whites. The Reverend Sykes introduces the congregation to the two children, whose father is the lawyer, who was helping Tom Robinson, who was accused by Bob Ewell of raping his daughter. Also in the church the children notice the difference between their church and the Negroes’ church. For instance: They have not got any hymn books, because almost none of them can read.
On their way home they talk a lot of what happened at church, for instance why Calpurnia speaks like the Negroes when she is with them, which she does because she has to speak their way to talk with them. Scout asks what it means to be raped, but Calpurnia just said that she should go ask her father. Scout also asks Calpurnia if she could come visit her at her own house sometime, and Calpurnia says that she is welcome at any time. When they arrive at the Finch house, Alexandra, the aunt, is sitting on a rocking chair in front of the house with her bags.
HC:
Chapter 13
In
this chapter Scout and Jem’s aunt comes to stay with the family. Aunt Alexandra
is the family’s conservative element. She is the one who stayed at the landing,
and who tries to keep family tradition and appearance.
She
isn’t especially fond of Scout; she does not think her feminine enough.
Alexandra
is very pre judgemental. She believes, and properly rightfully, that she can
put a certain label on everybody in the county according to their family.
Alexandra
also thinks that a family should be rated after how long they have stayed in
the same place. Scout remarks that this would make the Ewels really fine folks,
since they have stayed in the same place since Maycombe was founded. Scouts
speculations continue into a resume of the history of Maycombe’s founding.
In the
end of the chapter it is described how Alexandra tries to make the family be
more like Finches.
At
first Atticus communicates her ideas on to the children, but when he sees their
reaction he changes his behaviour and goes back to his old self.
Jonas
Kristensen: CHAPTER 14 (PAGE
148 – 159)
Page 148: When Jem and Scout walks through the streets of Maycomb people are saying”There’s his chillun or Yonder’s some Finches’”. The two children are never fast enough to see who it is. (Without knowing the previous chapters: I am guissing someone in the Finch family has done something which has offended the people in the town. From what I can read on the back of the book, I am guessing Atticus is defending the black man who is accused of rapping a black girl)
Page 149: Scout asks Atticus what rape is. Atticus answers: rape was carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent.
Scount tells Atticus about her trip home with Calpurnia from church.
Scount asks if she can visit Calpurnia sometime but is not allowed by her aunt Alexandra, whom Scout then insults, and therefore will Atticus not allow her to go either.
Page 150: Atticus makes Scout apologize to her aunt.
Alexandra and Atticus is having a discussion, Alexandra wants Calpurnia out of the house but Atticus do not.
Scout thinks they are discussing her at first and consider running away for the second time in her life.
Atticus thinks of Calpurnia as family.
Page 151: Tom Robinson case is worrying Atticus, so Jem wants Scout to do as she is told to help Atticus. This is the first time Scout has seen Atticus like this.
Page 152: Scout does not like that Jem is telling her every thing he reads. Jem and Scout has a fight (fist fight), Scout will teach Jem that he is no better than her. Atticus splits them.
Page 153: Jem thought there was a snake in her room, but it turned out that Dill was under the bed, without their knowledge. Miss Rachel Haverford is mentioned. “He (Dill) was a tight fit”.
Page 154: Dill was chained in his basement by his new father and left to die. Then he escaped. Dill tells how he got to Maycomb.
Page 155: Atticus finds out Dill is there (Jem tells him) and tells Jem and Scout to give him some food. Dill askes Atticus not to say anything, he will run away from home again. Atticus asks Miss Rachel if Dill can stay the night.
Page 156: Miss Rachel let Dill stay for one night. They eats up and go to bed. Dill sleeps with Jem.
Page 157: Late at night Dill comes into Scout and Scout asks why Dill run away. Dill tells Scout that his parents did not show any interest in him.
Page 158: Scout wonders how she would feel if Atticus did not want her around anymore. Dill wants a baby with Scout. Dill had herd you could order a baby from a man who rowed to an island with lots of babies. Scouts aunt had told Scout that God drops them down the chimney. Dill is cleaver but he prefers his own mind and dreams.
