It tasted like cotton. From time to time she would open her mouth wide, and I could see her tongue undulate faintly. When Calpurnia stayed overnight with us she slept on a folding cot in the kitchen; that morning it was covered with our Sunday habiliments.
His sermon was a forthright denunciation of sin, an austere declaration of the motto on the wall behind him: he warned his flock against the evils of heady brews, gambling, and strange women. Somewhere, I had received the impression that Fine Folks were people who did the best they could with the sense they had, but Aunt Alexandra was of the opinion, obliquely expressed, that the longer a family had been squatting on one patch of land the finer it was.
She was not fat, but solid, and she chose protective garments that drew up her bosom to giddy heights, pinched in her waist, flared out her rear, and managed to suggest that Aunt Alexandra's was once an hour-glass figure.
From any angle, it was formidable. We were accustomed to prompt, if not always cheerful acquiescence to Atticus's instructions, but from the way he stood Jem was not thinking of budging. We asked Miss Maudie to elucidate : she said Miss Stephanie seemed to know so much about the case she might as well be called on to testify.
You know how those people are. I could hide my mortification under it. At first we saw nothing but a kudzu-covered front porch, but a closer inspection revealed an arc of water descending from the leaves and splashing in the yellow circle of the street light, some ten feet from source to earth, it seemed to us. Jem said Mr. Avery misfigured, Dill said he must drink a gallon a day, and the ensuing contest to determine relative distances and respective prowess only made me feel left out again, as I was untalented in this area.
Jem was not one to dwell on past defeats: it seemed the only message he got from Atticus was insight into the art of cross examination. The back of the Radley house was less inviting than the front: a ramshackle porch ran the width of the house; there were two doors and two dark windows between the doors. That we would be obliged to dodge the unseen from all directions was confirmed when Dill ahead of us spelled G-o-d in a whisper. He put his arms over his head and went rigid.
In the glare from the streetlight, I could see Dill hatching one: his eyes widened, his fat cherub face grew rounder. Boo Radley's insane fingers picking the wire to pieces; the chinaberry trees were malignant , hovering, alive.
Sometimes I did not understand him, but my periods of bewilderment were short-lived. Sometimes when we made a midnight pilgrimage to the bathroom we would find him reading. The night-crawlers had retired, but ripe chinaberries drummed on the roof when the wind stirred, and the darkness was desolate with the barking of distant dogs. In some ways their snowman is analogous to the way blacks are treated in Maycomb. Blacks aren't judged on their own merits, but on their relationships with the white folks in town, just as the mudman isn't something to be admired until he is a white snowman.
Lee subtly and masterfully drives this point home by having the children create a nearly exact replica of Mr. Avery, a white neighbor who behaves crudely and indecently, unlike any black character in the story.
Lee also introduces bird symbolism into the novel in Chapter 8. When Miss Maudie's house catches fire, Scout says, "Just as the birds know where to go when it rains, I knew when there was trouble in our street.
Readers should note the connection between Lee's use of bird symbolism and Atticus' last name, Finch. In another nod to how their world is changing, Jem and Scout have a chance to meet Boo Radley, but are too absorbed in something else to notice. And, instead of seeing the blanket as a gift, Scout is sick to her stomach.
Miss Maudie's reaction to the fire confuses the children as well. They can't understand how she can be so positive and interested in them when she's lost everything.
The children don't realize that the cuts on Miss Maudie's hands are evidence of the grief she chooses not to show.
The fire itself is symbolic of the upcoming conflicts that Scout and the community will face. This jarring event awakens the neighborhood, and Scout, from their peaceful slumber. The heat of the fire contrasts sharply with the intense cold, providing an allusion to the sharply defined sides in the upcoming trial and conflict.
Neither fires nor cold are common in Maycomb, and the community is forced to look at situations from a different perspective. Lee is careful to make clear that the children don't mind Atticus defending a black man as much as they mind the comments other people make about Atticus.
She makes her point beautifully when Jem suggests that Miss Maudie get a "colored man" to help her with her yard, and Scout then notes, "There was no note of sacrifice in his voice when he added, 'Or Scout'n'me can help you. Through dialogue in Chapter 9, Lee communicates that Atticus doesn't have a chance to win Tom Robinson's case, bringing the theme of justice to the forefront.
Atticus tells Scout that he has to fight a battle he can't win because it is the morally correct thing to do. Atticus is accustomed to facing no-win situations. To their delight, he buys both children air rifles for Christmas, but says, "'I merely bowed to the inevitable.
Likewise, he accepts the fact that the jury will convict Tom, but he still gives him a courageous defense. Ironically, the Finch family owned slaves at one time, making Atticus' defense of Tom that much more noble. Lee foreshadows how the jury will treat Tom in Scout's confrontation with Uncle Jack.
Uncle Jack punishes Scout without first hearing her side of the story. In her "trial," she was guilty until proven guilty. However, unlike Tom Robinson, Scout does win on appeal when she tells her uncle, "'you never stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it — you just lit right into me,'" at which point he does listen to her story.
Lee adeptly helps readers understand how Tom feels by having a child experience the same emotions. Still, even after Scout's "acquittal," Uncle Jack continues to fumble with the truth by dodging Scout's request for a definition of "whore-lady.
When a child asks you something, answer him. Lee uses Scout's run-in with Francis to foreshadow one more important event. Scout muses, "When stalking one's prey, it is best to take one's time," which is exactly what Bob Ewell does in his attempt to harm Jem and Scout.
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