To Kill a Mockingbird 🦅

CH7

Poarches- are the place between social life and preserved life

In the porch scene on 84, Jem realizes that Mr Radley lied to him about the tree and how it’s dead, and this revelation forces Jem to confront the complexities of adult behavior, highlighting the themes of truth and deception that permeate their small town. The pillar shows that he needs support. This happens during sunset. This shows loss of innocence and the finding of a new identity. The symbolism of the porch also underscores the transitional space between childhood and adulthood, suggesting that Jem is at a pivotal moment where he begins to understand the moral ambiguities of the world around him. Additionally, the porch serves as a metaphorical stage for these realizations, where Jem's reflections on his experiences illustrate the broader societal values and the challenges of navigating between the purity of childhood and the often murky waters of adult expectations. This shows gender and coming of age about his pride in his manhood.

CH 8

Snowman- made of dirt and covered up with snow, black→ white

when adicus says that they will return the blanket jem confesses everything “no sir” because he is protecting Boo Radly this is not fear but empathy and if they return the blanket Boo will get in trouble for not being home with out his parents

To Kill a Mockingbird Notes

The first line in To Kill a Mockingbird is about his brother breaking his arm. It tells us it is a story of the past, and more importantly, it tells us the book will explain how his arm is broken later in the story. The narrator is an adult Scout telling the story of her childhood. She is not a child while she is narrating. This is similar to the Scarlet Ibis. This is not written how a nine-year-old would tell the story. “Finch” is a bird. This is similar to the mockingbird in the title. Someone later will be a mocking bird but not the Finches because they are “finches”. The Finch landing is a plantation. Atticus moved away from it but his sister and others stayed. They were probably slave owners. We are supposed to see some element of division in Atticus moving away. Calpurnia, their cook and nanny, is introduced. She is african-american and worked for the old owners of Finch landing. She is the most immediate mother figure. Others are introduced. “Dill” is introduced. When we see him he is trying to make himself impressive with the picture show, baby contest, and reading ability. He is this way because he doesn’t have a father; he is from a broken home. This is a coping mechanism. If people see him as impressive they won’t notice the emptiness of his home. He is a neglected and ignored boy. This is why he is visiting his aunt in the first place. We then see the Radley family. Arthur “Boo” Radley is part of a story. It is rumored that he and his unsavory friends stole a car and got caught. He would have been sent to the state tech boarding school but his dad refuses, locking him in the basement. The two others sent to the institute created successful lives while “boo” lost his. Nathan comes home when his dad dies. Whenever we see Mr. Radley from now on it refers to the older son, Nathan Radley. Nothing changes. He keeps “boo” under lock and key. That doesn’t stop the others from telling stories about him. This is a myth forming. At the end of the chapter a wager was made. The wager is SOMETHING. Jem will need to prove his masculinity through bravado. 

Miss Caroline Fisher is an outsider who is a creampuff. A cream puff has no resilience. She has moved into town as their teacher. She is immediately upset that Scout can read. The real issue is Walter Cunningham so Miss Caroline gives him a quarter to buy it. He declines. Then ___ says that he’s a cunningham. The Cunninghams are poor but proud. They will not accept help from anybody else. This is known as Mr Cunningham had a document written by Atticus to not lose his farm. He pays in turnips and stuff. It is revealed that this is around 1933 due to a great depression reference. Miss Fisher has had enough. She whacks Scout’s hand and tells her to go to the corner. The kids are surprised because they are used to more corporal punishment. When they realize it is her discipline method they all laugh. Then Scout says she is a “pretty little thing”. This is very mean. We learn Walter Cunningham has had to repeat 1st grade many times. This is because he must help his dad with the harvest in the spring. Molasses would be a staple good because it's cheap. That is why Walter Cunningham pours it on his food. This makes up for both taste and calories. She judges him but is sent away by Calpurnia. “Cooties” are lice. Chuck tells his teacher there is nothing to fear and escorts her to her desk. This is gentlemanly. We then meet Burris Ewell. He gets dirty and Miss Caroline tells him to go home. He says he won't attend for the rest of the year anyways. Mr. Ewell is very bad. Chuck was among the most diminutive men but he reached for a pocket knife in his pocket. He warns Ewell to be careful. Before leaving he yells that she didn’t make him go anywhere. That is what it takes to make her cry. The rest of the chapter is about Scout not wanting to go to school. Atticus tries to teach empathy. They have to “Walk around in somebody else’s skin”. The reason she acts the way she does is due to her ignorance of what is going on. There are a lot of exceptions for the Ewells because their parents mistreat them. We are brought to the Dewey Decimal System. He was an early education philosopher who believed that teachers should go to teacher school. 

