To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 5-7
The kids make some subtle changes to the Boo Radley play-acting, in order to avoid getting caught. Dill proposes marriage to Scout, which she readily accepts, but is frustrated by the fact that Dill still seems to prefer playing with Jem, sometimes leaving her out of playing altogether.
This prompts Scout to begin talking to neighbor Maudie Atkinson, who turns out to be a very nice woman. Scout learns from Miss Maudie that Boo is actually named Arthur, and that Arthur’s father, who also lives in the house, is a “foot-washing Baptist,” which means that he believes that anything pleasurable is considered a sin… to include enjoying the company of women.
Dill and Jem concoct a plan to deliver a note to Boo, via fishing pole. The note invites Boo to come out, and offers to even buy him an ice cream. While the kids are still terrified that he might kill them, their curiosity to actually see him overshadows their fear. Atticus, however, catches them attempting to deliver the note, and scolds them for tormenting Boo. This scolding prompts Jem to display his first signs of youthful rebellion, with some derogatory words spoken out of his father’s earshot.
The summer draws to a close, which means that Dill will be leaving. On his last night, Jem and Dill announce to Scout that they are “taking a walk,” which Scout finds suspicious. Upon questioning them, the boys tell her of their plan to peep through the windows of the Radley house, in an effort to see what Boo Radley looks like. Scout demands to be included, so the trio slips through the darkness and into the Radley yard.
Mr. Radley hears a noise, and almost catches the trespassers. He fires a shotgun into the air as a warning. The children are terrified, but make their escape. Unfortunately, in the panicked scramble, Jem pants get caught on the fence, and he chooses to wriggle out of them.
Moments later, the neighbors, hearing the shotgun blast, have gathered in front of the Radley house. The kids, aware that they had not been seen, join the small crowd, when Mr. Radley proclaims that he saw a n***** in his yard, but couldn’t catch him. Jem's lack of pants is noticed, but quick-thinking Dill explains that Jem had lost the pants in a game of strip poker, a revelation that his aunt finds repulsive, as gambling is forbidden.
Dill is told to return Jem’s pants to him, which he assures he will do. That night, at 2AM, Jem and Scout sneak out of the house, and retrieve Jem’s pants from the fence, although Scout does not go all the way to the fence with Jem.
Jem strikes Scout as moody for the next week.
Scout begins second grade.
Jem confesses a secret to Scout, under the condition that she tell nobody. He explains that when he retrieved his pants from the Radley’s fence a few nights prior, that they had been neatly folded, and that some of the holes in his pants and been mended, although he noted that the mends were not nice, like a lady would have made, but looked more like something a man might have done. He has no explanation for this.
Scout and Jem find other treasures in the tree’s knothole, to include soap carvings (with a remarkable resemblance to Scout and Jem), and a non-working pocket-watch with a chain and a knife. The two decide to leave a note to the mysterious benefactor, but upon their attempt to deliver the note, they discover that it has just been filled in with cement. Mr. Radley says that he did so because the tree was ill, and that the cement would help the tree heal. However, the tree shows no signs of illness.
Analysis:
These chapters offer insight into the adventures that the children share, often as a result of their highly inquisitive natures. They question things, but do so with the perspective of innocence and genuine curiosity. Their curiosity even leads them to discover that Boo Radley might not be the monster that they’ve always believed him to be.
