" Go home I said." ( Lee 173.) Atticus is frustrated with the kids because it wasn't a safe environment for them to be in and Scout can see the level of frustration his father is at. Jem wants to stay with his father by his side but the mob of people is just dangerous for young children. Jem is old enough to realize the dangers in this situation as the men around them get more angry towards the beginning of the trial. Jem is in a fight or flight type of mode and wants to help his father since he has more of an understanding about the evil in this situation. Scout recognizes one of the men as Mr. Cunningham and immediately starts talking to him. "Aw hush. She doesn't understand it, reverend, she ain't nine yet." (Lee 197) Jem was trying to convince them to let them stay for the trial and stated that Scout doesn't even understand what's going on so it's fine if she hears. This changes the view of the story because we are seeing most of these things happened through a set of eyes that are still very confused. Being an older audience we understand what is going on but our narrator doesn't quite yet since she is so young.
No son, those were our friends." (Lee 166) Scout and Jems relationship is definitely all over the place during this book. Jem had freaked out and got very mad at Scout for wanting to talk about Miss. Gates' instead of talking it out she just freaked out. It is a different way of how he usually talked to her. Scout didn't understand why so it was probably very confusing for her because the mood is so tense.
Explain more about what Jem helps the audience understand and why it's still important to have Scout as our narrator.
Scout and Jems relationship begins changing when Jem gets mad at Scout for wanting to talk to him. This lets the readers understand what was happening emotionally. Jem does not fully get what is happening and it caused a change in their relationship because of what happened emotionally.
¨Son, I said go home, Jem shook his head¨(Lee 173) I think as Jem gets older he is starting to think he can be on his own and make his own decisions, As he gets older he is understanding more about his fathers case, when Atticus told jem to take him and all the kids home he refused to do that. Even though bringing them home would be the safest things to do considering what was going on with atticus. Because he stayed Atticus doesn't get hurt from the mob that was trying to attack them. ¨ Aw hush. She doesn't understand it, Reverend, she aint nine yet¨(Lee 197) Scout is only nine and she doesn't even understand the cause of attics is in because she is so young and cant comprehend what is Happening because of the fact that she is only nine.
"I Intended to kick his shin, but aimed too high. That'll do, Scout" (Lee, 173). Scout and Jem showed their nature in roughhousing to stop the men from bringing them home and taking them out of the courthouse and miss being by Acttius's side.
Jem understands the concept of what Acttius is going through because he is older and more developed mentally while Scout is not quite comprehending the situation correctly
We look through the situation out of Scouts perspective because she has little understanding of many things around her and likes to roam around and explore which can help progress the story immensely
*Before the Trial* Jem, Scout and Dill arrive at the jail to find Atticus. A vehicles parks near the jail and a group of men get out. Ordering Atticus to stand up and move from the jailhouse. Atticus refuses and tells Jem and the kids to go home. Jem has other plans. '"Son, I said go home." (Lee, 173) Jem shook his head.' Jem understands that his father is in a jam, and leaving him may lead to injury or something worse. Jem does not refuse his father's order to go against his father. He refuses because as he transitions from kid to adulthood he begins to recognize situations that his younger self may not. Scout proves this point when she recognizes Mr. Cunningham. With no regard for the situation, (she is oblivious to), she walks up to Mr. Cunningham asking him to say "hey" to his son for her. '"Don't you remember me, Mr. Cunningham?..." "...Tell him hey for me, won't you?"' (Lee, 174) The difference between Jem and Scout is clear. While both do not know EXACTLY what is going on, because Jem is older, he has a better understanding. He is able to read this particular situation and understand something is wrong, Scout cannot. She is rather oblivious and begins to spark conversation with Mr. Cunningham. Seeing it from Scout's perspective adds slight confusion. As Scout is unable to infer, we have to learn the trial with her. Little touches from Jem and Atticus help the plot connect. Seeing it from Scout's perspective may also help us view it in our own way.
"No son, those were our friends." (166 Lee) Scout and jems relationship is like a roller coaster of drama. He gets mad at her and raises his voice at her for talking to someone about something
"No son, those were our friends." (166 Lee) Scout and Jems relationship is like a roller coaster of drama. He gets mad at her and raises his voice at her for talking to someone about something. Instead he only got mad at her and didn't talk it out. It wasn't how he had usually talked to her before. Scout wasn't used to being talked like that she probably didn't know what was going on at the moment.