Page 159: Scout asks Dill why the Radley son never runs of. Dill answers: that Radley properly not has a place to run of to.
Stine Boesen: To kill a mockingbird – chapter 15
Scout and her family are eating supper when suddenly some men stand in the front yard, they have come to talk to Atticus. The children are exited because something like this only rarely happens. Atticus will not let them listen but they do it anyhow. The men are saying something about a man they want to move to county jail, but that they cannot be sure that there will not be any trouble.
Scout knows all the men, e.g. Mr Underwood who is the owner of the Maycomb Tribune.
When the men leave, Atticus is saying goodnight because he is going out and he will not be back before the children are going to sleep. Atticus will not tell what he is up to.
When Scout is lying in her bed she hears her brother in the other room, she finds out that he is going out too, and she is following him. They go to meet their friend Dill, and the three of them go out in the night to find Atticus. They are going to look where Mr Underwood lives and on their way there they pass the town jail where there is light. Through the window they see Atticus sitting propped against the front door. The children see some men arrive and they hear them saying to Atticus to step aside so they can get a man in one of the cells, but Atticus will not allow this.
Suddenly Scout runs to the scene followed by Dill and Jem, Atticus says that they shall leave, but Jem says no. Scout feels stupid because she after all did not know the men. Then she sees Mr Cunningham and she starts asking him about his entailments and says something about her knowing his son. That lights up the situation and the men disappears without doing anything to any of them.
Atticus is very relieved and so is the man in the cell and a man you did not hear of before, but he was watching the situation hidden with a shotgun. When they go home together Atticus is not mad even though they did not follow his orders, Atticus is even massaging Jem’s hair which is his only gesture of affection.
Line Busk: Chapter
17
Scout, Jem, Dill and Atticus are in court. Atticus is the lawyer in a case about a girl who has been raped. The children are audience. The girl who has been raped is Mr. Ewell’s daughter and a black man called Tom Robinson is accused of the attack.
There are two witnesses who say they know Tom Robinson is the guilty one. The first man on the witness stand is the sheriff, Mr. Tate. He is asked by the solicitor to tell what happened the night the girl was raped. He tells that Mr. Ewell came to get him because he needed his help and when they got back to Mr. Ewell’s house, Mr. Tate found the girl lying on the floor. She was pretty well beat up and told that Tom Robinson hurt her and took advantage of her.
Atticus does not think Tom Robinson is the guilty one and he finds it suspicious that Mr. Ewell and Mr. Tate did not call a doctor to check up on the girl. Mr. Tate also tells that the girl had a black eye, her right eye was black.
In the meantime Jem, Dill and Scout are very wrapped up in the case. Jem finds it very fascinating but scout does not understand the case and Jem does not want to tell her what it is about.
Then it is Mr. Ewell’s turn to enter the witness stand. He is also told to tell what happened that night. He tells that he was outside when he heard his daughter screaming and through the window he saw Tom Robinson “I seen that black nigger ruttin’ on my Mayella”[1] (his daughter).
There is stir among the audience and all the black people are shouting at Mr. Ewell. A friend of Jem and Scout tells Jem to take Scout home because of the racist remarks but he does not want to and Scout does not understand the problem either.
At last Atticus finds out that Mr. Ewell is left-handed and it would be easy for him to hit someone in the right side of the head. Atticus thinks that Mr. Ewell was the one who beat up his own daughter.
Line Frost Hansen: Chapter 18
It is Mayella's turn to be a witness. Mr. Gilmer
asks her to tell about the evening when it all happened. Mayella starts
explaining but bursts out in tears. Crying she explains that she is afraid of
Atticus.
After
a while she finally explains to Mr. Gilmer that her father had asked her to
chop up an old chest of drawers, Mayella did however not feel strong enough so
instead she offered Tom Robinson, who happened to come by at the time, money
for it. She then claims that she went inside for the money, and Tom followed
her, pushed her to the floor, and took advantage of her while she screamed and
tried to fight back. Her father came to her rescue. It is then Atticus’ turn to
questions the witness.
