Chapter 9

Cecil Jacobs Scout is ready to fight Cecil Jacobs on the schoolyard when he says that her father defends “niggers.” Scout asks Jem about it, who tells her to ask Atticus. Later Scout does so, and Atticus tells her not to say “nigger.” Scout then asks him if all lawyers defend Negroes, and he says that of course they do. Next, Scout asks why if all lawyers do it Cecil made it sound worse than bootlegging (booze, not music), and Atticus explains the case.

Tom Robinson Atticus’s client is a man named Tom Robinson, and he tries to explain to Scout the complexities of race relations in Maycomb. Atticus says that some people think he shouldn’t be working hard at defending Tom Robinson, but for him it basically boils down to self- respect: he couldn’t hold his head up if he caved to public opinion and did less than his best in the man’s defense. Atticus asks Scout not to get in fights at school over the case, no matter what anyone says to her. Scout asks if they’re going to win the case, and Atticus says no, but they have to try anyway. – “‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win…’” (Lee 76). Atticus reassures Scout: “But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they’re [the residents of Maycomb are] still our friends and this is still our home.” The next day at school, Scout is about to fight Cecil Jacobs, but remembers what Atticus told her and walks away instead, even though she gets called a coward. – This is the first time Scout has ever walked away from a fight

Christmas Time Soon it’s Christmas, which means a visit from Uncle Jack (good), but also a visit to Aunt Alexandra (bad). – Good-Uncle Jack, Christmas tree, & Aunt Alexandra’s cooking – Bad-Aunt Alexandra & Cousin Francis Even worse, it means having to spend time with Aunt Alexandra’s grandson Francis, who is the yin to Scout’s yang. Uncle Jack arrives with two long packages of mysterious contents. Scout cusses while Uncle Jack’s around, and later he tells her that she shouldn’t do that if she wants to grow up to be a lady (which she doesn’t).

Christmas Present The next day is Christmas morning, and they open the mysterious packages to find a pair of long-desired air rifles. Uncle Jack tells Atticus that he (Atticus) will have to teach them how to shoot, but Atticus says that that’s his (Uncle Jack’s) job. They head down to Finch’s Landing, sans air rifles (to Scout’s dismay, as she’d already had fantasies about shooting Francis). Old Simon Finch had given Finch Landing an interesting layout: the only way to get to his daughters’ room is by a staircase that leads into their parents’ bedroom, meaning no sneaking out at night for the girls.

Christmas Dinner Jem abandons his sister to schmooze with the adults, leaving Scout to deal with the dreaded Francis. They talk about their Christmas presents, and Francis is happy with his, though they are pretty much the most boring gifts you can think of. Scout thinks about Aunt Alexandra, who has strong ideas as to what girls should be that are very different from what Scout is (girls should wear frilly dresses instead of overalls, for example). It’s dinnertime, and Scout alone is relegated to the kid’s table. Despite the seating arrangement, Scout is happy to chow down on Aunt Alexandra’s good eats.

Scout Fight #2 When all the adults (and Jem) are well into their food coma, Scout heads out to the backyard, joined by Francis. Scout brings up Dill, and defends him when Francis parrots his elders in putting him down. Francis then quotes Aunt Alexandra in calling Atticus a “nigger-lover” who’s “ruinin’ the family.” Scout holds her peace, lulling Francis into carelessness, and then pounces, beating him up good. Uncle Jack pulls Scout off Francis, and tells her she’s in trouble, though he seems to care less about her punching her cousin than her swearing while she’s doing it (as Francis helpfully tells their uncle, she called him a “whore- lady”).

Two Sides of the Story Scout, Jem, Atticus, and Uncle Jack return to Maycomb, and Scout retreats to her room alone. Uncle Jack comes in to talk to Scout, who tells him he wasn’t fair – he should have listened to both sides of the story, like Atticus always does, before passing judgment. Uncle Jack asks Scout to explain her side of the story, and she tells him what Francis had said to set her off. Uncle Jack wants to head right back to Finch’s Landing to tell off Francis, but Scout stops him, saying that she doesn’t want Atticus to know that she was fighting over someone insulting him after he told her not to. Scout asks Uncle Jack (who’s a doctor) to bandage her still-bleeding hand. While he’s doing that, she asks him what a whore-lady is, but his answer doesn’t tell her much.

Kids are Hard Work Later, Scout overhears Uncle Jack and Atticus talking about her conversation with her uncle. Scout waits for Uncle Jack to break his promise and tell Atticus why she was fighting, but he doesn’t. Atticus tells Uncle Jack some things about children: you should answer them truthfully and simply when they ask you questions, and bad language is less dangerous than hotheadedness. Atticus says that Scout needs to learn to control her temper because things are only going to get harder, but at least she’s trying, and she does all right when she follows Jem’s example.

It’s Only Going to Get Worse Uncle Jack asks Atticus how bad things are going to get, and Atticus tells him “it couldn’t be worse”– the whole case is based on he-said-she-said. Atticus says that he’s just going to try to get the jury to think a little, and then have a better chance to win the case on appeal. He also says that he’d rather not have taken the case, but once it was offered to him he couldn’t refuse it in good conscience. Atticus hopes he can get his kids through the case without their “catching Maycomb’s usual disease” – going “stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up”– and that they will come to him if they have questions. Atticus then tells Scout, still lurking around the corner eavesdropping, to go to bed, and many years later an older Scout realizes that her father meant her to overhear the conversation.