"No son, those were our friends"(Lee 166) Scout and Jems relationship begins a significant change. Jem begins to get frustrated and mad at Scout for wanting to talk to him. This allows the readers to understand their emotional process, knowing this we can say that Jem does not fully understand what is going on. With this happening it causes a change in the environment due to the emotional change between each other.
"No son, those were our friends"(Lee 166) Scout and Jem's relationship is getting a little rocky, with Jem understanding what is happening and is getting upset when scout tries to talk to him.
Jem starts to get more and more frustrated and upset at scout for trying to talk to him. Jem really doesn't understand what's happening at the moment but with him getting frustrated at scout it shows that they are undergoing changes in their relationship.
When the mob confronts Atticus and Jem, Scout, and Dill intervene, Atticus says ""Son, I said go home." Jem shook his head." (Lee 173) This point, in particular, shows the difference between Jem and Scout's understanding of the situation. Jem understood the danger their dad was in and wanted to stay to defend him. Scout, on the other hand, focused more on trying to make small talk with the crowd- in particular Mr. Cunningham, the only one she was familiar with. This ended up being more effective than Jem's approach, and while it seemed to hit her later on that they were in genuine danger, she didn't really understand at the time. It's important that it's her perspective because her age and lack of understanding make her an unreliable narrator, which makes us have to interpret the events more closely than if told by someone like Atticus who would know more fully what was going on.
I think you're right that we have to interpret more closely because we have Scout as our narrator. I think because of that it is more effective. When Scout cries it is really telling. I don't think an adult narrator would have that outlet and effectiveness.
Jem was scared that someone or a gang was going to come after Atticus and hurt him ""Scared about Atticus. Somebody might hurt him"".(Lee 167) Jem is bring up a lot of stuff and the older audience should be aware that Jem is a kids and hes scared for his dad so I believe he doesn't understand what hes saying he's just questioning everything and one. ""You gotta make me first"".(Lee197) In this the reverend wanted Jean Louise and Dill to go home but she didn't want to. Jem said it was okay for her to stay because she didn't understand anything because she's so young. At first there relationship seemed not to have tension it but as the trial goes on the more it seems to bother them. I think it would be better if someone would just explain to scout everything that is going on instead of just trying to send her home. I also believe that they both shouldn't be at that trial because they can get pretty chaotic and some stuff is said that kids shouldn't hear.
(Before the trial) "No son, those were our friends." (pg.166 Lee) In this particular part of the book Scout and Jem's relationship really changes because Jem angrily reacted and yelled at Scout. Scout just wanted to talk about Miss Gate's reaction to the Tom Robinson's trial. In this part of the book the mood is very uptight.
“”I ain’t going,” was his steady answer to Atticus’s threats, requests, and finally, “Please Jem, take them home.”” (Lee 173) This shows how Jem is Stubborn and wants to stick up for his father because he understands what danger Atticus is in. Scout doesn’t realise what kind of situation they are in and starts to talk to Mr. Cunningham like she would anywhere else, asking him about Walter at the worst time possible.
Because it shows character development. She goes from not understanding the severity of the situation to then realizing why the mob was there. Jem already knew what was going on so it's good to hear the development of scout and hear her perspective on the community as she learns more about it.
""Scared about Atticus. Somebody might hurt him"".(Lee 167) Jem is concerned about Atticus, At this point, Jem and scout had just had a big fight and it was their first really big fight, its a great understanding of the emotional process and whats it's like having a fight with a friend, but now Jem figured out Atticus is in trouble and tries to stay around and help and makes the other kids like Dill go home because she thinks that she could help, but she also doesn't want anything bad to happen with a person as important as Atticus is.
Based on how important Jem seems to helping us understand, why is it so important to have Scout as the narrator, not him?
It's important because it shows a perspective of a kid and how they understood their surroundings back then, at first Scout didn't know about what Tom Robinson did, or why he was in such trouble, she also didn't have a great understanding of racism at the time.
"Son, I said go home." Jem shook his head." (Lee 173) This quote shows Jems braveness because he didn't want to leave that area. Whereas Scout might be more scared in those situations because she's younger. "Don't you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I'm Jean Louise Finch." (Lee 174) This is an example of Jem knowing the situation and can react to what's going on. But reading the book from Scouts perspective can be difficult because we it's hard to understand what's happening.
Why does it make sense to have Scout as the narrator if she can make things more confusing?