He
starts off asking her about basic background information and Mayella answers
unwilling. It appears that the 19-year-old Mayella lives with her father, who
seems to be a drunkard and her 7 siblings – the mother died years ago. The
money is small and it does not seem as if she has got any friends. On the
question about if Mr. Ewell is a loving father, Mayella hesitates but says that
he is tolerable except when he has been drinking.
Atticus
then starts questioning Mayella about the case. Atticus asks about the evening.
Mayella hesitates and fumbles with the answers. Several times she is inexact,
starts of a sentence but then refrains from finishing it or elaborates on
something which she were not able to answer earlier in the interrogation.
It
also appears that Tom’s left arm is somewhat shorter that the right so his
abilities to fight are limited. At last Tom questions Mayella questions; why
didn't the other children hear you screaming? Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or
your father? Mayella does not answer any of these questions. The next witness is
called in.
Louise Andersen: Chapter 19
We are still at the trial
against Thomas Robinson and in this chapter we will hear Thomas Robinson
testify. Atticus is the first to question Tom, and we learn that he has been
working for Miss Mayella Violet Ewell, whom he is accused of having raped. Tom
has helped Miss Mayella on several occasions, without getting paid, because he
just wanted to help. Throughout the testimony we get the impression that Miss
Mayella is a very lonely person, Scout even thinks that she is lonelier than
Boo Radley.
Atticus ask Tom about the
day when Miss Mayella was raped, and he explains that he passed Mayella’s house
on his way home, and that she asked him to help her with a door that had gotten
of its hinges. Tom agrees to this but finds out that there is nothing wrong
with the door, and there is, usually, a lot of children at the Ewell’s place
but that day there were none, because Mayella had given them money to buy an
ice cream. According to Tom Mayella then asks him to step up on a chair and get
a box down from the chiffarobe.
Tom agrees to this but
then Mayella grabs him round his legs and he jumps down and the chair turns
over. Tom hesitates when he is asked what happened next, but says that Mayella
hugged him around the waist and kissed him on the side of his face. Tom tried
to make her stop but she would not let him go, and Tom is too afraid to force
her to let him go. Tom is afraid because Mayella is white and he is black and
if he dared to force or strike her, he would not live long, which is why he ran
at the first chance he got, when Mr. Ewell (Mayella’s father) saw them
together. Tom denies that he raped Mayella.
Mr. Gilmer, who is the
counsel for the prosecution, is now the one to question Tom and he does that in
a very slighting manor. Dill gets uncomfortable because of the way that Mr.
Gilmer talks to Tom, and Scout take Dill out of the courtroom. Here they meet
Mr. Dolphus Raymond, whom they talk to.
Mads Vang: To Kill a Mockingbird – Chapter 20
Dill and
Scout have apparently left the courthouse, in which Atticus is defending Tom
Robinson, because Dill has a stomachache.
They meet
Dolphus Raymond who offers Dill something to drink from a paper sack with
straws in it and invites them to his place. Scout follows him reluctantly
because she thinks he is an evil man.
She warns
Dill when he is about to drink from the paper sack because she thinks he is an
alcoholic. But it turns out he is not. The content of the paper sack was just
plain Coca-cola. Raymond only drinks cola and he drinks it from the paper sack,
so people in town think he is an alcoholic.
Therefore
they do not ask any questions about his way of life (not further explained).
After the visit at Raymond’s, Dill and Scout return to the courthouse.
In the
courtroom, Scout notices that Atticus is quite nervous as he is presenting his
case.
This is
unordinary for him. He sums up the case by saying that it is a matter of black
and white, not whether Tom Robinson raped Mayella or not.
He claims
that she has framed Robinson after she was caught kissing him by her father,
who beat her up afterwards.
After
saying this, Atticus asks the jury to look at the facts instead of making it a
black and white-matter. In the end of the chapter, Calpurnia walks straight
towards Atticus.
Malene Hviid:
Chapter 21
Calpurnia gives Atticus a note
telling him that his children have not been home since noon. Mr. Underwood
says that Jem and Scout are in the colored balcony and have been there since
just after one in the afternoon. When Atticus finally realizes that they have
been watching the entire time he tells them to go home and have supper. But
they all beg to be allowed to hear the verdict and Atticus says that they can
return after supper. Calpurnia see Jem, Scout, and Dill home.
