Jem, Scout, and Dill try to see inside the Radley place, but get shot at by Boo's Brother; Nathan Radley. During the ordeal, Jem gets caught in a fence and has to lose his pants. When accused of being in the Radley's yard, all members deny and say they were playing strip poker. But Jem realizes that he has to go back to the Radley's to retrieve his pants or their lie will not hold up. When Jem finds his pants, they are neatly folded and crudely sewn back together, presumably done by Boo. More gifts are left in the knot hole, Jem and Scout try to write the mysterious giver a thank you note, but when they go to do so, the hole is filled with cement. Nathan Radley tells them that it was because the tree was sick, but the children know better, and suffer internally.
Later on the seasons changed from Autumn to a very cold winter and it snowed in Alabama for the first time since 1885, supposedly because of bad children. Jem and Scout build a snowman for the first time, but during the happiness of the children, Mrs. Maudie's house burned down. To the suprise of many she was fine with her house being gone. Afterwards Christmas roles around and the Finch family has to go to Finches Landing to spend the time with relatives. Scout gets into a tussle with her cousin Francis (who she never liked in the first place) because he calls Atticus a "nigger lover." The rest of the Finch relatives dissaprove of how Atticus is raising his children and running his life. Atticus is worried that his case defending Tom Robins may change his childrens views and feelings for him. After Christmas, a local dog "goes mad." He had to be shot by Atticus revealing to his children that he was very capable with a weapon in his hands, even though it was something that he gave up a long time ago. Atticus also teaches Scout and Jem that killing a Mockingbird is a sin because they don't do anything wrong, just make music for everyone to enjoy.
Finally Jem and Scout are frequently persecuted by the townspeeople for their fathers defense for Tom Robins, none more than by a new character; Mrs. Dubose. She is a very spiteful woman who always picks on Scout and Jem. Before to long, Jem loses his cool and destroys her flowers, and as punishment he has to read to her everyday after school for a month until she dies.
During the literature cirle on wednesday we talked about chapters 6-11. As we went through the various questions that were assigned to us, we all seemed to have a general consensus that the story was picking up speed and starting to get a little more interesting. We all seemed to have a clear grasp on the story and there weren't to many contradictions that had to be drawn. We finished early and decided to answer some different questions that had a little deeper meaning. Even through this we could answer questions with a clear meaning although we had a few stumbles, but through teamwork we worked them out. All in all we didn't really learn anything new from each other, but strengthened the opinions we had made throughout the book.
I find that Atticus is faced with a situation that we will all have to face through life. This is his moment to do the right thing and prove to himself what right and wrong are. He may be persecuted but if he can keep his head held high and do the right thing, it will show to his children what kind of a man he really is. We should all have a time like this in our lives to prove to ourselves what we really believe in. I myself have been through this, and it has made me into the kind of person I am today.
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