Chapters 6-10
Chapter 6: The Pants
Atticus had just confronted the kids about leaving Boo Radley alone when Jem asked if they could go over to Miss Rachel’s fishpool with Dill because it was Dill’s last night in Maycomb till next summer. The boys soon decide to have a walk over to the Radley area and try to take a peek through the window and get a look at Boo. Scout tries to hold them back, but Jem refuses and yells, “I declare to the Lord you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day!” With this statement, two things were clear: one, Jem was growing up, and two, Scout had no choice but to join them.
The three went into the near under under a high wire fence where a squeaky gate followed. Scout and Dill spit on it to get Jem through and they give Jem a lift to look in through the window. Jem claims to have seen a small light, but when the kids let him down, Jem set his foot on a squeaky step. He crawled to the back window, but as he was peeking through, a shadow of a man was approached. The kids froze motionless till the shadow passed and they ran for their lives. A shotgun went off on their escape, and as the trio was making their way under the wire, Jem gets his pants stuck. He wriggles out of his pants and made their way to the oak tree to find the neighbors had gathered at the front of the Radley house.
The rumor was that Mr. Radley shot at a black man and missed while he escaped. Atticus then accosted Jem about his pants. The kids thought they were caught till Dill came in claiming he had him. Off the top of his head, he quickly explained that he won it in strip poker, using matches and not playing cards. Had he said playing cards, they would have been in a lot of trouble because “matches were dangerous, but playing cards were fatal.”
The kids return home and as Jem and Scout were in their beds, Jem gets up saying hes going after his pants because he doesn’t want to get caught. He says Atticus hasn’t gotten him in serious trouble for a while and he wanted it to stay that way. Scout tells of the dangers of Jem getting his head blown off, but when Jem is persistent, Scout decides to accompany him. Jem makes it back with his pants, and the two go back home, but Scout noticed that Jem was trembling.
Chapter 7: The Knot-Hole
For a week after the Radley incident, Jem stayed taciturn. But then one day Jem confesses to Scout about what he had seen. He told Scout that when he went back to retrieve his pants, he found the pants folded across the fence, and the rip had been sewn together like a something a kid could pull off. They wonder if someone had been expecting him to come back for them.
One afternoon when the two had been walking past the tree with the knot-hole, there they spotted a ball of gray twine. They decided to leave it there, and on the third day when the ball of gray twine remained, the kids took it and from that day, they decided that everything found in that knot-hole was their property.
The kids had found many other things the weeks following the ball of gray twine. One day, they found a carving of them in soap, a whole pack of chewing gum, a spelling bee medal, and their biggest prize: a pocket watch that didn’t run with a pocket knife. After receiving all these items, the kids decide to write a letter to whoever was giving away these items. At first they have trouble deciding how to write it, but the complete it eventually.
The next day, the kids were approaching the tree when they found that someone had filled the hold with cement. The next day, when Mr. Radley was around, Jem asked if he had filled the hole and he said that it was good for the tree to plug the hole when it was dying, but when Jem asked Atticus if it was truly dying, he explained it wasn’t.
Chapter 8: The Fire
There was two weeks of the coldest weather in Maycomb since 1885 as autumn suddenly turned to summer. Mrs. Radley died that winter because of natural causes. When the kids woke up to snow, Scout was screaming the world was ending. This was partly due to the fact that Mr. Avery explained that seasons changed when kids disobeyed their parents, and Jem and Scout believed that it was their fault that the weather had changed so abruptly.
The kids were thinking about making a snowman, but when they headed to their backyard, their snow sucked, and was not near sufficient for creating a snowman. The kids walked over to Miss Maudie’s when Mr. Avery approached them and reminded them about their fault in the changing season. Miss Maudie was more than eager to get rid of her snow, allowing the children to take as much as they wanted.