They eat quickly and return to the
courthouse. In the courthouse the jury takes longer than usual to return its
verdict. But when the jury continues to deliberate they find the verdict
”guilty” The lower level of the courtroom empties but the upper level, who are
filled with black people, stand and wait for Atticus to depart.
The black spectators respect Atticus
for his effort and his obvious convictions.
Scout describes the scene on page 233
Someone
was punching me, but I was reluctant to take my eyes from the people below us,
and from the image of Atticus's lonely walk down the aisle.
"Miss
Jean Louise?"
I looked around. They were standing. All around us and in the
balcony on the opposite wall. The Negroes were getting to their
feet. Reverent Sykes's voice was a distant as Judge Taylor's:
"Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'
Julie
Teresa Neidhardt: Chapter 29
After the episode Atticus is paralysed by the news of
Jem and Scout having been attacked. It is shown very clearly in a minor comment
about how he does not show the politeness of standing up when Alexandra raises.
Scout is told to tell about the happening and after
crawling onto Atticus’ lap she starts to tell about what had happened: She and
Jem had been walking close to the schoolyard underneath a tree. With that small
piece of information the author has been able to show Scout’s childish
innocence because that is one of the things she remembers and when she is asked
how she knows she says that Jem once told her that the ground is cooler under a
tree. In a way that is a very unimportant detail when one would have believed
her to be deeply affected by the attack instead of remembering such small
details instead.
In her story she is interrupted by Mr Tate and Atticus
starting to discus whether Mr Ewell attacked the children out of madness or
pure malice [´mælis]. Again Atticus’ belief in human beings is shown by the way
he believes that Mr Ewell had gone mad and simply was not himself. Mr Tate,
however, has a much more cynical view on the matter.
Luckily the children were saved by someone Scout would
firstly believe to be Jem and afterwards Atticus, but then realises that it was
neither of them. It is not revealed until the last sentence in the chapter who
the saviour is. During the attack Jem breaks his arm and Scout is almost choked
by Mr Ewell.
When Mr Tate asks who the saviour is, Scout points her
finger at a man sitting in the corner of the room and afterwards he is
described very detailed. The man has white skin, meagre fingers, and thin light
hair on his head. His eyes are colourless too and he almost seems blind as if
he has been staying in darkness for far too long. The children’s saviour turns
out to be Boo Radley whom the children have earlier befriended.
Mathias Kristensen:
Chapter 22
Jem, Scout and Atticus are returning home from the Robinson trial. Jem is upset about the verdict but Atticus tries to comfort him, saying he will appeal the decision.
The black community delivers large amounts of food to their house in appreciation for what Atticus did in the trial. Scout, Jem and Dill are invited over to Miss Maude for some cake, where she explains that it was not by chance that Judge Taylor appointed Atticus as Tom Robinson’s lawyer instead of Maxwell Green, the newest lawyer in Maycomb.
Bob Ewell confronts Atticus, when he’s on his way to the post office and spits in his face and says: "told him he'd get him if it took the rest of his life.” Atticus just explains the incident by saying that he is nothing but words.
Mathilde Hougaard Larsen:
Chapter 23
In the beginning of chapter 23
we hear that Mr. Ewel has spat and cursed, and threatened to kill Atticus
outside the courthouse. Atticus took the attack really calm and did not talk
back but just walked away Jem and Scout are nervous for Atticus because of Mr.
Ewel’s attack, and the children ask Atticus to borrow a gun. Atticus refuses
and says it is nonsense. Dill worries about himself and what would happen to
him if Atticus dies. Jem suggests that Scout should fake a fit to make Atticus
carry a gun, but that does not work either.
The kids are really frightened but Atticus
discovers it. Atticus explains he would rather have Mr. Ewel spitting on him
than giving Mayella an extra beating. Atticus thinks Mr. Ewel just needed to
get it out of his system and that they do not have anything to fear from him
anymore. After that the kids were calm and were not afraid any more.
