1. To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 12-15 Chapter Summaries
The Black Community
Character Developments
Lynchings & Lynch Mobs

2. To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 12-15 CHAPTER SUMMARIES Chapter 12
Jem and Scout’s changing relationship
Atticus returns to state legislature
Calpurnia takes Jem & Scout to her church – reaction/welcome
Scout finds out about alleged rape
Chapter 13
Aunt Alexandra comes to take care of children
Maycomb takes to Alexandra positively
Development of contrast between “proper” and “improper” by the characters
Chapter 14
Jem & Scout feel community looking at them
Jem & Scout fight about Alexandra/Calpurnia
Dill ran away to Finch’s house
Chapter 15
Further contrast of “right” and “wrong” brought on by Alexandra
Lynch Mob comes to jail but is broken up by Scout’s speech

3. To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 12-15 THE BLACK COMMUNITY
The black community is introduced as a very spirited, upbeat and supportive group.
The effect is that it makes the racial prejudice more hateful – nobody in the community respects Bob Ewell but the community sides with him because of the colour of his skin.
Calpurnia connects the black community and the white community
Church patrons have no hymnals, have no money – but still are able to support Mrs. Robinson
The majority of the black community cannot read and they are poor, but they support their own members
Her use of language
Her disagreements with Alexandra

4. To Kill a Mockingbird Scout Jem Chapters 12-15 Jem Scout
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENTS
To Kill a Mockingbird
Chapters 12-15
Jem
Growing up
Has learned lessons
Scout
Childhood innocence
Still learning lessons
”Lost” from all that is happening
As the novel progresses, the relationship between Jem and Scout changes. They begin to separate.
Scout
Jem
Calpurnia
Aunt
Alexandra
Scout becomes influenced by three sources in these four chapters. What do each “tell” her?

5. To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 12-15 LYNCHINGS & LYNCH MOBS
Lynching was a form of punishment for a presumed crime, often carried out by a mob or vigilantes without trial or any legal support.
Lynching was a practice that occurred throughout the United States, (particularly in the south) against blacks accused of crimes against whites. Research shows that many of the crimes did not actually occur or were exaggerated.
Some Southern states seemed to support lynchings for awhile. For example, the Governor of South Carolina, Benjamin Tillman, (d. 1918) once said:
"We of the South have never recognized the right of the negro to govern white men, and we never will. We have never believed him to be the equal of the white man, and we will not submit to his gratifying his lust on our wives and daughters without lynching him."
The hanging of an empty noose around a tree was a threat of intimidation against blacks and those who supported them.

6. To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 12-15 LYNCHINGS & LYNCH MOBS ---
Thousands of Americans were victims of lynchings from the 1860s to the 1960s
---
Strange Fruit
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
Abel Meeropol, (1939)
Lynchings were often public spectacles attended by many – some even proud to stand in front of the victim for photographs
Seven Presidents who tried to outlaw lynchings were unsuccessful as the laws were voted against. It is now a crime and even tying an empty noose as a sign of hatred is illegal
The poem Strange Fruit explores the idea of lynchings from an outsider’s perspective: