Chapter 28-31: Why do you think Harper Lee ended the book this way? ~Christina~

I think Harper Lee ended the book the way she did so the readers can get a final portrayal of the characters. For example, Atticus. When Atticus suspected that Jem might have killed Mr.Ewell, he told Mr.Tate “ Thank you from the bottom of my heart, but I don’t want my boy starting out with something like this over his head.... I don’t want anybody saying, ‘Jem Finch his daddy paid a mint to get him out of that.“(Lee 366). This proves that Atticus has a good moral compass. Another example is Boo Radley. Boo’s portrayal throughout the book has changed from being a mysterious psychopath in Maycomb, to giving Scout a blanket so she doesn’t freeze and saving the kids from Mr. Ewell. Boo’s final portrayal was heroic and kind. Finally Bob Ewell. Not only does the town think of him as dirty and poor, not many people believe him and Mayella. The fact that he attacked the kids purely because Atticus was defending Tom Robinson shows how much of a bad guy he is.

Chapters 28-31: What does Heck Tate mean when he says, “Let the dead bury the dead this time” (369)? Explain what is going on here and what he means. -Alex-

In the final chapter, Atticus and Heck Tate are talking about Bob Ewell's death. Atticus believed that Jem had stabbed Bob Ewell, but Heck Tate is trying to tell him that he "fell upon his own knife". When Heck Tate says, "There's a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for it's dead. Let the dead bury the dead (Lee, 369)." Heck Tate is trying to say that because of Tom Robinson's death (an innocent man), Tom should be able to also bury Bob Ewell (the person who convicted him of the crime) which is only right. When Heck Tate says that Bob Ewell "fell upon his own knife", it means that Bob had it coming for him, the fact that he killed an innocent man, of course he is going to have karma for it.

Do you agree with what I think Heck Tate meant? Do you not agree with what I think Heck Tate meant?

Chapters 26 & 27: Explorer Scout's confusion in class. What is the root of Scout's confusion about Miss Gates? How is Miss Gates being a hypocrite? Why does Harper Lee include this? What is the purpose? (Will Friedman)

In chapter 26, Scout gets confused about Miss Gates because she was being a hypocrite.  In school, Scout's class does an activity where each student researches a different current event then they present it to the class.  A boy named Cecil Jacobs comes to the front of class and introduces the topic of Adolf Hitler.  "... well anyway, old Adolf Hitler has been after the Jews and he's puttin' 'em in prisons and he's taking away all their property..." (Lee 327) Miss Gates seems to be really troubled by the topic and claims that Hitler is wrong and Jews are great people.  She goes on to tell the class how all people should be treated the same because America is a "democracy."  This last part is what causes Scout's confusion.  Later she tells Jem that Miss Gates was going down the steps the night of the courthouse in front of them.  "I heard her say it's time somebody taught 'em a lesson, they were gettin' way above of themselves..." (Lee 331) In this statement, Miss Gates is clearly referring to the Negro community and how they are becoming more equal.  This completely goes against what she said in class, therefore making her a hypocrite.  Harper Lee includes this to show that in the lovely county of Maycomb people still aren't as they seem, except for a few people like Atticus.  This also shows even though some people are becoming more towards equality for Negros, there still are many people in town who think the opposite.

Chapters 26 & 27: Explore Scout's confusion in class. What is the root of Scout's confusion about Miss Gates? How is Miss Gates being a hypocrite? Why does Harper Lee include this? What is the purpose?(Colin McNamara-Bordewick)

Miss Gates confused Scout because she says that it is evil to discriminate against Jews even though she discriminates against African-Americans and Harper Lee includes this to remind the reader that Scout still notices the racism and hypocrisy of adults around her. One of Scout’s classmates talks about Hitler for his current events topic. Their teacher, Miss Gates, begins to talk about why Hitler is evil. She talks about how unjust and evil he is. This confuses Scout because she also recalls Miss Gates saying, “It’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were gettin’ way above themselves,”(Lee, 331) about African Americans. Scout knows that what her teacher said is racist and she realizes that Miss Gates doesn’t even notice her own hypocrisy. Scout begins to realize how democracy in Maycomb is not “equal rights for all, special privileges for none,”(Lee, 328). Harper Lee includes this scene for the same reason that she included the scene where Dill started crying. Lee wants to show that Scout and Dill haven’t been corrupted by the racism of their county. Scout still has an innocent view of the world. In that world, if someone is not permitted to do something then everyone else shouldn’t be allowed to either. Miss Gates’s racist hypocrisy confuses Scout because she has not yet been desensitized to Maycomb’s racism.