One night the children ask their father what
will happen to Tom Robinson if he looses his appeal, and Atticus explains that
he will go to the chair. Jem finds this very unfair because Tom Robinson has
not killed anyone, but rape is a capital offence in
Jem thinks they should get away with juries
because of the unfair circumstances. Atticus explains that the people in the
jury are not unreasonable people but it is the racism in our world that makes
them loose their heads. There was one man in the jury who wanted Tom Robinson
to go free. It was one of the Cunninghams. He was one of the men who tried to
kill Tom Robinson outside the courthouse. Atticus though had had a hunch that
he would do the right thing, and had there fore kept him on the jury.
Scout wants to invite Walter home for dinner
because she is so impressed with the Cunninghams, but Alexandra insists that
the Cunninghams are not their kind of people. They drink, and they are yappy.
She will not allow Walter coming to their house. Alexandra will not allow Scout
to play with Walter either, because she will not have her picking up his bad
habits. At the end of the chapter they are in their bedroom and Jem concludes
that there exist four kinds of people in Maycomb. Ordinary
folks like their family, people like the Cunninghams, people like the Ewells,
and then colored people. Now the ordinary folks hated the Cunninghams; the
Cunninghams hated the Ewells; and the Ewells hated the colored folks. Scout
says she thinks there is only one kind of people. Jem thinks hard about it, but
he does not believe there is only one kind of people, because why can they then
not get along?
Mie Isaksen:
Chapter 24
Chapter 24 is
about Aunt Alexandra and her missionary circle, which Scout, Jean Louise, is a
part of this day. This is due to the fact that Jem and Dill have gone out
bathing naked, and therefore she is not welcome.
The ladies are
talking about different kind of things and Scout becomes the butt of two jokes.
When Scout then
asks Mrs. Merriweather about the topic of the meeting, the focus is drawn from
Scout for a while – Mrs. Grace Merriweather begins to tell about J. Grimes
Everett and his ministry to the Mrunas.
She also
criticizes Atticus indirectly because he is defending a “darky”.
Her being a racist
leads to a conflict between her and Miss Maudie, which comes to an understanding
between Miss Maudie and Alexandra, even though they have never been especially
close.
Later on Atticus
comes home, a lot earlier than usual. He brings the bad news to Alexandra,
Calupurnia, Scout and Miss Maudie, that Tom is dead.
Alexandra says that:
“This is the last straw, Atticus”, but he answers: “Depends on how you look at
it, (..), what was one Negro , more or less, among two hundred of ‘em? He
wasn’t Tom to them, he was an escaping prisoner.” This means that the city does
not care about the Negroes – Tom was just one among many, and is for them no
particular loss.
“They’re perfectly
willing to let him do what they’re afraid to themselves. –it might lose ‘em a
nickel. They’re perfectly willing to let him wreck his health doing what
they’re afraid to do.”
This quotation
shows that the citizens of Maycomb are too afraid themselves to defend a Negro,
they are conformists.
Following
quotation also indicate their racisme: “we can educate them until we are blue
in the face, we can try till we drop to make Christians out of them, but there
is no lady safe in her bed these nights” They think tom is guilty!
Peter Andreas Brandt Hansen: Chapter 26
School had started again, and like
before Jem and Scout passes by the Radley place, Scout thinks about that she
still want to see Boo Radley, but imagine that if she would meet him, it would
be like they had know each other all their life.
Meanwhile the Robinson trial
is over, but Scout is still affected by it.
The town’s people seem to make
a distance to Atticus, but told their children, not to avoid Scout and Jem; it
was not their fault that they had Atticus as their father.
One day at school When Cecil Jacobs tell about
his current event, and about Hitler and his incarceration of Jews.
Miss Gates starts discussing
this injustice Hitler had toward the Jews. And Scout gets confused, so she
decides to go talk to Atticus about it, she ask him, if it is okay to hate
Hitler, his answer is; that you should not hate anyone.
But that does not clear her
mind, so she goes to Jem to talk about it, because Scout could not understand
that Miss Gates could be so hateful towards Hitler, and what he had done, when
she, herself, were so hateful against people from her own country.
