TKM through ch 14

In chapter 13, Harper Lee starts to make Calpurnia more of an influential character in the story. When Atticus is away from home because of his work with Tom Robinson's case, Calpurnia is left to take care of Jem and Scout. She takes them with her to her church. Because of Atticus' work with Tom Robinson, most people are very accepting of the children's presence. Harper Lee begins to show how racially seperated the town of Maycomb is in this chapter.

Besides Jem and Scout being tormented for Atticus' defense of Tom Robinson, they also struggle with their Aunt living with them. She is always rude to them and not accepting of their personalities. Especially with Scout, she is very judgemental. I think that because of her Aunt's harsh opinions of her Scout will try to change her image. She will try to be more of a "lady." Jem is also changing, but not because of his Aunt's cruel words. He is growing up and trying to spend more time away from Scout. When Dill sneaks into the Finch's house and returns for the summer, Scout will have her best friend back! I believe this will help her out greatly, and help her deal with the torments from the other children.

TKM: Part 1

In the first part of To Kill a Mockingbird, we meet the main characters of the story: Jem, Atticus, and Scout. When I read this book, I had a positive reaction towards Scout. She does and says whatever she feels. I also admired her character for being so independent at such a young age. Although she is nervous to start school, she is the smartest one in her class. Scout shows how truly independent she is when she beats up Walter Cunningham after she gets in trouble because of him. Because of her strong will and self respect,she feels that she has to punish him, like she was punished. Scout is obviously very srong willed, and although we have only read through part 1, it is apparent that Atticus is as well. He demands respect and good behavior from his children, and they hate disappointing him. When Atticus sees Jem and Dill pretending to be Boo Radley, he is furious! He obviously has no tolerance for making fun of others. This is one way he shows his strong willed personality.

The way Harper Lee shows Jem and Scout's relationship, shows how well they get along. They do everything together. One specific example of this is when Scout goes with Jem to get his pants back when they get stuck in the Radley's fence. They are both incredibly nervous to go back to their house. Even though it was not Scout's idea to go to the Radley's at all and it was Jem's fault that his pants got stuck in the fence, Scout still goes with him. This shows how close they are. Towards the end of Part 1, Jem begins to change and he stops wanting to hang out with Scout at all. She becomes very lonely, but then learns to visit Calpurnia when she is feeling alone. I predict that over the course of time, Jem and Scout will still have a close relationship but they will start to hang out with kids their own age.