To Kill a Mockingbird (Chapter summaries).

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To Kill a Mockingbird (Chapter summaries)

Chapter 1

In this first chapter Scout Finch tells us the history of the Finch family and gives a description of Maycomb which is the town that they live in. She describes it as being an old, humid, sleepy and laidback town where everyone knows each others business.

Scout also tells us about the day when she and her brother Jem first met Dill Harris. She then goes on to tell us about how they told Dill all about Boo Radley and how the more they told him the more he became fascinated with the Radley house and what Boo Radley looked like.

Then Dill got the idea that they should try to make him come out of the house. This lead to Dill betting that Jem wouldn’t get any further than the Radley gate. She then tells us how it took Jem three days to make up his mind about doing the dare and how Dill said that he wouldn’t say Jem ran out on the dare if he just went up and touched the house, Jem agreed to this and he ran up to the house followed by scout and Dill and slapped it with the palm of his hand. He then sped back to the porch of his own home; once he got there he looked back.

The house was still the same, droopy and sick but as they continued to stare down the street they thought they saw an inside shutter move but they couldn’t be sure.

Chapter 2              

In this chapter Scout describes to us her first day at school, and she said she had never looked forward more too any thing in her life. She talks about how Jem walked her to school on her first day because Atticus had said that Jem would be delighted to do it but she suspected that Atticus had given Jem some money for doing it. When they arrived at the edge of the school Jem told scout that she was to leave him alone during school.

We are then given a description of Miss Caroline and her first morning in school.  We are told that Miss Caroline is annoyed because scout can read and write and tells her that Atticus is not to teacher any more. We are also told that at lunch time when Walter Cunningham does not have any lunch Miss Caroline offer him a quarter to go and buy something, but Walter refused. It is at this point that Scout steps in to explain to Miss Caroline that Walter was a Cunningham and that he would not take anything that he couldn’t pay back. Miss Cunningham could not understand this so Scout said

 “You’re shamin’ him ………hasn’t got a quarter at home to bring you…..”

This statement made Miss Caroline stand stock still, then she grabbed Scouts collar and told her to hold out her hand. Scout did this and turned to the class puzzled because she thought Miss Caroline was going to spit on her hand, which was the only reason for somebody in Maycomb to hold out their hand; it was a way of sealing an oral contract. Miss Caroline then picked up her ruler and gave Scout half a dozen quick pats with it and told her to stand in the corner. The class began laughing when it occurred to them that Scout had just been whipped by Miss Caroline. As the class left for lunch Scout, who was the last to leave, saw Miss Caroline sink into her chair and bury her head in her arms. If she had been kinder towards Scout then she said she would have felt sorry for her.

Chapter 3

At the start of this chapter Scout has caught Walter and is proceeding to rub his face in the dirt when her brother Jem arrives and told her to stop. Scout then tells Jem how she got into trouble with Miss Caroline because he had forgotten his lunch and scout tried to explain about the Cunningham’s. Jem then asked Walter who his dad was and when he had replied Jem asked him if he wanted to have dinner at their house. Walter did not reply so Scout and Jem began to walk home but when they reached the Radley house Walter called to them that he would come. When they got home Jem ran into the kitchen to tell Calpurnia, the family housekeeper, to set an extra plate because they had a guest. When Walter asked if they had any molasses Atticus summoned Cal, who returned with the syrup. Walter then began pouring it on to his plate and Scout thought that he would have poured it in his milk if she hadn’t questioned what he was doing. Cal then asked Scout to go into the kitchen where she received a severe telling off by her; she was then made to finish her dinner in the kitchen. When Scout returned to school after dinner she hated cal steadily until a shriek from Miss Caroline shattered her hatred. When Little Chuck Little asked Miss Caroline what she had seen she pointed at a boy who Scout hadn’t noticed. Miss Caroline said that when she had walked past him something had crawled out off his hair, Little Chuck then explained that it was only a ‘cootie’ and that it was nothing to be afraid of. The Boy who had caused the up roar was asked his name and he replied Burris Ewell. Miss Caroline then told him to go home and to wash his hair and to have a bath, he then stood up and said he was about to leave any way because he had done his time for that year. This puzzled Miss Caroline so an older member of the class explained about the Ewell’s. As he was leaving Burris shouted insults at Miss Caroline who proceeded to cry. At the end off the day she went home and when asked by Atticus if she wanted to read she ignored him. She then told Atticus about him not being able to read with her again because Miss Caroline said so. They made a deal that if Scout continued to go to school they could read in secret.

Chapter 4

At the beginning of this chapter Scout finds some chewing gum in a knothole of one of the trees in the Radley garden and she decides to take it, after closer inspection she concludes it isn’t poisoned so she eats it. When Jem arrives home he tells her to spit it out and go and rinse out her mouth because he thinks it is poisoned. When Scout refuses Jem says he will tell call if she doesn’t. When they are walking home on the last day of school they are talking about when Dill will arrive and as they come to the tree Scout points at it an there in the knothole is another piece of foil and inside it are two Indian head pennies, after a long discussion they decide to keep them.  Two days after this event Dill arrived and the cant decide what to do. Jem tells Dill what a ‘hot steam is’ but Scout says that Cal says it is nigger-talk. This upset Jem who scowled and asked if they were going to play anything and Scout suggested they roll in the tyre. Scout went first and Jem was still up set about the earlier incident and he pushed her down the street with all his might and Scout ended up in the Radley’s garden. Later Jem suggested they played a new game called Boo Radley. As the summer progressed so did the game and eventually it became a play which changed everyday. One day they are caught by Atticus who asks what they are doing but Jem said they weren’t doing anything. This made Scout feel like they shouldn’t play anymore, but also she was sure she had heard someone laughing in the Radley house so this also meant she didn’t want to continue with the game

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Chapter 5

Scout tells us in this chapter that because of her constant nagging Jem decided that the game could be slowed down even though he insisted that Atticus didn’t know abut the game. Scout also says that Dill had become closer to Jem even though early in the summer he had asked her to marry him, she said that Jem and Dill would sit in the tree house and talk only calling on Scout when a third party was needed. This meant that Scout had become close to Miss Maudie, she said that Miss Maudie hated her house ...

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