But Jem is to furious to
answer her, so her shook her arm, he tell her not to talk about it anymore.
Scout gets scared and runs
down to Atticus.
Ciya: Chapter 27
This chapter takes place after the trial in the middle of October. Ewell who is the false accuser gets Tom Robinson, the Negro, convicted, but still he is not satisfied. Several things happen in Maycomb in the subsequent period. Mr. Ewell gets a job at something called the WPA, which was a job program made during the Depression, but gets fired from it quickly. For this he blames Atticus.
Shortly after this
Bob Ewell breaks into the judge’s (
The previous year children went into the home of two deaf ladies, whom they call Tutti and Frutti, and moved all of their furniture into their basement. The ladies were sure of the fact that it was people from out of town that had stolen all of their furniture, but the police (Mr. Tate) quickly figures out that the children had been at work.
At the Halloween pageant, Scout is to be dressed as a ham. Her teacher wants to make a play that demonstrates the counties agricultural competence and therefore she makes all the students dress in some kind of a food. Scout look forward to performing for her family, but it turns out that everyone is too tired to come. Scout performs for all of them at home, and Jem takes her to the school event.
This is a
little chapter, however it has an important purpose. Even though the trial is
now over, the reader gets an impression of something bad is on the way. We hear
about how Ewell tries to harm all the persons that were involved in the trial,
but there is still one person he has not harmed; Atticus. As a reader you feel
the tension that is built in this chapter. In the beginning it seemed as if
there was a solidarity amongst the people of
Sofie Bjerring
Antonsen: Chapter 28
This is quite an eventfull chapter. It is a warm October evening. Jem and Scout are on their way to the school because Scout is going to play a part in the school play.
It is very dark and therefore Jem and Scout have difficulties in finding their way to the school when the boy Cecil Jacobs jumps out and frightens them. Cecil asks Scout to join him while waiting for the play to begin. This was in Jem’s opinion an excellent idea because in that way Scout would not have to be alone and Jem could hang out with his friends without the disturbance of his younger sister.
When reaching the auditorium they discover that the whole town and county are there. Cecil and Scout have both got thirty cents, which they could use in the booths. Scout and Cecil wander around the crowded school, visiting the haunted house and buying homemade candy. The pageant nears its start and all of the children go backstage.
Mrs Merriweather starts the pageant by standing behind her lectern speaking about the history of Maycomb. We hear that Maycomb is named after a man called Colonel Maycomb. During this speech Scout has fallen asleep and therefore she consequently misses her entrance. However, at the end Scout runs onstage which causes Judge Taylor and many others to burst into laughing.
Afterwards Mrs Merriweather accuses Scout of having ruined the pageant.
Scout feels very ashamed and entreats Jem to wait backstage with her until the crowd has gone. Being the understanding brother, Jem consents.
On the way back home Jem hears noises behind them. It sounds at though someone is following them. They think it must be Cecil Jacobs trying to frighten them again but when they call out to him, they hear no reply. They have almost reached the road when their pursuer begins running after them. Jem screams for Scout to run but dressed as a ham it is not easy for Scout to run. Thus she loses her balance and falls. Jem tries to fight of the attacker which the first time round is succeeded. Jem breaks free and drags Scout almost all the way to the road before their attacker pulls him back. Scout then hears Jem scream after which she runs towards him but is caught by the unknown attacker. But then something mysterious happens. The attacker is pulled away and Scout feels on the ground for them. However, she does not find Jem but an unshaved man who smells of whisky. She stumbles toward home, and sees, in the light of the streetlamp, a man carrying Jem toward their house.
When at home, Aunt Alexandra calls for the Dr. Reynolds. Atticus calls the sheriff Heck Tate and tells him what had happened. Scout fears that Jem is dead but the doctor assures her that he is all right. He has just got a bump in the head like Scout and a broken arm.
The man who carried Jem home is still there, but Scout does not recognize him.
After a while the sheriff Heck Tate appears and tells Atticus that that Bob Ewell is lying under a tree, dead, with a knife stuck under his ribs.
