Scout seems to evolve into that way of thinking throughout the book. At first, she learns that she must wear different clothing at different times. For example, she learns that she must wear a dress to school, but she is allowed to wear pants with family and at home.

Boo (Arthur) Radley asks Scout to walk him home. Boo has to stoop down for Scout to reach him, but she puts her arm inside the crook of his arm and they walk to the Radley house in a genteel manner. This is just one indication as to how much Scout has matured over the summer.

Scout wears a ham costume in the pageant. It was made for her by Mrs. Crenshaw, a seamstress, who shaped chicken wire into the form of a cured ham, covered it with brown cloth, and then painted it to look like the real thing. Jem told Scout she looked like “a ham with legs” in her costume.

Scout, despite being a girl, dons clothing that denote her tomboyish nature: Rather than wearing a dress, she prefers overalls or even pants, much to the chagrin of Aunt Alexandra and the “proper” women of Maycomb County. Her hair is cut short, but not overly so.

chapter 24

Why does Atticus interrupt Aunt Alexandra’s tea? Because Tom has been shot dead trying to escape prison. How does Tom’s death affect Maycomb? They stay interested for about two days and then forget all about it.

Scout also feels suffocated by her aunt’s attentions. Yet in this chapter it becomes clear that Alexandra really does care about her brother. She is not as bigoted as we once thought. Apparently Alexandra has the capacity for change, and for empathy.

Miss Maudie senses Scout’s anxiety and touches Scout’s hand to comfort her. Scout mentions that “Its warmth was enough.” (Lee 308) By touching and squeezing Scout’s hand, Miss Maudie shows her support for Scout and does so to comfort her.

Why won’t Jem let Scout kill the roly-poly? Jem doesn’t let Scout kill the roly-poly because he feels bad for everything and he has seen a lot of injustice and is sick of it that he doesn’t want to see it anymore.

Why does he claim it was a “senseless killing”? Mr. Underwood’s editorial was about that Tom’s death is the same as killing a mockingbird because Tom was crippled and harmless. He is ashamed of the injustice that happened to him.

Underwood considered it a sin to kill cripples and is disgusted by Tom’s death. Scout goes on to mention that Maycomb’s community was only interested in Tom’s death for two days and blamed Tom’s death on his inherent ignorance and lack of foresight.

The roly-poly symbolizes innocence. In the beginning of chapter twenty-five, Scout finds a “roly-poly” bug in her room. Right before Scout was going to squash the bug, Jem stopped her by saying, “They don’t bother you” (Lee 320). To Jem, the insect was like Tom Robinson.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem says that Scout is getting more like a girl as a way to insult his sister and label her a coward. The children view being a girl as a negative thing, because they perceive women as timid, passive, and boring. Scout, who is a tomboy, takes offense to being called a girl.

Atticus has to go to Helen Robinson’s house to deliver the bad news that Tom was shot and killed in a foiled and desperate escape attempt. He encounters Jem and Dill along the way and reluctantly takes them along. When Helen gets the news of her husband’s death, she crumples, according to Dill, “…

Mr. Underwood, in a fiery judgment against the shooting of Tom Robinson as he escaped, declares that “it was a sin to kill cripples, be they sitting, standing, or escaping.” He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children.

Bob Ewell

Underwood “likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children,” basically saying that killing Tom was like killing a mockingbird. Tom Robinson is a metaphorical mockingbird. Tom is an innocent man who did nothing wrong, and he is twice wronged by the legal system.

Underwood was bitter about the entire ordeal. As was mentioned in the previous post, Mr. Underwood voiced his opinion in the editorial section of his paper The Maycomb Tribune. He felt that it was simply a sin to kill cripples, and likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds.

Bob Ewell is angry because Atticus Finch has proven him a liar before the citizens of Maycomb who are present at the trial. His threat to “get even” with Atticus Finch is a real one and, because he is unconscionable, he will probably do something underhanded in order to avenge himself.

Bob Ewell fell on his knife because Boo Radley was fighting with him. so Bob died of his own knife. So he technically killed himself.

Jem is put to bed with a broken arm and their attacker is revealed when Bob Ewell is found dead by the sheriff Heck Tate, a knife through his ribs.