In chapter 4, Scout found a piece of Rigley’s gum in an apple. She puts it in her mouth because she wouldn’t get it otherwise. They find coins. They roll a tire into the Radley yard. And they all run away. They then play the “Boo Radley Game”. Scout feels uncomfortable both because she knows someone is watching from the house and thinks Atticus knows about the game.

Miss Maudie is introduced as a friend and a mentor. She says the Radleys are the way they are because of religion. She says that the Radleys are foot washing baptists. “Footwashing” means they have a very narrow-minded interpretation of the bible. They often do not get the larger message of kindness. She represents the more loving aspect of christianity. This is a them that will recur throughout the story for a system of morality. Jem is reconsidering being a lawyer after being caught )))). He is angry because they always win arguments. Atticus accused him of doing something else so he defended himself by saying what he really did. It shows that Atticus is very clever and knows far more than his kids think he knows.

They try to look inside the Radley house at night and see a shadow on the porch. THey only see the shadow but not the person behind them casting it. The shadow’s arm raises from its side and then the shadow returns the way it came. It is “Boo” Radley. He tries to touch Jem but only with his shadow. He moves away because he sees fear. He tries to reach out but only his ghost makes contact with them. Then Nathan Radley comes with a gun. He makes some overt racist remarks. This is leading up to the court case later in chapter 9. Jem sneaks back to get his discarded pants. He is moody afterward because his pants were sewn back together and folded over the fence. This is another sign of “Boo” Radley. Jem still doesn’t understand. They return to their knothole. They put a letter in the knothole and see cement in it. Nathan Radley filled it up and said it was because it was dying. The tree was healthy. Jem stands on the porch and starts crying This is one of the greatest visual metaphors in the porch scene. It is a visual metaphor for the transition between safety and danger. Jem has just seen that people lie in the world. He has cut off some element of hope and then lies to his face. This is Jem finding the reality of adulthood. This is the start of his loss of innocence. He is leaning on the pillar. He wants to have support but he chooses not to. It is sunset. Things are getting darker. He is leaning against a pillar for support hiding the fact he has been crying. He protects himself from others viewing him as vulnerable. He is too proud. He is trying to be a “man” about it. This is showing how damaging these expectations about gender are. The themes are gender, race, and coming of age. These are all issues we have to deal with in the outer world.

In chapter 8 they make a snowman. They make a racial epithet on the dirt snowman. They cover the snow to make it white. This is another connection to the trial and what happens later on. There is then a fire at Miss Maudie's house. While they watch a blanket is put on them. When atticus says they need to return it, Jem tells them the entire truth. Jem refuses to return the blanket because he is protecting Boo Radley. This is not fear but empathy. Scout still has no idea util it is explained. Miss Maudie is only concerned about her flowers after the fire. She doesn’t care about mass, she is someone who observes the lilies of the field. There is the idea that life, righteousness, and faith matter more than material things. After this Atticus tells them about the court case. He tells them that there are still friends. There is a lot of criticism of this line for modern readers because we are supposed to stand up and intercede. He is acting for a practical matter rather than a social matter and that makes this a difficult situation. He behaves this way for a reason. Atticus must do the right thing even though it draws the hatred of the town. 

Chapter 10 starts with Scout’s idea of Atticus being feeble. Atticus tells them they can shoot blue jays but not mockingbirds with their new air guns. Maudy explains to her that the reason mockingbirds cannot be harmed is because they just sing music. Mockingbirds are symbols of innocence. The kids are not innocent. The next part of the chapter has Tim Johnson, a rabid dog. This is before the invention of the rabies vaccine. Atticus and the police are called and Atticus has to take the shot. The glass breaking is a symbol in this scene. The glasses represent the change in perception that the kids have of their father. They are told that Atticus was the deadest shot in Maycomb county. The last takeaway is that Atticus does not take pride in things. He doesn’t care what others think. He acts when he has to and that is it. Jem sees this in his father: that he is not feeble, just humble. He has nothing to prove, and that is a sign of strength.