Stine Styrup Bang:
Chapter 30
It starts with a conversation between Atticus and Boo Radley, where also Scout is introduced to Radley which is a special experience for her. Mr Heck Tate who is the sheriff is there too.
Then Dr Reynolds comes down to them and is breezy towards Radley. Dr Reynolds has just been examining Jem, because he is confined to his bed and has to be there the rest of the night.
Therefore Atticus, the sheriff and Dr Reynolds walk out to the porch, so they can talk alone and in peace. Scout goes with them and helps Radley to find a chair.
Immediately Atticus begins to talk about the killing of the young boy Bob Ewell. He is despaired and cannot understand that his 15-year-old son has killed another boy. He talks with the sheriff and tries to get the sheriff to say that Jen killed Bob. But the sheriff disagrees and tries his best to convince Atticus that is was an accident. He also says that Jem never stabbed Bob but Atticus sees this like a help so he can feel better but he will not believe the sheriff’s words.
The only thing in Atticus’ head is what other people thinks of his son. He says on page 301: “I don’t want him growing up with a whisper about him”.
Atticus becomes more and more restless and can still not believe that Bob fell and killed him self and he has problems with understand the sheriffs opinions. He begins to quest ionize him self as a father and he cannot lose his children because they are all he got.
Dr Reynolds comes down to the porch to say that Jem is alright and he fast discovers Atticus’ despair. Together with the sheriff they show how the knife ended in Bob and the only reason for that was that he fell and killed him self.
The sheriff begins to be anxious and tries to tell Atticus that they have to find out which fault is it because they have to found out his night. Dr Reynolds sticks together with the sheriff and they do there best to convince Atticus that his son is innocent and Jem just tried to get him and his sister safely home.
When the sheriff leaves Atticus needs some helping words so he gets better and Scout is there immediately and to help his father she says that Jem did not killed Bob. Her argument is: page 304: “Well it’d be sort of like shooting a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”
Here is the title of the book again. The analysis of the sentence is:
If Atticus told Maycomb the truth would it only makes matters worse. Scout thinks that he should safe Jem (here: the mockingbird) so he can survive and move on.
Tine Tranekær Nielsen: Chapter 31
Scout, Dr Reynold and Boo Radley
(Arthur Radley) are on the front porch. Scout explains how uncertain and
fragile Arthur Radley looks when he tries to get up and leave. He coughed and
was so shaken that he had to sit down again. The second time he tries; he gets
up and Scout leads him to Jem’s room. In Jem’s room Boo Radley seems to change
his attitude; he goes to a corner of the room and peers at Jem.
Scout
kindly takes him by the hand and tugs him to Jem’s bed, by the bed he observes
Jem as he had never seen a boy before, he looks like he wants to touch him but
he does not dare to do it. Scout tells him patiently that it is okay if he
touches him and Boo Radley overcomes his shyness.
Scout
still holds his hand and Boo Radley communicates in his body language that he
wants to leave the room. Scout leads him to the front porch but he does not
seem to bee satisfied, he asks her if she wants to take him home. All through
the episode Scout finds him very shy and afraid like a child and she chooses to
take him home. She follows him all the way to his front door where he released
her hand and goes inside. Scout says that she never saw him again.
Scout
comes to think about the things she, Jem and Dill had had from Boo Radley and
regrets that they never gave him anything in return. She realizes that they had
not treated him like a neighbour.
When
Scout walks home she realizes that she had never before seen the neighbourhood
from this angle; when it was only lighten up by the streetlights. She thinks
about how the neighbourhood appeared in daylight: in the summer time everybody
were busy taking care of their own interests; children were playing, the women
were chatting and taking care of their flowers in the gardens and so on. She
also thinks about how autumn and winter usually went by.
The
point is that she has realized that everybody was taking care of their own
business and no one noticed Boo Radley until he came to Jem and her rescue.
She
concludes that Jem and herself are clever children, who no one could teach
anything but algebra. They have learned by experiences.
When
she comes home, she goes to Jem’s room and joins Atticus, who is reading a
book. Before long she falls to sleep and Atticus lead her to her bed. Atticus
and Scout agree that everybody is really nice people, when you get to know
them.