Chapters 28-31: Explore Scout's confusion in class. What is the root of Scout's confusion about Miss Gates? How is Miss Gates being a hypocrite? Why does Harper Lee include this? What is the purpose? (Cece)

Scout is confused because Miss Gates said that she was against persecution and what Hitler was doing to the Jews was terrible, yet she was in favor of Tom Robinson being persecuted. Miss Gates is saying that something is not right in the world, but she herself is doing exactly what she is saying needs to be changed. Scout didn't want to bother Atticus so she talked to Jem about what she was thinking: "Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home" (Lee 331). Scout is describing hypocrisy when she asks this because it shows that people can be two-faced. Harper Lee includes this because even Miss Gates doesn't believe that prejudice exists among society but when the trial took place it was common knowledge that Tom Robinson would inevitably go to jail. Harper Lee is trying to show us that there is always prejudice and unfair persecution in the world and it was an important connection where black people in this community were treated lesser and Jews were being killed in Germany because they were thought to be far worse than the Germans. Miss Gates explains that the United States is a Democracy, "Over here we don't  believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced" (Lee 329). This is another example of something that people might believe in but is an untruth. Miss Gates supports the Jews and believes that what is happening to them is unfair and horrible and she believes that what happened to Tom Robinson was alright because all the blacks should be taught a lesson. The Jews are white and that feeds her thinking that the situation is different from what happens to the black people, for example Tom Robinson. 

Chapters 28-31: What really happens under the tree? Be specific in your explanation, and be sure to explain where the knives come from. (Mia Biotti)

Warning: Spoiler alert for the end of the book. 

In the chapters 28 through 31, Jem walks with Scout to her Halloween pageant in town, and on the way back home, the kids are attacked by Bob Ewell. When the pageant is over, Jem and Scout proceed to return home without Atticus, even though it is very dark outside and the kids can not see anything. While returning home, Jem stops Scout, saying, “Thought I heard something...I hear it when we’re walkin’ along, but when we stop I don’t hear it”(Lee 348-349). Jem hears footsteps behind them, and the two kids suspect that Cecil Jacobs may be trying to scare them again, but after a while, when they realize that Cecil wouldn’t have followed this long without scaring them, and that the footsteps belong to someone else. Jem and Scout continue walking at the same pace until they hear the person behind them running. When they get under the tree, Scout and Jem are attacked by Bob Ewell, and Scout tries to run after her costume from the pageant is crushed and torn, but she stumbles. Scout could not see because of her costume, but she hears scuffling and fighting and then hears Jem’s arm break, though she doesn’t know what happened at the time. Scout is grabbed by the Bob Ewell, and she can not escape until Mr. Ewell is flung off of her, an act which she thinks is done by Jem. While still in her costume, Scout narrates, “It was slowly coming to me that there were now four people under the tree”(Lee 352). When Scout talks about four people being under the tree, she realizes that there is another person helping her and Jem, which she later realizes is Boo Radley. After the incident, Jem is carried into the house by Boo Radley, and when Mr. Heck Tate arrives, he confirms that Bob Ewell died after falling on his own knife. When Atticus asks where Bob Ewell would have gotten the knife, Mr. Tate says, “Ewell probably found that kitchen knife in the dump somewhere. Honed it down and bided his time… just bided his time”(Lee 368). Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout with a knife as the kids make their way home in the dark one night, and Boo Radley comes out of his house to rescue the kids from an unfortunate fate.

How did Scout's views on Boo Radley change after this incident? How does the first chapter connect with the ending?

Chapters 26 & 27: "The Radley Place had ceased to terrify me, but it was no less gloomy, no less chilly under its great oaks, and no less uninviting." Explore this with reference to Scout's development. (Hagar Hirsch)

When Scout changes her view of the Radley place it shows how her world view has changed. At the beginning of the book, Scout sees Mr. Radley as “...a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him” (Lee 9). Scout has never met Boo Radley and her only source of information are the farfetched folktales that the town believes in. When Scout is young she buys into the stories and believes that the Radley house is full of evil. Later she starts to see the Radley house through her own eyes. By seeing flickers of light inside the house and communicating with Boo through a knothole in a tree she gets to know Boo Radley. This shows her maturing because, as she grows up, she sheds the beliefs that her community has taught her and sees the world in her own way. She can now form her own opinions and understands Maycomb differently. However, when Scout says   "The Radley Place had ceased to terrify me, but it was no less gloomy, no less chilly under its great oaks, and no less uninviting." (Lee 340) she acknowledges that the Radley place is still inhospitable to her. Scout has changed how she sees the Radley house by finding out who Boo Radley us for herself, however, she still carries part of her childhood fear of the house.