Mrs Dubois yelled at them every day when they were coming home from home. She is constructed as a character who we dislike. She is very old. She was born in the civil war era which explains much of her demeanor. While mean, she is actually trying to be a mother figure. She is trying to enforce a standard of etiquette. She eventually wins in trying to get Jem to break. He cuts of the top of her flowers. Atticus punishes Jem by sending him to read to her. He is forced to read her Ivanhoe, a story of chivalry. She continues to insult his method of doing things so (in her mind) he can improve. He eventually develops his strength and is able to ignore even her worst insults. She dies weeks later in the night. Atticus tells him that she was on painkillers and was breaking herself of the habit before death. Atticus tells him that she was courageous and he would have sent them anyways. She left them a box with a snow-on-the-mountain flower. This is her way of saying “it will be ok”. It is a lesson of regrowth; Jem’s act of destruction was not permanent. Life gives us the ability to mend mistakes. She forgives him because life goes on. Atticus wanted Jem to see real courage instead of just “a man with a gun in his hand”. According to Atticus, courage is starting something, even if impossible, and seeing it through. Jem needs to see that fighting an impossible fight is real courage because of the court case. We earn some element of respect to her by ending the chapter with her. Chapter 10 began with Atticus being feeble and ends with respect. The author is trying to subvert our expectations of these characters to teach empathy. If we see someone as evil, we often see them as irredeemable. You must believe that people have the ability to improve. Chapter 2 ends here to show Jem’s progress. There are two ways to look at this: that this is Jem’s story. The other is preparing the scene for the court case. These are all the lessons we need to know to deal with the court case. 

Dill doesn’t come in the summer but says he will marry scout. The main thing in this chapter is Calpurnia taking them to her church. The church is called First Purchase because when slavery was ended this community pooled resources and the first thing to build is the church. The root of this community is their shared faith. Lula confronts them, seeing Calpurnia bringing two white kids from the place she works for. Lula’s only place of refuge from racism is her church. The children see things they are unfamiliar with. The first thing is the lining of hymns. One individual reads the lines of the hymn both because they cannot afford hymns and most are unable to read. We learn much of Cal’s background. Atticus’ dad gave her her first book. This means she grew up on the plantation. Her family were slaves for the Finches and she continues to work for them. At the end of the service, the pastor locks them in until 10 dollars are raised. Everyone except the Finches are struggling economically. They are giving with what little they have. This is charity. The community with the least ends up giving the most. Scout asks her why she speaks differently in church than at the FInch household. She responds telling her that she cannot change anyone’s mind by lecturing. You have to make people think you value them. Scout sees something in Calpurnia and wants to come with her sometime.

Aunt Alexandra is obsessed with heredity, which Scout doesn’t understand. Maycomb has hierarchies; families have given attributes. She tells Atticus to tell the kids about it. He fails intentionally and leaves the room. She then says it “takes a woman to do this work”. Atticus was trying to ease the tension with the children. He doesn’t do very well. This is one of the stereotypes that the author does not reject. She thinks that men and women have different strengths.

In chapter 14-15, Scout finds Dill under her bed. He has run off with 13.50 (235 modern) dollars. He ran away because, ever since he got a new stepdad, he feels neglected. He doesn’t feel he belongs so he runs to the only place he thinks he belongs: the Finch’s House. Jem, having grown a lot, abandons the last vestige of their childhood by telling Atticus about Dill. He did this because he had empathy for Dill and his parents. He does something that is unpopular because it is the right thing to do. He is growing to be a little more like atticus. This chapter ends with Dill saying that Boo Radley “Has nowhere to run off to”. There is a meeting outside the Finch house about Tom being moved into Maycomb. The sheriff is concerned that something will happen. That night they sneak out to see Atticus. They see a lynch mob trying to kill Tom Robinson. They are, comically, talking in whispers so they don’t wake Tom before it because they were told not to by Atticus. The children run to Atticus as the confrontation begins. Scout talks nicely to Mr. Cunningham. He tells the others to clear out from the scene afterwards. Scout’s innocence helps defuse the situation. This is contrasted with Jem, who knows what is going on and disobeys Atticus because of it. Scout sees that Jem and Atticus are becoming similar, because “Mutual defiance made them alike”. He is disobeying his father’s orders in order to protect his father. Scout doesn’t understand anything that is going on. At the end, Atticus massages Jem’s hair because he is proud of him. He recognizes what Jem has done and supports it, even though his son was actually standing up to him. 

