To Kill a Mockingbird Post 4: Chapters 8-11

Chapter 8

Where I live (Monument, CO), schools rarely close for snow. Rarely. Like, almost never. Maycomb, Alabama has a different story, however. After its first snowfall in years, Maycomb's schools close. Here in Colorado, we wouldn't even call what happened snowing. It was merely sleet; less than in inch of slushy "snow". So, Jem and Scout go at it. Jem makes a snowman out of dirt, to which Scout says that she's never seen a "n***** snowman". Jem than places some snow on the outside of the dirt mounds, and Scout understands. Their "snowman" looks so much like Mr. Avery (a distasteful neighbor) that Atticus demands they make it look different. So Jem "borrows" a hat from Miss Maudie. She finds out and calls him a "little devil".

To make a long story short, Miss Maudie's house burst into flames and sent the whole town into a kerfuffle. In the midst of all this, Boo Radley drops a blanket over Scout's shoulders! But she doesn't realize it until afterward. Jem tells Atticus everything about Boo and the knothole in the tree. Even after losing her house, Miss Maudie is cheerful the next day. She even says she was about to light up the old place herself before too long.

Chapter 9

Tom Robinson was a black man accused of taking advantage of a white woman. Atticus takes on the case. The kids at school say tease Scout by saying that her daddy "defends n*****s". Scout almost throws a punch. At Christmastime, Scout begins cursing in the hopes that Atticus will take her out of school, because that's where she learned the words to add to her colorful vocabulary. It didn't work, and she just got in trouble with Uncle Jack, who came into town.

The Finches traveled for the Holidays, and ended up at their Aunt and Uncle's house. Scout gets in a fight with Francis, Scout's second cousin. Francis told Scout that her dad is a "n***** lover". That's where things took turn for the worse. Uncle Jack only listens to Francis' side of the story, and spanks Scout.

Chapter 10

So why is this book called "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Here's a quote from chapter 10:

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

That's why.

A rabid dog appears out of nowhere in Maycomb. The sherif tells Aticus to shoot it. He does, and everyone is shocked. Atticus isn't one to have a good shot. This guy likes to sit by the fire and read. He just doesn't shoot things. Scout now has bragging rights, but Atticus tells her to keep quiet.

Chapter 11

On the way to the business district, there is a house with an angry, old, sick woman living in it. She insults Jem and Scout every time they pass by. Some of her insults are about their father. Jem eventually loses it and cuts down some of her shrubbery. As a punishment, Jem has to read to Mrs. Dubose for two hours a day for a month. Soon after Jem finished his punishment, Mrs. Dubose died. He learns from Atticus that Mrs. Dubose was addicted to morphine, and that the reading was the therapy. Atticus says he would have sent Jem over there anyway.

To Kill a Mockingbird Post 3: Chapters 4-7

Chapter 4

Wrigley's Doublemint Gum (ad from the 70s)

Scout trudges through the rest of the awful school year. On the way home one day, she sees a piece of tin foil in a knothole in a tree in front of the Radley's house. She sees that it's two pieces of Wrigley's Doublemint gum and equivocates putting it in her mouth. She does so, and runs home and tells Jem about it. Jem freaks out and demands she spit it out. Scout obeys, reluctantly, telling us that the flavor has diluted anyway. When Jem and Scout revisit the tree on the last day of school, they find two Indian Head coins inside a wedding ring box. Following the code, "Finders keepers", the duo decide to claim the pennies as their own, but discuss trying to find their owner.

"School's out!"

Summer. Finally! Dill returns, school work ends, and playtime begins. Naturally, Scout asks to be stuffed into a tire and rolled down the hill. Unfortunately she rolls right into the Radley's front yard! Luckily, she makes it out alive and unharmed, but the fear probably took off an hour or two of her life. Jem leads up the next game and suggests that the three of them pretend that they're the Radleys. What started off as a simple activity evolved into a complex, almost theatrical performance from the trio. Once Atticus catches them and asks if they're interpreting the Radleys, Jem lies and denies everything. Atticus the proceeded to get on with his business. Jem's logic was that "he didn't say we couldn't, so we can [play our game]."

Chapter 5

Jem and Dill's relationship grew stronger every day. My brother and my cousin are both six years older that I am. When I was little, I sometimes felt like Scout did in this chapter. Left out. Scout then began to spend time with a neighbor: Miss Maudie Atkinson. Scout asked her about Boo Radley and the first thing she told her is that his real name is Arthur, and he is still alive. They have long conversations, and Scout is told that most of the rumors about the boy are false. But one of the top rules for reading any story is to never take a character's word for anything. Persistant as a ringing cell phone during church, Jem decides that he is going to give a note to Boo (or Arthur?) Radley. Dill came along with him. Atticus busted them after their failed attempt.

