To kill a mocking bird, chapter 9-11 (end of part one)

Chapter 9

-          Reality begins to dawn on Jem and Scout

-          Cecil Jacobs tells Scout that her “daddy defended *******.” Although, Scout doesn’t know what this means she understands that it is an insult so she denies it.

-          We see how the racist language is passed down from generation to generation as Cecil Jacobs says “my folk say……..”

-          He says that he has to defend Tom Robinson because “If I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in this town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.”

-          It would be against his morals not to defend Tom Robinson and he would be a hypocrite to order Jem and Scout to do as they’re told.

-          Scout asks Atticus whether he is going to win the case and he replies that “simply because we were licked (beaten) a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try and win.” He knows that although there is not much of a chance of winning because of the racism at the time, he has to defend Tom because it is morally right.

-          We see that Tom Robinson is a “clean living” family man.

-          Scout is inclined to fight Cecil.  She shows us again that she is a tomboy.

-          Atticus tells Scout to “try fighting with her head for a change.” Next day, Scout faces the teasing and being called a coward. She walks away from a fight with Cecil for the first time in her life.  She says “somehow if I fought Cecil I would be letting Atticus down………  I felt extremely noble by having remembered.” This shows Atticus’s influence on the children.

-          Scout starts swearing because she thinks if Atticus realizes that she picked it up at school she won’t have to go any more.

-          Atticus buys the children air rifles for Christmas having put it off for a long time.

-          They go to finches landing for Christmas

-          Francis repeats racist language that he picked up from his elders, he calls Atticus a “****** lover!”  Scout understands this as an insult and fights him calling him a whore lady. Jack beats her and she tells him she hates him.

-          Her and jack make up when she explains her side and how he should of handled it. Scout is comparing Uncle Jack’s ways of disciplining children with how Atticus would have handled the situation. She obviously appreciates Atticus’s parenting.

-          Jack avoids Scouts question when she asks what a whore lady is, this shows how good Atticus is at parenting as he never avoids a question.

-          When scout ear-wigs on Atticus’ conversation he tries to get across a message to her, saying Scout needs “to keep her head.” He also says “I…