Things change at Chapter 16. Scout asks Atticus why Mr. Cunningham was trying to kill him the other night. Atticus says he is a man just like the rest of us with his own flaws. Her innocence forced him to feel empathy for their situation. Atticus is trying to tell us that no progress is made by hating others back. In order to fix things like this, we must meet them with love. Dolphus Raymond is a guy who passes by the house. He is having a hard time on the saddle because he looks drunk. Some baptists come by Maudy’s house and yell, she quotes scripture back. Dolphus Raymond has a story. His fiancee committed suicide because he had an affair with a black woman. He had biracial children with her, who are just as outcast as him. He is the town pariah, and may be using the bottle as an escape. Atticus was assigned to defend Tom Robinson but he is hated because he intends to do it. He is taking a black man’s word over a white man’s word. In the court the black people are relegated to the balcony. They are forced to give up their seats to the children and the minister.

The court begins. The sheriff tells them that he saw Mayella’s injuries. In cross-examination, Atticus focuses on the side of the face. There is no doctor which means there is some negligence and the crime may never have happened. The next witness is Robert E Lee Ewell. In his very name he is carrying a lot of cultural baggage about the south. Our first introduction to Mayella is that it is said that she cares for beautiful red geraniums even though they live in a dump. The red of the geranium symbolizes passion. Flowers are also representative of growing. She is different and is more caring than the rest of her family. She has a passion for growth even though she lives in the middle of refuse. Scout feels sorry for the prosecutor while he deals with Mr. Ewell’s rudeness. He is asked if he got a doctor. He didn’t because it would cost him $5. Atticus asks him if he can write his name. He does and he is left-handed. 

Chapter 18 is about Mayella. Note her middle name is “Violet”. At the very beginning we have a reminder of the flower metaphor. She has a passion for growth which makes her different from her family. She cares for these flowers and herself to her best of her abilities. At the witness stand she is scared of atticus. Judge Taylor calms her down and tells her to tell “her story”, not the truth because he knows she will lie. Scout asks if she has good sense. She is asking if she is mentally impaired. Jem says she has enough sense to make the judge feel sorry for her. Her act is so obvious even an 8 year old can see through it. At the end of her story, atticus tries to ask her questions. When Atticus says “ma’am” to her she thinks he is mocking her. She has never been called “ma’am” politely. Her family just uses it to derise her. Atticus then proceeds trying to paint a picture of her life in squalor and ignorance. Now that he has established this, he moves onto her testimony with Tom Robinson. She contradicts herself multiple times. We are supposed to feel some element of sympathy. She has no friends, no civil conversation, and lives an abusive household. We are also conflicted about her because she is lying. Her lying will cost a man his life. Her reasoning is that if she doesn’t lie it will cost her her life. We feel sympathy for Mayella but not Bob Ewell because he is the abuser. Despite this, he did not grow up any different than her. We stop feeling sorry for someone once they start perpetrating the same wrongs which the generation before is guilty of. Mayella will probably become like her father in a few years. If we just dismiss Bob as evil, we cannot believe in redemption. Abuse is not an easy issue to deal with, and that is a tragedy. There is a realism in this text that is still relevant today. There are still problems that we haven’t fixed, maybe because we don’t know how.

The next chapter is Tom’s. Mayella always had some work for him as he was passing. “She said that what her papa do don’t count”. Her father is not just physically abusive but sexually abusive. Then Link Deas stands up and says Tom has never caused any trouble in his life. Tom felt sorry for Mayella. This is a mistake because he is saying that his life was better than hers, which nobody liked. Dill has to go out crying because of how Mr. Gilmer is talking about. Dolphus raymond says Dill is not overly sensitive, that it should make him sit. He gives him a drink from his bag and it is just coke. He has been pretending so that people don’t judge his lifestyle. This is the most critical thing about humanity. We don’t want the truth, we just want a comfortable excuse. We prefer it to the uncomfortable truth. He doesn’t have to deal with people’s hatred because people don’t want to confront the reality of the situation. He has a different understanding. It is more negative. Atticus in his closing speech tries to remove the bias of the jury by acting more friendly to them. This is explained earlier by Calpurnia: you can either talk their language or not talk at all. Farmers, shop-owners, and other uneducated men are on this jury. They will not like it if he just tells them which is right or wrong. He talks about how the court is the institution with the most integrity. His speech is built on ideals, which he knows full well are not reality.