After the kids had transferred some snow and dirt to their yard, Jem started on the snowman. After much work, it had finally looked like an angry Mr. Avery. When Atticus sees their work, he tells his son that he would never worry about what he’ll become. He also tells him to disguise the snowman because he can’t be making caricatures of neighbors, so Jem places Miss Maudie’s hedge-clippers and sunhat on the snowman. That night, though the snow had stopped, the thermometer registered sixteen, the coldest night in Atticus’ memory.
Atticus woke up the kids, a little near midnight, and Scout knew something was wrong. Miss Maudie’s house was on fire. The neighbors tried their best to help the cause. Mr. Avery was seen climbing through the window because the fire had caught up to him. The fire hoses wouldn’t even work because the cold had froze them solid. As the kids watched the relentless fire taking down the house, they head on over across the street where Atticus points out that Scout had a blanket on. Scout was confused until Atticus told her that Boo Radley had put it around her.
Later, when the kids ask Miss Maudie about her thoughts on the whole mess, she reveals that she didn’t care much, and that she herself would have burned it down herself if she could. But she also admits that she would have wanted to be there when Boo Radley was behind the kids, and wished she could’ve turned around and had a good look at him herself.
Chapter 9: Uncle Jack
One day, a boy named Cecil Jacobs stated that Scout’s dad defended black people. When she asks Atticus about it, he admits that he does, and when Scout asks if all lawyers defend them, he says the do. The real problem was how Cecil said it, Atticus explains that there’s been some talk going around about how he shouldn’t be do much about defending Tom Robinson, the black man accused of rape. But Atticus explains that he must or he wouldn’t be able to keep his head high in the town because he would be proud of himself for his actions. He says to try to fight with your head over your fists. When Scout asks if they are going to win the trial, Atticus explains that even though they won’t, that is not a reason to give up, even when they were beaten way before, and reminds Scout that “no matter how bitter things get, they’re still our friends.” He also says not to say the wretched “n” word.
It was Christmas time and Uncle Jack always comes over for Christmas. As Dill was their summer, Uncle Jack was the kids’ Christmas. When Uncle Jack talks about how his cat is getting fat and Scout cusses, Uncle Jack is somewhat surprised. Atticus informs him about Scout’s in the habit of it. After supper, Uncle Jack has Scout over and they talk about her cussing. Uncle Jack says he doesn’t like the words she’s been using and that she shouldn’t be using them unless put to extreme provocation.
The next morning the kids went to their presents and opened their air rifles. Uncle Jack told Atticus that’ll he would have to teach them how to shoot, but Atticus explains he would not. Later, Scout talks about how Aunt Alexandra wants her to grow up to be a lady, and that she didn’t understand girls much. After that, a boy named Francis whom Scout wasn’t great friends with had called Atticus a “black” people lover and that he mortifies the family, which gets Scout gets mad. She begins chasing him around for some time until she finally hits him and Uncle Jack catches her.
Francis explained what happened and Uncle Jack said Scout was in trouble who then continued to say that she hated him. Later on, Uncle Jack talks with her again, and Scout explains that he didn’t let her tell her side of the story, and then explains that she was extremely provoked.
A little later when Scout was “supposed” to be sleeping, Uncle Jack was talking to Atticus about how he doesn’t want to have kids because he didn’t understand children according to Scout. By the way, during most of this conversation, Scout was listening in. They also talk about when a child asks you a question, you must answer truthfully, and also about how Jem and Scout having trouble keeping their cool. Finally, they talk about the trial and how Atticus hoped he wouldn’t have to go through a trial of this temerity, and hoped Jem and Scout would get through it without catching the Maycomb disease, racism, and lastly, that he wanted Scout and Jem to trust him with their questions over anyone else. With this, Atticus reveals Scout and tells her to go to bed, but Scout realized that he wanted her to hear everything he said.
Chapter 10: One-Shot Finch
Atticus was almost fifty. Whenever Jem would ask him to do something physical with him, he’d always say he was too old. In fact, he was older than the other kids’ parents. Atticus wasn’t someone who you’d think would do anything admirable in the town of Maycomb. In the meantime, word that Atticus was defending Tom Robinson in school, and that he wouldn’t let Scout fight anymore.
