To Kill a Mockingbird A Review of chapters 12-14

Chapter 12

Summary Jem is now 12 and starts to demand that Scout “stop pestering him” and act more like a girl. Scout becomes upset and can’t wait until Dill comes back in the summer. When summer begins, Dill doesn’t come to Maycomb. He sends a letter saying he has a new dad and will stay with his family in Meridian. the state legislature (Atticus is a member) is called into session and atticus leaves for two weeks.

summary Calpurnia takes the kids to her “colored” church. Maycomb’s black church is an old building, called First Purchase because it was bought with the first earnings of freed slaves. One woman, Lula, criticizes Calpurnia for bringing white children to church, but the other members are friendly and Reverend Sykes welcomes them, saying that everyone knows their father.

summary The church has no money for hymn books and only a few members can read. they sing by repeating the words that Zeebo, Calpurnia’s son, reads from their only hymn book. During the service, Reverend Sykes takes up a collection for Tom Robinson’s wife, Helen, who can’t find work now that her husband has been accused of rape.

summary After the service, Scout learns that Tom Robinson has been accused by Bob Ewell. Scout thinks this is crazy and doesn’t know why anyone would believe a ewell. When the children return home, they find Aunt Alexandra waiting for them.

How do you explain Lula's behavior toward Jem and Scout?

Answer: She thinks that the white people should stick with their own church; they don’t allow blacks in the white churches, so why should they allow whites?

Why does Cal speak one way around black people and another way around white people? Is she being honest or hypocritical in what she does? Explain.

Answer: She knows that the black people would think she was too “good” for them if she talked “white” to them, and she knows that whites would be uncomfortable if she spoke like she did around her friends and family. It’s comparable to how teenagers speak to their friends one way, and to their elders/teachers/other adults in another way.

Chapter 13

Summary Aunt Alexandra is going to stay with the children for a while, to give them a “feminine influence.” Maycomb welcomes her: ladies in town bake her cakes and have her over for coffee, and she soon becomes a part of the town’s social life. Alexandra is extremely proud of the Finches and spends her time discussing the characteristics of the various families in Maycomb.

Summary “family consciousness” is an part of life in Maycomb, an old town where the same families have lived for generations, where every family has its quirks. Aunt alexandra think Jem and Scout lack family pride. She orders Atticus to lecture them on the subject of their family history. He makes an attempt but only succeeds in making Scout cry.

Why does Aunt Alexandra move in with the Finches?

Answer: Because Atticus will be working long hours with the trial coming up and to give Scout a female influence (turn her into a lady).

Chapter 14

Summary The trial of Tom Robinson and Atticus’s role make Jem and Scout the objects of whispers and glances when they go to town. One day, Scout asks Atticus what “rape” is. the subject of the children’s trip to Calpurnia’s church comes up. Aunt Alexandra tells Scout she can’t go back. Later, Alexandra tries to make Atticus to get rid of Calpurnia, saying that they no longer need her. Atticus refuses. later Jem tells Scout not to aggravate Alexandra.

Summary Scout gets angry at being lectured and attacks Jem. Atticus breaks up the fight and sends them to bed. Scout discovers something under her bed. She calls Jem and they find Dill hiding there. Dill has run away from home because his mom and new dad did not pay enough attention to him. He took a train from Meridian to Maycomb Junction, fourteen miles away, and covered the remaining distance on foot

Summary and on the back of a cotton wagon. Jem goes down the hall and tells Atticus. Atticus asks Scout to get more food than a pan of cold corn bread for Dill, before going next door to tell Dill’s aunt, Miss Rachel, of his whereabouts. Dill eats, then gets into Jem’s bed to sleep, but soon climbs over to Scout’s bed to talk things over.

How does Atticus answer when Scout asks him what rape was?

Answer: He avoids directly answering the question. He tells her that rape was “carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent” (180). Scout would not understand this answer.

Why do Scout and Jem fight?

Answer: Jem is trying to tell Scout what to do (be her “father”) and she doesn’t want to have to take orders from him too.

What does Scout find under her bed?

Answer: Dill!

What is their uninvited guest’s too unbelievable to be true story?

Answer: He says that he escaped from the basement of his home after being chained and left to die. When he escaped he came upon an animal show and was hired to wash the camels. He toured with them until his “sense of direction” kicked in and he then walked the short distance to Maycomb.

Scout says Jem “…rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood Scout says Jem “…rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood.” What does she mean?

Answer: He tells Atticus that Dill has run away & is there (sign of his maturity--he knows Dill’s family would be worried about him).

How does Atticus handle this situation?

Answer: Atticus asks Scout to get more food than a pan of cold corn bread for Dill, before going next door to tell Dill’s aunt, Miss Rachel, of his whereabouts.

What is the real reason for Dill running away?

Answer: He ran away because they didn’t pay attention to him. He says they treat him well, but they just don’t want him hanging around all the time.