TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Chapters 6-11
CHAPTER 6
Spying on Boo
ADVENTURE AT NIGHT
It is Dill’s last night in Maycomb
before he returns home to Mississippi
The kids decide to spy on Boo Radley
Why do they wait until this night?
 No one could see them at night
 Atticus was involved in reading a book
 It was easier to see into a dark house in
the dark
 If Boo killed them, they’d miss school
instead of summer vacation
DANGER AWAITS
Scout warns Jem and Dill that it is too
dangerous
Jem’s reply (page 52) “I declare to
the Lord you’re getting’ more like a
girl every day!”
Scout takes this statement as an insult
They go to the Radley backyard. The
gate is stuck so they spit on the hinges
to prevent it from squeaking
The yard is full of chickens—this poses
a problem as they could set off an
alarm
BEHIND THE RADLEY HOUSE
There are two doors in the
back and a window
Scout and Jem boost Dill up to
look in the window. He can’t
see anything
They go to the back step; it
squeaks. They see a shadow of
a man with a hat on
They run off and gun shots are
fired over their heads
STUCK IN THE FENCE
Jem’s pants get caught in the barbed
wire fence. He ends up leaving them
there
All the neighbors are out front.
Nathan Radley (Boo’s older brother) is
standing with his shot gun. He thinks
he shot a Negro trying to steal collard
greens from his garden
Jem has no pants on (Miss Rachel
notices). Dill makes up a story that he
won Jem’s pants in a game of strip
poker
After everyone goes to bed, Jem gets
up and goes back to get his pants
CHAPTER 7
Pants and Presents
JEM’S PANTS
School begins. Scout is now in
second grade. Not much has
changed
Jem relates what happened
when he went back to get his
pants
 They were mended, but like a child
would have done.
 They were folded over the fence
like they were waiting for Jem to
come and get them
Who fixed Jem’s pants?
PRESENTS IN THE TREE
Jem and Scout find more presents in
the knot hole in the tree: a ball of
twine (string), a package of gum, a
spelling medal, 2 soap dolls that look
like Jem and Scout and a pocket
watch that does not work with a
pocket knife attached
Who is leaving things in the knot hole
for Jem and Scout?
Scout and Jem decide to write a
thank you note
MESSAGE CENTER AVERTED
When they go to leave it in the
knot hole, the knot hole is filled
with cement
Nathan Radley plugged up the
knot hole with cement
Nathan Radley says he is filling
up the knot hole because the
tree is dying.
When Jem asks Atticus he tells
her it is not because the
branches have new shoots
CHAPTER 8
Fire and Ice
SNOW IN MAYCOMB
Unusual occurrence in
Alabama—it snows!
School is canceled and the kids
make a snowman that looks like
Mr. Avery (a large man who
lives at Miss Maudie’s boarding
house).
Atticus tells them to change it
 They make it into a woman
FIRE AT MISS MAUDIE’S
Miss Maudie’s house burns
down that night
Atticus sends Jem and
Scout to stand in front of
the Radley house for
safety
All the adults are helping
out with the fire
A BLANKET FOR SCOUT
Someone put a blanket
around Scout as she stood
looking at the fire—who?
Atticus says “. . . looks like
all of Maycomb was out
tonight in one way or
another. “ (72)
CHAPTER 9
Racial Slurs and
Christmas
A TALK WITH ATTICUS
Scout fights with Cecil
Jacobs at school because
Cecil said Atticus
defended Niggers (racial
slur)
Atticus scolds Scout for
fighting
He explains he is
defending a Negro man
named Tom Robinson
WORKING ON THE CASE
Most of the town believe that Atticus
should put no effort into defending
Tom Robinson
The case has been postponed until the
summer
 Gives Atticus time to build a defense
Atticus is not prejudiced like the rest
of the town
He tells Scout to back down from
another fight with Cecil
CHRISTMAS
Christmas comes and Uncle
Jack (Atticus’s brother, a
doctor) comes to stay
Scout and Jem get air
rifles for Christmas
The family goes to Finches
Landing for Christmas
FINCHES LANDING
Aunt Alexandra (Atticus’s sister)
and her husband Jimmy are
running the family farm
Their grandson Francis (a snotty
little boy) stays with them
Aunt Alexandra believes that
Scout needs to act and dress
like a girl
TELLING HER SIDE
Francis calls Atticus a Nigger Lover
He and Scout get into a fight
Uncle Jack punishes Scout without
getting the whole story.