The next chapter, atticus consents to let the children come for the verdict. It takes the jury 4 hours to deliberate. This is important because it tells us there was some deliberation, though not as much as we hoped. There is a sign of respect by standing up for what Atticus has done. We see respect for Atticus but none for Tom Robinson. 

The black community then brings food to Atticus. This is unusual as this gesture is usually reserved for people like Helen. Atticus declines. Maudy gives Jem a slice of the big cake at her house. Maudy is giving recognition to him about leaving his childhood behind. Jem was crying at the trial because of the injustice of it. He is sad because everyone, the whole town, lied. Everyone in the court could see the truth, but they overlooked it. He cried because of the same reason as on the porch. He realizes the world is dishonest. Maudie says that Atticus is an exemplar of christian ethics. She says that the fact the jury was out for four hours was a step in the right direction. The judge picked Atticus because only he could get people to at least acknowledge the truth. He is still dealing with the lack of christian ethics among his neighbors

All Atticus has said about Bob Ewell is that he wished he didn’t chew tobacco. This is another example of Atticus being a “good” christian. He is turning the other cheek and walking away. He let Bob Ewell insult him publicly and walk away because it would have saved Mayella from a beating. He is self-sacrificing. He took suffering for the sake of others. This is a parallel to Jesus. Our author is trying to paint him as a christ–like figure. He thinks it is not okay to hate anybody. Jem thinks they should abolish the jury. Atticus explains that many normal people lose their reasoning on topics like race. “Serving on a jury needs a man to declare himself for something; sometimes it is unpleasant”. Harper Lee is trying to understate what is going on through a literary device. What she is really saying is that mankind is cowardly. People would rather be part of a mob than stand up and say it is a bad idea because they are afraid of consequences. The one holdout on the jury was a cousin of the cunninghams. They do not care about innocence or guilt, he only did it out of respect for Atticus. This shifts the focus from the injustice to Atticus. After this, they want to invite the cunninghams over but alexandra won’t let them. They want to know why the cunninghams are below them. Jem says that people just hate others who they perceive different. This is part of Jem’s pathway to adulthood. Jem also said that Boo was right not to be a part of the world, that the world was a horrible place. He is becoming jaded. His perception has changed because now he has to see the injustice of it.

No hate. Jude your notes are really good

litotes

“If they are all alike why do they hate each other”

The next chapter is about the missionary society ladies. They ask Scout if she wants to become a lawyer. She responds, “Just a lady”. They are a church group. They are talking about Native Americans outside the americas. J Grimes Everett is a missionary who is trying to convert this group of people. They hold him high because he is preaching in a land of “sin and squalor”. Then Ms. Merriweather talks about witnessing for the lord by telling her cook not to grumble about injustice. She says everyone should just forget. Ms Maudy says that “his food doesn’t stick does it”. This is disapproval for her hypocrisy. While Ms Merriweather is eating Atticus’ food she is bad-mouthing him while in front of his sister and daughter. Everybody knows exactly what she means. It is at this point that Scout wonders what the world of women is like. She thinks that she likes men, despite their flaws, because they aren’t “hypocrites”. This is a critique of the world of women. She thinks they need to be more direct because otherwise there is a great deal of hypocrisy. She is critical of both genders and humanity as a whole. The chapter ended with Tom robinson being shot 17 times escaping. He was tired of “white men’s chances” according to Atticus. Alexandra is worried about Atticus. The chapter ends with “if aunty can be a lady at a time like this, so can I”. Scout has just realized that Aunt alexandra is a lot stronger than she looks. She carries her burdens silently. This is parallel to Jem’s lesson in chapter 10. Atticus was a gentleman because he is humble. Here is Aunt alexandra who does the exact same thing which makes her a lady. There is some connection between hypocrisy and being a gentleman. It has to do with how we act in secret and how we present ourselves to others. 

