Free Response Post: Who stabbed Bob Ewell?

     At the end of night in which Bob Ewell stabbed, Mr. Tate comes to the conclusion that, "I may not be much, Mr. Finch but I'm still the sheriff of Maycomb County and Bob Ewell fell on his knife. Good night sir." Mr. Tate then stomped away from the Finchs' house and left.
     It is obvious that Mr. Tate and Atticus realize that Bob Ewell did NOT fall and his knife and die. This conclusion was only made to protect Jem from the other possible outcome, that he stabbed Mr. Ewell in an act of self defense. If people thought that Jem had stabbed Bob what would they think of him? How would he be accepted in the community? The most interesting thing is however is that the other hypothesis in which Jem stabbed Mr. Ewell is only made up to protect Boo Radley. The only one who really realizes that Boo did it is Atticus. Atticus made the hypothesis that Jem stabbed Mr. Ewell because he thought Jem would be able to handle it, unlike Boo Radley. Boo Radley's reputation is already saying that he is insane, that he has stabbed people, and he has been in a gang. If people knew that Boo stabbed Bob Ewell, then the town would never accept him into the community.
      Will people ever find out that Boo Radley did it?
     Is there any chance that Jem did it or that Mr. Ewell fell on his knife?

Free Response: What really occurred under the Oak Tree?

"Bob Ewell's lyin' on the ground under that tree yonder with a kitchen knife stuck up under his ribs," (357). This is what Heck Tate said when he was telling Atticus that Bob Ewell was dead. This quote says that Bob Ewell was stabbed with a "kitchen knife." Why would Bob Ewell be carrying a "kitchen knife?" 

I thought about this and came across that there were two houses next to the oak tree, where the attack took place. One house was Miss Maudie's house and the other was the Radley's house. What was revealed was that the "country man" that saved Jem was Boo Radley. My theory is that the "kitchen knife" was Boo's knife. First, Bob Ewell would not have brought a large knife to kill children and would have been more discrete. Second, Bob Ewell "smelled stale whiskey," (352) meaning that he was drunk, and it would be hard for a drunk person to be walking around with a large knife, without dropping or messing with the knife. This is, to the fact that Ewell did not stab himself. I believe that Boo took a knife from his kitchen and heard Jem "holler." Boo saw that Bob Ewell was attacking the children and stabbed him "under the ribs." 

Throughout To Kill a Mocking Bird Harper Lee has continuously portrayed Boo as a nice character. For example, Harper Lee had Boo lay a blanket around Scout's shoulders when she was cold. I think Boo was the savior of Jem (and Scout) to really emphasize the character that Boo is. Harper Lee is saying that you should not judge people on their reputation but their actions. Leading to a wider picture, people should be given the benefit of the doubt and not be assumed by "myths"and "rumors"is what Harper Lee is passing on to the readers. 

What is your story about what happened under the Oak Tree? Would Boo Radley really kill another person? What is the significance of Bob Ewell smelling like whiskey? Why did not Bob Ewell go straight to Atticus and try to kill him? What does all of this show about Ewell?

Free Response: What do you think the significance is of Scout falling asleep backstage?

What do you think the significance is of Scout falling asleep backstage?

The show had began and while Scout was sitting backstage awaiting her cue, she accidentally fell asleep, "I sat down, listened to Mrs. Merriweather's drone and the bass drum's boom and was soon fast asleep," (346). When Scout finally woke up she was late on her cue, and to Mrs. Merriweather had "...ruined her pageant," (347). While Jem reassured Scout that she was just a little late, Scout was still mortified, so she decided to keep her costume on to hide her ashamed face. "'You wanna take it off, Scout?' he [Jem] asked. 'Naw I'll just keep it on,' I said. I could hide my mortification under it'" (347). Although this could come off as a little weird, the reader could see why Harper Lee made Scout keep on her costume later on in chapter 29, when Scout was explaining what had happened on the walk one from school to Mr. Tate. "Atticus fetched the remains of my costume. Mr. Tate turned it over and bent it around to get an idea of its former shape. 'This thing probably saved you life,' he said," (360). Without having had fallen asleep and missing her cue, Scout wouldn't have felt mortified and kept her costume on, if she didn't have her costume on, Scout could have been killed that night. This just takes the fact that everything in this book is constructed so precisely to another level. It shows that everything in To Kill a Mockingbird was put in there for a reason, even little things like falling asleep backstage. This is also a way for Harper Lee to let the reader see how crazy Bob Ewell is, it allowed Bob Ewell to actually to try cut or stab Scout, without having her die, or be badly hurt.