When the kids got their air rifles, Atticus let Uncle Jack teach the kids, but Atticus gave one piece of advice to Jem and that was not to shoot mockingbirds. That he could shoot all the tin cans and bluejays he wanted, but in the end, it was a sin to kill a mockingbird. All they do is make music for the world, not bothering anyone anywhere, and that is why it is a sin according to Miss Maudie. Scout asked Miss Maudie about what Atticus can do, and the results were checkers and a Jew’s Harp, not to mention his ability to make someone’s will so tight that no one would mess with it. Later, Scout asks Cal about it. She says he can do many things, but wasn’t able to name any.
On one Saturday, Jem spotted an old dog down the road jumping around like a mad dog in a slow pace towards the Finch property. They believe it is Tim Johnson, the property of Harry Johnson. The kids tell Cal and when she has a look, she immediate has the children inside and calls up Atticus. A car comes up with Heck Tate in Atticus’ company as Heck pulls out a rifle with him. Jem thought he was just looking for a place to die, but most just thought it was just crazy and sick of something like rabies. Heck Tate hands the rifle to Atticus, and at first Atticus refuses until he explains that it is a one-shot job. Atticus hadn’t shot a gun in thirty years till this very moment, but he took the gun and aimed it at Tim Johnson, and the fire cracked, and the dog fell to its side.
At this point, the neighbors came out of their homes to see what happens, and Miss Maudie yells, “I saw that One-Shot Finch!” The kids were at first confused about everything that just happened, especially Jem who didn’t thought of his dad much more than just a lawyer. Miss Maudie explains that Atticus didn’t go hunting anymore because he believed that God had given him an unfair advantage over the animals, and that he wouldn’t shoot until he had to, which was that very moment of his life, because “people in their right minds never take pride in their talents.” Zeebo drove up with the garbage truck and gingerly lifted the dead dog onto the truck.
Later when the kids went home, Jem told Scout not to say anything about the events at school because if Atticus was proud of his actions, he would have said it, and then lastly explained that Atticus was a gentleman, just like himself.
-MJAY
Atticus had just confronted the kids about leaving Boo Radley alone when Jem asked if they could go over to Miss Rachel’s fishpool with Dill because it was Dill’s last night in Maycomb till next summer. The boys soon decide to have a walk over to the Radley area and try to take a peek through the window and get a look at Boo. Scout tries to hold them back, but Jem refuses and yells, “I declare to the Lord you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day!” With this statement, two things were clear: one, Jem was growing up, and two, Scout had no choice but to join them.
The three went into the near under under a high wire fence where a squeaky gate followed. Scout and Dill spit on it to get Jem through and they give Jem a lift to look in through the window. Jem claims to have seen a small light, but when the kids let him down, Jem set his foot on a squeaky step. He crawled to the back window, but as he was peeking through, a shadow of a man was approached. The kids froze motionless till the shadow passed and they ran for their lives. A shotgun went off on their escape, and as the trio was making their way under the wire, Jem gets his pants stuck. He wriggles out of his pants and made their way to the oak tree to find the neighbors had gathered at the front of the Radley house.
The rumor was that Mr. Radley shot at a black man and missed while he escaped. Atticus then accosted Jem about his pants. The kids thought they were caught till Dill came in claiming he had him. Off the top of his head, he quickly explained that he won it in strip poker, using matches and not playing cards. Had he said playing cards, they would have been in a lot of trouble because “matches were dangerous, but playing cards were fatal.”
The kids return home and as Jem and Scout were in their beds, Jem gets up saying hes going after his pants because he doesn’t want to get caught. He says Atticus hasn’t gotten him in serious trouble for a while and he wanted it to stay that way. Scout tells of the dangers of Jem getting his head blown off, but when Jem is persistent, Scout decides to accompany him. Jem makes it back with his pants, and the two go back home, but Scout noticed that Jem was trembling.