Jem says that Scout shouldn’t kill a bug. Scout says that he is becoming more of a girl every day. They then talk about tom robinson’s death. Mr. Underwood says that it was a sin to kill a cripple and likens Tom to a mockingbird. Then we have “in the secret court of Men’s hearts’

The next chapter mostly deals with current events. It talks about Hitler’s rise to power. Cecil talks about washing people’s opinions away. This is a link to the holocaust. America didn’t get involved because they didn’t see reason to. It only becomes moral after America joins. Ms Gates says that there is never a cause to persecute people. Someone says that he doesn’t understand it because their white. They are so obsessed with looking outside that they don’t look at how they treat people in their community, because they don’t see them as their community.

Bob Ewell starts a scare campaign against Helen who escapes with link Deas’ help. This is his attempt to make a man of himself again. At the end of the chapter there is a Halloween Pageant. Scout gets to be Pork. Their trip there is their “longest journey together”. 

The next chapter starts foreshadowing the next with them talking about ghosts. Cecil Jacobs jumps out and scares them while they are on the way to the school for a play. This is used as a distraction from later events. When they are coming back, they hear a sound behind them. Initially they think it is Cecil again but the footsteps don’t stop. He lunges. Her costume saves her, with the chicken wire stopping his knife. After some struggle, it stops with the man falling. She could not identify the knife sticking out of him. It was bob Ewell. She sees Jem’s arm broken because the entire story is leading up to this point. We have a limited perspective because Scout has a limited perception, but she can still fill in the details in retrospection. She finds out that somebody carried Jem home. It was Boo. 

In chapter 30, Atticus makes introductions. They go to the porch so as not to disturb Jem. They go to the porch because it is darker and Arthur ‘boo” would be more comfortable. This time it is not Jem transitioning but Scout. We then go to the Radley front porch. It is a motif for the transition to the real world. Heck Tate tells them that Mr. Ewell fell on his knife. Atticus says he didn’t and doesn’t want to cover it up. Our second mockingbird is the one who was saved because one has already been destroyed. It is “Boo” Radley. Heck Tate has already watched one mockingbird be killed and he doesn’t want another. There is a reiteration of “Boo” Radley’s reaching out and not being able to touch anyone. He asks Scout if she will take him home. This is his only line of dialogue. It ends with her learning how to step in someone else’s shoes. 

The end

28

• Jem hears something, but the squad does not because of the ham costume “run scout run” (Jem)

• Metal on metal is the knife on Scout's chickenwire costume 

• The whole story is about how Jem broke his arm

• Bob Yulle is dead under the tree with the knife under his neck

29

• Boo Radly saved Jem and carried him home this is seen when scout is recalling the memories of ch 28 and she says that there was a pale, skinny, blind man Boo that saved Jem

30

• They go out on the porch, and it goes full circle stage of transition. Now they are at the Radlys' house and on their porch.

• Bob fell on his knife, he killed himself, he flung Jem down, and tripped on a root. That's what Atticus says 

• “Takes someone might be used to the dark to see a witness.”

• “Let the dead bury the dead,” a biblical quote 

• Our mocking birds are Boo Radly and Mr.Underwood

• “Will you take me home” the only diolog that Boo says 

• “You have to step into someone else's skin to get to know them,” Atticus told us this on page 39, and Scout knows it 

• He read the grey ghost because Boo is the grey ghost because he is nice but you dont know until you get to know him and see him

• He would be there all night, and when Jem wakes up in the morning 

Quotes

“Nothing to fear but fear itself” - Roosevelt

“When a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey”

“If i didn’t I couldnt hold my head high” keep fists down Chapter 8(or 9) 

“Shoot all the blujays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (119)

“I guess he decided he wouldn’t shoot till he had to, and he had to today.” (130)

“People in their right minds never take pride in their talents” 130

“Nothing to do but keep mouth shut and 

“He just has his blind spots just like the rest of us Chapter 16 beginning

“He rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood” Chapter 14 - Jem

“Nowhere to run to” Chapter 14 end

“They could never understand, I live like I do because“ Dolphus Raymond + give people a reason never say to hell

“Takes someone mighty used to the dark to make a competent witness” Chapter 30

“Let the dead bury the dead”

“Most people are nice when you finally see them”