She does get to tell her side once they
get back to Maycomb.
Scout tells Uncle Jack he is unfair
Scout needs to learn to control her
temper.
She is very proud
She has a strong love of family
TROUBLES AHEAD
Atticus and Jack talk about the
case
Atticus knows he is going to lose
because of the racial prejudice
that exists in the town.
It is a black man’s word against
a white woman’s word
He knows the jury will be
prejudiced
Atticus also knows the case will
affect Scout and Jem
CHAPTER 10
“One-shot Finch”
BORING DAD
Children’s perspective of their
father is presented in this
chapter:
 Atticus is old (almost 50)
 He wears glasses
 He won’t play tackle football like
the rest of the fathers
 He works in an office (not exciting)
 He doesn’t hunt or fish
 He doesn’t play poker
 He reads every night in the living
room
SYMBOL AND THEME
Atticus would not teach them to
shoot their air rifles.
 He wants them to shoot at tin cans
He tells them they can shoot
blue jays but not mockingbirds
Symbol: mockingbird
Theme: “It is a sin to kill a
mockingbird”
Who are the mockingbirds in
the novel?
THEME
“Mockingbirds don’t do one
thing but make music for us to
enjoy. They don’t eat up
people’s gardens, don’t nest in
corn cribs, they don’t do one
thing but sing their hearts out
for us. That’s why it’s a sin to
kill a mockingbird.”
Miss Maudie Atkinson
WHAT ATTICUS CAN DO
Miss Maudie tries to
convince Scout that Atticus
can do things:
 He can make a will airtight
(unbreakable)
 He is the best checkers player
 He is the best jew’s harp
player
WAITING FOR THE KILL
Incident with the rabid dog
(Tim Johnson is the dog’s
name)
The dog is twitching and
walking slowly down the
road
Calpurnia calls the
neighbors and Atticus
Atticus and Sheriff Tate
arrive
ONE-SHOT FINCH
Sheriff Tate tells Atticus to shoot
the dog
Atticus shoots the dog in one
shot
The children learn Atticus’s
nickname when he was young
was “One-shot Finch”
This impresses Jem and Scout.
Jem states he wants to be just
like Atticus when he grows up.
CHAPTER 11
Mrs. Dubose
MRS. DUBOSE
Mrs. Dubose is the mean, old
lady who lives on Jem and
Scout’s street
She has a Negro housekeeper
She is very ill (dying)
She always taunts Jem and
Scout
 Tells them they will never amount to
anything
Atticus tells them to ignore her
TAUNTED BY MRS. DUBOSE
Jem gets money for his twelfth
birthday and decides to go to
town to spend it.
As they pass by Mrs. Dubose’s
house, she tells them that
“they’ll never amount to
anything except waiting on
tables”
She taunts them further by
telling them Atticus is “lawin’ for
niggers”; this shows her
prejudice
TRASHING THE GARDEN
On the way home, Jem
takes the baton he bought
for Scout and trashes the
camellias in her garden
Jem knows he will get in
trouble for his actions
READING AS A PUNISHMENT
As his punishment, he must go
daily (except Sunday) for two
hours/day for a month to read
to Mrs. Dubose
At first she pays attention, but
as the days go by, she begins
to pay less attention.
At the end, she is back to
paying attention again
MORPHINE ADDICT
Mrs. Dubose finally dies
We learn she was a morphine
addict and did not want to die
addicted to the drug.
She was using the reading
sessions to wean herself off the
morphine
She wanted to die beholden to
nothing or no one
FORGIVENESS
She sends Jem a boxed
camellia to tell him she
forgave him
Atticus considers her one of
the bravest people he
knows