There's a lot of things that Scout doesn't know yet but that's a good thing. The more things she continues to learn, the more the readers can learn with her.
“Children who slipped out at night were a disgrace to the family. Atticus said he was right glad his disgraces had come along, but Aunty said, ‘Nonsense, Mr. Underwood was there all the time.’ (Lee 178)
Atticus is referring to the night prior, where Atticus was out a night, and some men came after him to try to kill Tom Robinson. The men’s intentions were to hurt, or even kill Atticus if he were to try to stop them, but Scout, Dill, and Jem appeared and that prevented the men from hurting Atticus.
This was all Jem’s decision, as he got up in the middle of the night, to see where Atticus was, and that decision ended up saving his father’s life.
Jem made this decision, possibly because he knew the danger Atticus was in by defending Tom, and he knew that people would want to hurt him, as shown in an earlier time, “‘They were after you, weren’t they? Jem went to him. ‘They wanted to get you, didn’t they?’ Atticus lowered his paper and gazed at Jem. ‘What have you been reading?’ he asked. Then he said gently, ‘No son, those were our friends.’ ‘It wasn’t a-a gang?’ Jem was looking from the corners of his eyes. Atticus tried to stifle a smile but didn’t make it.”(Lee 166-167)
Jem has worried about Atticus’s safety for a little while now, that is because he understands what is going on, because he is older, and sees the world differently than Scout does, because she is younger.
I think it is important that we are viewing the scenario from Scout’s perspective because she does not understand the severity of what is actually going on. If we were viewing this from an older person’s perspective, it would be very clear about what is happening. But Scout’s perspective forces us to think about what is happening, versus being explicitly told so.
"No son, those were our friends." (pg.166 Lee) during this moment Jem's reaction is to show that he was very scared about what was happening and why people were going after them.
It makes the older audience understand his thought process, and see that he doesn't fully understand what is truly going on, also with having fear included in the mix of emotions he was experiencing.
Overall, the atmosphere is tense and you can clearly see they're all scared and unsure of what is happening, and also unsure of what they should do in the present moment.
"Aw hush. She doesn't understand it, reverend, she ain't nine yet." (Lee 197) This is showing that before the trial scout was more innocent, naive and didn't know what was going on.
When the mob confonts Atticus, jem and scout try to inteervine."Son, I said go home." Jem shook his head." (Lee 173) This is showing now that jem is older he relises how serious this is and doesn't want to leave his father.
"son I said go home Jem shook his head" (lee 173)
Jem and scout seemed to be on the same page with this situation they understood their father needed help and they directly disobeyed their father when he asked them to leave and they thought they could help so in this scene their relationship was very good and they understood each other. Jem wasn't trying to be disrespectful he was being courageous, at firsr scout was confused but soon caught on by talking to one of the men about how she knows his son and asked him to say hi.
we don't get a good and clear perspective and we are on a child's perspective so nothing is clear.
"Son, I said go home. Jem shook his head." (Lee Page 173) Jem gets an urge to sneak out and go to Atticus anyways. This would give people an idea of him taking a new step into protecting his father and maturing as a kid. "Don't you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I'm Jean Louise."(Lee 174) Scout goes to do a simple act as anyone which is to find someone you know to sit next to. She goes on to talk about how nice and great his boy is, this makes his mindset change a little from her simple innocent comment and makes him think about Atticus being a father too. This change later makes him call off the mod. She was taught just like most that it's easy to talk to someone about something that makes them comfortable and want to continue, this innocently helps them a lot. It's good to have her point of view because it shows that a simple thing can go a long way, it also forces you to read a little bit between the lines.
"'go home, I said.'"(lee 173) During this part in the story atticus is telling jem that he needs to take home dill and jean louise, and he resists and stands up against atticus. He realizes that he should be there to protect his family and friends so he disobeys his father to do so. Jem is obviously older than jean louise so he is going to understand more about what is really going on here but he does not make it known to scout or dill. Though him acting this way kinda gave scout the hint that this is dangerous and could go wrong any minute which also shows that reader that this is very serious. Jean louise on the other hand knows that she needs to come to her father and help distract the boys from their real intentions of killing tom robinson. so she tries to find someone she can strike a conversation with when she finds him "'Hey, Mr.Cunningham.'"(Lee 174) she was able to talk them all down basically because eventually they end up leaving without killing tom. We need to see it from scouts point of view so that there is a childlike perspective behind it that makes you understand the situation a little differently than you would have if it were told from atticus' perspective.
