Kill a Mocking Bird
The story is set in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the middle of the
Great Depression.Atticus explains that Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict and used
Jem's daily reading to break herself of her addiction before she died--she wanted
to die free.That year, Atticus is appointed by the court to defend a black man, Tom
Robinson, who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a poor,
unemployed, alcoholic white man named Bob Ewell.Atticus admits that he made Jem read because he wanted Jem to see
that courage isn't,
"seeing a man with a gun, but it's doing something you know is
right, even if you know you'll fail." Calpurnia takes the children to attend her black church one Sunday. Scout, is
shocked to discover that Calpurnia lives a double life, as she speaks one way in the
Finch home and another way among her black community. When they return
home, Aunt Alexandra, Atticus's sister, is there to stay with them for "a while' and
to be a "feminine influence" on Scout.Calpurnia recognizes that the dog has rabies, she alerts the neighbours,
and calls Atticus and the Sheriff, Heck Tate.Jem realizes that Boo must have done it. Scout is
horrified, but Atticus just hides his laughter.Later in the winter, as Scout and Jem take out their new air rifles to hunt for
rabbits, they discover a beloved Maycomb dog named Tim Johnson behaving
strangely.Scout and Jem occasionally find
treasures stuffed into a knothole of a tree next to the Radleys' fence.A few months later,
in the dead of the night in winter, the Finch's neighbour Miss Maudie Atkinson's
house catches fire, and as Scout and Finch watch it burn, someone puts a blanket
around Scout's shoulders.As Atticus is appointed to
fight on behalf of Tom, there are racial tensions in Maycomb.Scout and Jem
become targets of abuse from schoolmates, neighbours, townspeople, and even
some family members.Later at home,
Scout tells Uncle Jack her side of the story and tells him he punishes her based on
Francis's incorrect statement She also begs him to keep this a secret from Atticus.As punishment, Mrs. Dubose asks Jem to read to her
every day after school for a month, and Atticus agrees he has to do so. Mrs.
Dubose is nasty and frightens both Jem and Scout, as she has fits of some sort.Six-year-old Jean Louise Finch (Scout Finch) lives with her
older brother, Jeremy Atticus Finch (Jem), and her father, Atticus Finch.The three children
become friends, and, pushed by Dill's wild imagination, they soon become
fascinated with the spooky house called Radley Place.Dill dares Jem to run up and touch the
Radley house, and Scout is sure she sees someone watching them from inside
behind a curtain.When they
find several sticks of gum, Scout and Jem ignore the rumour that everything on the
Radley property is poisoned.Dill, Scout, and Jem sneak onto
the Radley property one night to look in through the window, but Nathan Radley
sees them and thinking they're thieves, goes after them with a gun.When Jem goes back to
Radleys' fence to get the pants later that night, he finds them mended and folded.Meanwhile, Scout and Jem continue to find gifts in the knothole until Nathan
Radley cements it shut one day, saying that the tree is dying.Jem is very hurt,
especially when Atticus mentions that the tree doesn't look ill.Scout and Jem receive air rifles for Christmas,
though Atticus refuses to teach them how to shoot.In the spring, Scout and Jem walk down the road to meet Atticus after work,
they go past the house of Mrs Dubose, an unpleasant woman.Jem is able to ignore
her abuse for a while, until one day when she insults him about Atticus defending
Tom Robinson.