Chapter 7: The Knot-Hole
For a week after the Radley incident, Jem stayed taciturn. But then one day Jem confesses to Scout about what he had seen. He told Scout that when he went back to retrieve his pants, he found the pants folded across the fence, and the rip had been sewn together like a something a kid could pull off. They wonder if someone had been expecting him to come back for them.
One afternoon when the two had been walking past the tree with the knot-hole, there they spotted a ball of gray twine. They decided to leave it there, and on the third day when the ball of gray twine remained, the kids took it and from that day, they decided that everything found in that knot-hole was their property.
The kids had found many other things the weeks following the ball of gray twine. One day, they found a carving of them in soap, a whole pack of chewing gum, a spelling bee medal, and their biggest prize: a pocket watch that didn’t run with a pocket knife. After receiving all these items, the kids decide to write a letter to whoever was giving away these items. At first they have trouble deciding how to write it, but the complete it eventually.
The next day, the kids were approaching the tree when they found that someone had filled the hold with cement. The next day, when Mr. Radley was around, Jem asked if he had filled the hole and he said that it was good for the tree to plug the hole when it was dying, but when Jem asked Atticus if it was truly dying, he explained it wasn’t.
Chapter 8: The Fire
There was two weeks of the coldest weather in Maycomb since 1885 as autumn suddenly turned to summer. Mrs. Radley died that winter because of natural causes. When the kids woke up to snow, Scout was screaming the world was ending. This was partly due to the fact that Mr. Avery explained that seasons changed when kids disobeyed their parents, and Jem and Scout believed that it was their fault that the weather had changed so abruptly.
The kids were thinking about making a snowman, but when they headed to their backyard, their snow sucked, and was not near sufficient for creating a snowman. The kids walked over to Miss Maudie’s when Mr. Avery approached them and reminded them about their fault in the changing season. Miss Maudie was more than eager to get rid of her snow, allowing the children to take as much as they wanted.
After the kids had transferred some snow and dirt to their yard, Jem started on the snowman. After much work, it had finally looked like an angry Mr. Avery. When Atticus sees their work, he tells his son that he would never worry about what he’ll become. He also tells him to disguise the snowman because he can’t be making caricatures of neighbors, so Jem places Miss Maudie’s hedge-clippers and sunhat on the snowman. That night, though the snow had stopped, the thermometer registered sixteen, the coldest night in Atticus’ memory.
Atticus woke up the kids, a little near midnight, and Scout knew something was wrong. Miss Maudie’s house was on fire. The neighbors tried their best to help the cause. Mr. Avery was seen climbing through the window because the fire had caught up to him. The fire hoses wouldn’t even work because the cold had froze them solid. As the kids watched the relentless fire taking down the house, they head on over across the street where Atticus points out that Scout had a blanket on. Scout was confused until Atticus told her that Boo Radley had put it around her.
Later, when the kids ask Miss Maudie about her thoughts on the whole mess, she reveals that she didn’t care much, and that she herself would have burned it down herself if she could. But she also admits that she would have wanted to be there when Boo Radley was behind the kids, and wished she could’ve turned around and had a good look at him herself.
Chapter 9: Uncle Jack
One day, a boy named Cecil Jacobs stated that Scout’s dad defended black people. When she asks Atticus about it, he admits that he does, and when Scout asks if all lawyers defend them, he says the do. The real problem was how Cecil said it, Atticus explains that there’s been some talk going around about how he shouldn’t be do much about defending Tom Robinson, the black man accused of rape. But Atticus explains that he must or he wouldn’t be able to keep his head high in the town because he would be proud of himself for his actions. He says to try to fight with your head over your fists. When Scout asks if they are going to win the trial, Atticus explains that even though they won’t, that is not a reason to give up, even when they were beaten way before, and reminds Scout that “no matter how bitter things get, they’re still our friends.” He also says not to say the wretched “n” word.
It was Christmas time and Uncle Jack always comes over for Christmas. As Dill was their summer, Uncle Jack was the kids’ Christmas. When Uncle Jack talks about how his cat is getting fat and Scout cusses, Uncle Jack is somewhat surprised. Atticus informs him about Scout’s in the habit of it. After supper, Uncle Jack has Scout over and they talk about her cussing. Uncle Jack says he doesn’t like the words she’s been using and that she shouldn’t be using them unless put to extreme provocation.