Chapter 6

Curiosity killed the cat, and it almost killed Jem because he snuck out that night with Scout and Dill. His goal this time was just to peer through the shutters and get a good look at Boo/Arthur. After seeing a silhouette of a man wearing a hat, Jem dashes away and hears the fire of a shotgun. His pants get caught on the fence and he wiggles out of them to escape. The kids run away and notice that a group of people from the neighborhood have gathered around the Radley Place. They go up to them so as to not seem strange. They are informed that Mr. Radley shot after a Negro in his yard. Forgetting he isn't wearing any pants, Jem is quickly reminded when his father asks him where they are. Dill says that they were playing Strip Poker.

Chapter 7

Back to school. These are Scout's three least favorite words. This year wasn't any more auspicious than the first grade. On the way home, Jim tells Scout that he found his pants at the Radley's house and that they were folded neatly as if they were expecting him. Scout her brother find another item in the tree in front of the Radley's house. A ball of twine. The two leave it there for a couple days, and then claim it as their own. The following days they find two soap figures that look like Jem and Scout, chewing gum, a spelling bee medal, and an old pocket watch. The next day, the knothole in the tree was filled with cement. When the kids ask Mr. Radley why, he tells them that the tree was dying. Jem notices that the tree was very much alive, and didn't look at all like it was dying. 

To Kill a Mockingbird Post 2: Chapters 1-3

Chapter 1

Jean Louise Finch. That's the full name of the protagonist of this story. She almost always goes by Scout, though. The story is told through a first-person narrative from Scout's perspective. She's all grown up now, but she tells us her story starting from when she was young. She begins the novel by explaining to us that her brother, Jem, broke his arm right before he turned thirteen. Scout and Jem don't seem to agree on the preceding events leading up to the accident. Their father, Atticus, says that they're both correct. This is where the story begins.

The family lives in Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a small, quaint little town that was suffering from the detrimental effects of The Great Depression in 1933, when the story begins.

The family consists of four people: Atticus (father), Jem and Scout (children), and Calpurnia (the cook, a black woman). The mother died when Scout was two. Scout is now five; Jem is nine.

A boy named Dill moved into town in the summer of '33. Dill quickly became good friends with Jem and Scout. Scout tells us that there is a strange house in the neighborhood. I instantly thought of a haunted house. The inhabitants are rarely seen. It's very mysterious. A boy named Boo Radley lives inside, but no one has seen him for fifteen years! At prima facie, this seems pretty creepy, but I'm a rational thinker so I just think the kids are overreacting and making up stories to entertain themselves. Dill dared Jem to simply go up and touch the house. He took the dare, and nothing happened.

Chapter 2

"First day of school! Wake up! Come on. First day of school!"

Scout has been looking forward to her first day of school for a long time. That time has finally come. She quickly learns that it wasn't quite what she was expecting. Her teacher doesn't know how to deal with kids. She's only 21 years old. When she finds out that Scout's father has been teaching her how to read, she told Scout that that was bad, and to stop having her father educate her. After recess, the teacher announces that it is lunch time. When she learns that one of the boys doesn't have any lunch money, she is very confused. Scout says that the boy is a Cunningham, in an attempt to explain things to Miss Caroline Fisher. The kids live in a small town, and everyone knows that the Cunninghams are poor. Miss Fisher just moved to Maycomb, and didn't understand. She offers the boy a quarter saying that he can pay her back the next day, but Scout explains that he won't be able to pay her back. Miss Fisher became very agitated and stuck Scout's hand with a ruler.

Her teacher didn't look quite like this, but you get
the idea.

Chapter 3

Naturally, Scout was pretty mad at Walter Cunningham. Scout then proceeds to rub Walter's face in the dirt. Luckily, Jem was around to stop it. Jem invites Walter over for lunch. Scout is astonished when Walter soaks all his food with molasses. She exclaims a rude comment and is taken into the kitchen by Calpurnia and is punished. Scout finishes her food in the kitchen. The next day at school, a new kid comes into play. His name is Burris. Burris is a filthy bad boy who looks as if he doesn't know the meaning of the word "bathe." Burris only comes to one day of school a year to stay out of trouble with the law. The teacher screams when she sees a "cootie" (a small insect) crawl out of his hair. She demands he goes home and take a bath. He goes home alright, with a bang. His exclamations are so offensive that Miss Fisher begins to cry. Scout tells her father that she doesn't want to go to school anymore. Atticus disagrees. The duo compromises. Atticus will continue to read to Scout at home, and Scout will go to school and keep the home-education a secret.

To Kill a Mockingbird Post 1: About the Author

Harper Lee

Present day

Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama in 1926. She is still alive today, and will be turning 89 in April, 2013.

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

To Kill a Mockingbird was Lee's first and last novel. Published in 1960, the book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, and was made into an Oscar winning feature film in 1962. After writing her hugely successful book, Lee retried the life of an author to live a quiet life secluded from the press.

Read more here.