Why do you think Aunt Alexandra had to leave the room? What other details contributed to the outcome of that night? Was it partly Atticus's fault because he had assumed the threats from Mr. Ewell were nothing?

Free Response Post: What does Harper Lee try to teach the reader in these chapters?

Harper Lee is a novelist. She writes not to document or to analyze- she writes to convey. Everything in "To Kill a Mockingbird" is significant in its own way. In chapter 29 Lee is showing the reader the contrast between dangers as a child and dangers as an adult, and how important that is to every person's life. As Scout and Jem are walking back from the pageant, before danger strikes in the form of Bob Ewell, Jem and Scout have a brief but important discussion about their diminishing fears of the beasts that tormented their childhood.

"Jem teased. 'Ain't you scared of haints?' We laughed. Haints, Hot Steams, incantations, secret signs, had vanished with our years as mist with sunrise." (292) Jem and Scout, no less then three years ago, were thoroughly terrified by these imaginary monsters. Now they laugh them away. "Vanished with our years as mist with sunrise" is a beautiful simile (my favorite kind, using 'as' instead of 'like') that shows that Scout is aware that her fears dissipated with her journey into adolescence. Jem shares this knowledge. Harper Lee is showing the readers, who are meant to be both teenagers and adults, the real journey, the real difference, the contrast between being a child and being an adult. After Scout and Jem decide that they aren't afraid of looming shadows stalking them in the night, what happens? They are nearly murdered by Bob Ewell, who was not-so-coincidentally stalking them in the night. Lee is telling us an important message- as soon as we let our fears go and move onto being an adult, they become real. Scout accepted that these monsters were imaginary to make room for the shockingly real monsters of life. This was what she was talking about when she said,"Thus began our longest journey together." (291) She wasn't talking about the actual walk, or even the action with Bob Ewell. She was telling us in her own way that this was her journey from child to adult. This transition from the imaginary to the real is not always as clear and defined as Scout and Jem's pilgrimage from the school, but it is certainly present. This is a hugely important lesson for all of us as we read this novel, becuase we are all, to some degree, Scout. That is what makes this book so timeless. In 1930, 1960, now, and in a hundred years, adolescence all over will make this journey. It is relevant to everyone, and everyone can or will, at some point, relate to this book. That is the beauty of Harper Lee.

Why do you think Harper Lee never wrote a sequel? Do you think Jem and Scout will be able to pinpoint this moment in their lives, are are they too focused on the action? Do you think this moment is more or less important then Scout's realization in the courthouse, or just different? Where was Dill? Has he not made this journey? Why did Harper Lee choose to use the "mist with sunrise" simile? Can you relate this to any other symbols in the book?

What are the different ways Bob Ewell continues to be a problem in Maycomb? Why do you think this is important?

What are the different ways Bob Ewell continues to be a problem in Maycomb? Why do you think this is important? 