The next morning the kids went to their presents and opened their air rifles. Uncle Jack told Atticus that’ll he would have to teach them how to shoot, but Atticus explains he would not. Later, Scout talks about how Aunt Alexandra wants her to grow up to be a lady, and that she didn’t understand girls much. After that, a boy named Francis whom Scout wasn’t great friends with had called Atticus a “black” people lover and that he mortifies the family, which gets Scout gets mad. She begins chasing him around for some time until she finally hits him and Uncle Jack catches her.
Francis explained what happened and Uncle Jack said Scout was in trouble who then continued to say that she hated him. Later on, Uncle Jack talks with her again, and Scout explains that he didn’t let her tell her side of the story, and then explains that she was extremely provoked.
A little later when Scout was “supposed” to be sleeping, Uncle Jack was talking to Atticus about how he doesn’t want to have kids because he didn’t understand children according to Scout. By the way, during most of this conversation, Scout was listening in. They also talk about when a child asks you a question, you must answer truthfully, and also about how Jem and Scout having trouble keeping their cool. Finally, they talk about the trial and how Atticus hoped he wouldn’t have to go through a trial of this temerity, and hoped Jem and Scout would get through it without catching the Maycomb disease, racism, and lastly, that he wanted Scout and Jem to trust him with their questions over anyone else. With this, Atticus reveals Scout and tells her to go to bed, but Scout realized that he wanted her to hear everything he said.
Chapter 10: One-Shot Finch
Atticus was almost fifty. Whenever Jem would ask him to do something physical with him, he’d always say he was too old. In fact, he was older than the other kids’ parents. Atticus wasn’t someone who you’d think would do anything admirable in the town of Maycomb. In the meantime, word that Atticus was defending Tom Robinson in school, and that he wouldn’t let Scout fight anymore.
When the kids got their air rifles, Atticus let Uncle Jack teach the kids, but Atticus gave one piece of advice to Jem and that was not to shoot mockingbirds. That he could shoot all the tin cans and bluejays he wanted, but in the end, it was a sin to kill a mockingbird. All they do is make music for the world, not bothering anyone anywhere, and that is why it is a sin according to Miss Maudie. Scout asked Miss Maudie about what Atticus can do, and the results were checkers and a Jew’s Harp, not to mention his ability to make someone’s will so tight that no one would mess with it. Later, Scout asks Cal about it. She says he can do many things, but wasn’t able to name any.
On one Saturday, Jem spotted an old dog down the road jumping around like a mad dog in a slow pace towards the Finch property. They believe it is Tim Johnson, the property of Harry Johnson. The kids tell Cal and when she has a look, she immediate has the children inside and calls up Atticus. A car comes up with Heck Tate in Atticus’ company as Heck pulls out a rifle with him. Jem thought he was just looking for a place to die, but most just thought it was just crazy and sick of something like rabies. Heck Tate hands the rifle to Atticus, and at first Atticus refuses until he explains that it is a one-shot job. Atticus hadn’t shot a gun in thirty years till this very moment, but he took the gun and aimed it at Tim Johnson, and the fire cracked, and the dog fell to its side.
At this point, the neighbors came out of their homes to see what happens, and Miss Maudie yells, “I saw that One-Shot Finch!” The kids were at first confused about everything that just happened, especially Jem who didn’t thought of his dad much more than just a lawyer. Miss Maudie explains that Atticus didn’t go hunting anymore because he believed that God had given him an unfair advantage over the animals, and that he wouldn’t shoot until he had to, which was that very moment of his life, because “people in their right minds never take pride in their talents.” Zeebo drove up with the garbage truck and gingerly lifted the dead dog onto the truck.
Later when the kids went home, Jem told Scout not to say anything about the events at school because if Atticus was proud of his actions, he would have said it, and then lastly explained that Atticus was a gentleman, just like himself.
-MJAY