To Kill A Mockingbird

Chapters 12-15

Chapter 12Letter from Dill

and

The Negro Community

Letter from Dill

• Jem is growing up; According to Scout he is difficult to live with

• He is moody;

• He has developed a superiority complex

• Summer begins

• (third summer now) and

• Scout receives a letter from Dill stating he will be staying in Mississippi

• He has a new father

June 1935Dear Scout,

You will never believe what happened! I have a new father now. I am not going to come to Maycomb this summer becauseare going to build a fishing boat. He is a lawyer like Atticus, but he is much younger than Atticus. We are going to have so much fun together. Just remember that I will love you forever and I plan to marry you when I get some money. Please write to me.

Love,Dill

Church with Calpurnia

• Atticus, in addition to being a lawyer, is a state representative

• He is away for extended periods of time because the legislature is in session this summer

• Atticus does not return by Saturday evening

• Calpurnia decides to take the children with her to her church on Sunday

• This experience gives the children a new perspective on not only Calpurnia, but also the Negro community as a whole

A Woman in Two Worlds

• The people at Cal’s church are respectful to the children

• Scout notices that Cal speaks differently when she is around her own people than how she speaks at their house

• The church has no hymnal because most of the congregation cannot read

Helping One of Their Own

• They take up a collection for Tom Robinson’s family

• Reverend Sykes says it is not enough

• They lock the doors until they get the $10 the Reverend said was needed.

• This shows their generosity

• Scout has questions about Tom Robinson’s case

• Reverend Sykes tries to answer Scout’s questions

The Charge

• The charge against Tom is revealed

• He is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman

• When Cal and the children arrive home, Aunt Alexandra is on the front porch

• She has come to Maycomb to help take care of Scout and Jem

Chapter 13Aunt Alexandra

Aunt Alexandra

• We are given more insight into Aunt Alexandra’s personality

• She believes in the caste system and thinks she is part of the upper class

• She reveals more about the Finch family

• She is can be described as moralistic, prejudiced, a gossip, self-righteous

Chapter 14Runaway

Power Struggle

• Aunt Alexandra and Calpurnia do not get along

• Aunt Alexandra is trying to usurp Calpurnia’s position and the way she runs the household

• Aunt Alexandra suggests that Atticus fire Calpurnia

• Atticus refuses

• Everyone bosses Scout

• She believes this to be unfair

Dill Runs Away

• Dill comes to Maycomb• He hides under Scout’s

bed

• He has run away from home because his parents ignore him

• He runs from a place where there is no love and acceptance to where he knows he will be loved and accepted (the Finches)

Dill Gets to Stay

• He is granted permission to stay with his aunt all summer

• Scout asks Dill why Boo Radley has never run away

• Dill is very intuitive in his reply: “maybe he doesn’t have anywhere to run off to”

Chapter 15Protecting Tom Robinson

Warnings

• Heck Tate comes to warn Atticus they’re moving Tom Robinson to the Maycomb jail

• He expects trouble from the farmers from Old Sarum

• Link Deas also warns Atticus

• Atticus leaves the house that evening

• He takes his car

• This is unusual because he seldom used his car in Maycomb

• The kids begin to worry when Atticus is not home by 10:00 that night

The Gang from Old Sarum

• They decide to go down to the jail to see what is going on

• The men from Old Sarum show up

• They are a lynch mob

• Atticus refuses to budge or release Tom to them

The Lynch Mob

• Scout gets scared and runs to Atticus to see if he is okay

• Atticus tells Jem to take the kids home

• Jem refuses

• A man from the mob grabs Jem

• Scout kicks him in the groin

Protecting Tom

• Scout recognizes Mr. Cunningham

• (Walter’s dad)

• She talks to him about his entailment

• This embarrasses him into realizing that he was given fair treatment under the law

• The mob needs to do the same for Tom

• Scout does not realize what she has done

• She has averted a crisis situation

Tom is Safe

• Atticus and the kids go home after the mob leaves

• Tom was also being protected by Mr. Underwood, the owner of the newspaper, who was on the second floor of his building with a gun