   As Harper Lee moves To Kill A Mockingbird forward, one thing becomes clear: Bob Ewell has not stopped being a problem. He has recently attempted to rob Judge Taylor and terrorize Helen Robinson, even if he's not happy about it. Atticus says, "I proved him a liar and made him look like a fool." (335) In his current situation, Bob has lost his credibility, and what little respect he had, and he is seeking to get back at the people he deems responsible. Bob has just realized what the town thinks of him in its whole depth, and he wants to be seen better and at least not have noses turned up at him everywhere he goes.
   Bob knows that, though he may have won the trial, in the town's eyes he lost his believability and has been reduced to trash, despite the fact that he has an old family. Going back to chapter 23, the whole town has seen him the way Atticus wishes Alexandra would. Even after the trial, she says that because he is from an "old family," (298) he is reputable, and Atticus wishes that she would see him for what he is. Harper Lee is using Alexandra as a way into how the town sees Bob, albeit in an oddly mirrored fashion. In this way, bob continues to be a problem for Maycomb, trying to regain his honor who he can, even if most townsfolk will not see it as that right way to go about it.

How do you think Atticus will react to Bob's actions in the future? What do you think Bob will do next?

What is Ironic about the lesson Miss Gates is teaching the children?

As Miss Gates is going the Current Event section most people didn’t know what it was until Cecil brought up an offensive topic about “Old Hitler” known as Adolf Hitler. Ironically, Miss Gates is teaching about how Hitler would “prosecute Jews” even though according to her, they “don’t that over here”(281). “Democracy” as scout says is “equal rights for all, special privileges for none” (281) but Miss Gates agree and says it’s the difference between America and Germany recognizing that Hitler prosecuted Jews because of their race/religion, being empathetically sorry about the whole situation. It is clear that Miss Gates dislikes Hitler because of the way he prosecuted the Jews but blind to the fact that they are doing the same thing to the blacks aka Tom Robinson. As Harper Lee is showing Maycomb ignorance throughout the book she included this passage to make it even clearer of how Maycomb is careless to the fact that the blacks are being treated like trash. She also shows how sometimes Miss Gates/Maycomb can be bias on with their choice of words and decisions. There wasn’t an impact on Scout at the moment when Miss Gates explains Hitler until when Jem explodes and expresses his feelings being upset about what she said.  “How can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folk right at home,” (283) Jem says, as I agree with the fact she is showing being bias and ignoring the fact they are wrong for what they are doing.

Do you think Jem will confront Miss Gates about it? Will it make a difference if he does confront her or not in Maycomb? Also, in anyway do you think Maycomb opinion on the black community change or not?

What is ironic about the lesson Miss Gates is teaching the children?

    The irony of the lesson Miss Gates teaches the kids is that she claims Adolf Hitler is a horrible man because of the way he persecuted Jews in Germany. During the weekly "Current Event Period," (279) Cecil Jacobs brings up the dictatorship of Hitler. Miss Gates responds with "The Jews have been persecuted since the beginning of history, even driven out of their own country. It's one of the most terrible stories in history." (281) This line is symbolic to the novel because it shows how people in Maycomb disapprove of the oppression that the Jews are experiencing in Germany, but don't see the oppression of blacks right under their noses. Miss Gates is oblivious to the fact that what Hitler is doing to the Jews is strikingly similar to what whites are doing to blacks in Maycomb and the South in general. Harper Lee chose to include this part of the novel because she is attempting to show the negligence of the people of Maycomb and what they are doing to the black community is wrong. Miss Gates claims that the oppression of the Jews is "one of the most terrible stories in history," yet when she left the courthouse after Tom Robinson's case, she said, "it's time somebody taught 'em a lesson." (283) In this instance she was being extremely hypocritical. Harper Lee's decision to include the irony in Miss Gates's character is one that opens not only the reader's eyes but Scout's as well. Scout is being introduced further into a world where people mistreat blacks without even thinking about it. Harper Lee is educating Scout and the reader that during that time, nearly everybody discriminated or was racist against blacks. In some cases it was ironic, and it some cases, it was just plain cruel.

How will Miss Gates continue to affect how Scout views Maycomb? How she views the black community? How would you explain Jem's reaction to Scout's statement? Will his attitude change? Will hers?