The Cunninghams are not all necessarily illiterate and ignorant because of a lack of intelligence, but because they are subject to a system which subverts their chances of receiving a good education. Part One, Chapter 1 Summary The story is narrated by a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, who is almost always called by her nickname, Scout. Calpurnia explains that most people can't read anyway. . Instead, they decide to build a snowman-shaped figure out of dirt and cover it with snow. Alexandra is extremely proud of the Finches and spends much of her time discussing the characteristics of the various families in Maycomb. Except for a lady name Lula, they are portrayed in a very positive manner.
This is obviously where the title of the novel comes from, and it is a metaphor for never harming a person or thing that is innocent. Jack spanks her without hearing what Scout has to say, and Scout is upset. In this section, Jem and Scout receive insults about Atticus from a grumpy woman-Mrs. Of course, Atticus will hear none of it. She orders Atticus to lecture them on the subject of their ancestry. Quarters a particular district or section in a city.
That night, Alexandra tries to talk Atticus into firing Calpurnia. Dill thinks Boo Radley died and Jem says they stuffed his body up the chimney. One of the men tells Atticus that he needs to make his children leave, and he obviously means this as a threat. Scout loses Jem as a regular playmate, causing her to fume. Calpurnia: With much more gentle tactics than Aunt Alexandra, Calpurnia shows Scout a great deal about femininity. This speech demonstrates the gulf between blacks and whites in Maycomb: not only do class distinctions and bigotry divide the two races, but language does as well. Adding to Scout's summer despair, Atticus is often absent from home because he is part of the state legislature, which has been called into session.
Scout asks her one day about Boo Radley, and Miss Maudie says that he's still alive, he just doesn't like to come outside. Chapter 5 Jem and Dill have become closer friends, and Scout, being a girl, finds herself often excluded from their play. Dubose's house every afternoon and read to her. Consequently, the children are surprised when they ironically experience prejudice while attending Calpurnia's church. Aunt Alexandra believes the Finch name to be a proud one, and she wants Jem and Scout to believe the same. The children are further surprised to hear Calpurnia talk like other black people.
Here, the reader gets its first look at the black community in Maycomb. They model it after an unpleasant neighbor of theirs, Mr. Many professionals in the town charge their country clients in farm produce rather than monetary currency. Though still frightened of him, they wish to befriend him and help him now. Jem and Dill follow her, and Atticus orders Jem to go home. Calpurnia and Miss Maudie are the main motherly influences in her life. However, Jem and Scout lack the pride that Aunt Alexandra considers commensurate with being a Finch.
This experience will give the children more compassion toward Tom's treatment from a white jury. Dill has run away from home because his mother and new father did not pay enough attention to him. Cal reluctantly tells her that Bob Ewell has accused him of raping Ewell's daughter. Naturally, she does not approve of Scout's behavior. He sends a letter saying that he has a new father presumably, his mother has remarried and will stay with his family in Meridian.
To make matters worse, the state legislature, of which Atticus is a member, is called into session, forcing Atticus to travel to the state capital every day for two weeks. A successful lawyer, Atticus makes a solid living in Maycomb, a tired, poor, old town in the grips of the Great Depression. These small disappointments and challenges hint at the larger inconsistencies and unexpected outcomes of Tom Robinson's trial, which follows. One thing leads to another, and Scout tells Atticus about how she went to Church with Calpurnia. The chapter introduces the Ewell family, who will figure heavily into the latter part of the book. She calls Jem in and they discover Dill hiding there.
Later, toward the end of the school year, Jem and Scout find two polished Indian-head pennies, good luck tokens, inside the same knothole. After realizing Miss Caroline doesn't know what that means, Scout explains that the Cunninghams don't accept other people's help, and just try to get by with what little they have. Jem refuses, and one of the men tells Atticus that he has fifteen seconds to get his children to leave. The novel also continues to reveal the ugly underbelly of Maycomb. After Boo's father died, his brother, Nathan Radley, came to run the house. When Scout returns home from church, she find Aunt Alexandra has come to visit their home.