Dill came over two days ago and had resumed his light-pole hugging, staring in wonder at the Radley House. Jem and Scout would take turns keeping him company, although Dill rarely said anything. It was one lazy afternoon and Jem was lounged against the light pole, Dill hugging the pole as usual. Jem picked at a small tuft of plant material, reducing it to a liquid pulp between his fingers. He heaved a sigh and pulled himself up. He tapped the other boy on the shoulder. “Dill, don’t you think you’ve stared at the house enough? I mean we haven’t done any reproductions this whole summer because you’ve spent your time staring at this house.” asked Jem. Dill turned to look at him. “I want to see Boo Radley. And not just with the description you’ve told me. I want to see him face-to face.” “Why don’t I make you a bet then? I bet you one potato that you won’t go inside the Radley’s house. Alone.” Jem announced. Dill, one never to back down from a bet, frowned. “What do I get out of this?” “I’ll ask Calpurnia to cook that potato any way that you want.” Dill frowned deepened, then relaxed. “Fine. I’ll do it.” Dill set off to the rotten picket fence of the looming two-storey house. He gently opened the gate, flinching at the sharp noise of protest from the gate. He weaved his way through the overgrown grass, following the narrow cobbled footpath to the porch. He tentatively took a step onto the rotten staircase, wisely missing a gaping hole in the second step. The porch was a cemetery for dead potted plants, pots strewn carelessly across it, soil scattered everywhere. Dill took a cautious step onto the porch which groaned under the sudden placement of weight. He looked towards the house, grimacing as if he expected Boo Radley to pounce on ... ... middle of paper ... ...tling on the steps. The paint on either side of the staircase peeled off in flakes sending them to the hardwood floor. Dill took a dubious step onto the first stair, then the next, then the next, leaving Dill-sized footprints amidst the debris, each step sending a shiver up his spine. Dill finally reached the second floor, after numerous pauses to look behind him upon hearing suspicious noises. The upper floor had only one room: the bedroom. On one side of the room was a fireplace, dusty photographs on the dusty mantle. The floral wallpaper peeled from the walls exposing the water damage underneath. The bed was carelessly pushed to the side of the room leaving only a woollen rug in the middle. Dill scanned the room before stiffening. In the corner of the bedroom, on a wooden chair sat something…or rather someone. “Look what the storm brought in.” rasped Boo Radley.
Filban said the home had a yard that was overgrown. “The trees and bushes were overgrown, and the house was dark,” Filban said. “And the windows were covered.” She and her sister slept in the front bedroom of the house. She remembers the bedroom having a large, floor-to-ceiling window. She said you could look out and see the wra...
Jem’s perception of bravery has changed throughout the course of the book. His maturity is a result of Atticus’s actions around him. At the beginning of the book, Jem is dared by his neighbour Dill to touch the door of the Radley’s; the Radley house symbolizes fear in the minds of the children. Jem does so thinking the act is courageous while Scout remarks, “In all his life, Jem had never declined a dare.” This shows that like most children, Jem is often more idealistic than realistic. His reactions are instinctive and often unplanned and reckless.
“We just want to see it, that’s all.” “You sure he’s here?” One voice seemed to come from the room on the sofa. “Yeah, he stays here every night.” “There’s another room over there; I’m going to take a look.
The children laugh and imagine the reclusive life of Boo Radley, yet their father quickly puts a halt to their shenanigans, as they should not judge the man before they truly know him. Atticus unforgettably tells the children, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” During Dill’s last night in Maycomb for the summer, the children wrongfully ventured onto Boo Radley’s property. He shoots at the children, and in their escape, Jem loses his pants. He later returns to find them mended and hung over the fence.
Arthur “Boo” Radley appears only once in the novel, yet is discussed frequently by Jem, Scout, and Dill. Their imaginations run wild with ideas of a scissor wielding maniac who peeks in town windows and dines on raw squirrels. As they mature they start to forget about him, leaving their childish stories behind with the rest of their innocent ideas. However, Boo never stops noticing them:
You hardly ever seen anyone get close to the Radley gate and the children stayed as far away as they could, but after accidentally rolling a tire into the Radley gate, when trying to get Jem to retrieve it Scout exclaimed, “Go on inside, it’s not that far.” Jem was panic-stricken and seem to be walking on cold feet by thinking that Boo’d come out and get him or something. No one had ever went that close to the Radley’s house because it seemed to be a near death experience. The night Miss Maudie’s house caught on fire, Jem and Scout were standing in front of the Radley gate in the cold, and later discovered there was a blanket placed on Scout. “Boo Radley,” said Atticus. The thought of almost being able to see Boo for the first time intrigued her. Scout seems be in a daze since she came that close to Boo, but also seems to wonder how he did it. He was the type of person to blow one’s mind.
Chapter 2: Dill left, and school started. Jem accompanied Scout to school. There was a new first grade teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, a young teacher recently out of college. She was irritated that Scout had learned the alphabet, because Miss Fisher wanted to teach them from scratch, and now it would “interfere with her reading” Later, she asks who has lunches and who goes into town. She offers Walter some money, but he declines because he knows he can’t pay her back. Miss Caroline smacked Scout with a ruler, “whipping her” and sending everyone into a storm of laughter. That disturbed the sixth grade.
Jem Finch demonstrates growing maturity throughout the novel. After Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout reveals Jem’s feelings. “It was Jem’s turn to cry.” Scout uncovers, “His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd,” (TKAM 284). Jem understands the trial is not fair because of race. He is mature enough to realize this while Scout is not. Another example of Jem’s maturity is exemplified when he is fulfilling his obligation to read to Mrs. Dubose. Scout describes, “ ‘So you brought that dirty little sister of yours did you?’ was her greeting… ‘My sister ain’t dirty and I ain’t scared of you’, although I noticed his knees shaking,” (TKAM 141). Rather than Jem replying to Mrs. Dubose with an insult, he dismisses her comment. Furthermore, this showcases his patience and tolerance, which comes with maturity. Finally, Jem validates his maturity when the Finch children find Dill under Scout’s bed. “You oughta let your mother know where you are.” announced Jem, “You oughta let her know you are here…”(TKAM 187). At this point Jem knows the right way to handle this situation is to let an adult know where Dill is. Even though Scout believes she can keep him under her bed forever, Jem recognizes the reality. When Jem’s maturity is put to the test he demonstrates good judgment and decision-making.
When he arrived at the home the servant who took his hoarse and directed him to the room that Mr. Usher was in greeted him. Inside the house was also very ornate, but it to had also been left alone for to long. The entire house had a gloomy atmosphere that would put a chill down most people’s spines. When he entered the room his friend was staying in he was warmly welcomed. He could not believe the changes that his dear childhood friend had endured.
As most children naturally do, Jem, Scout, and their newly-found friend Dill find amusements to make the days pass with excitement. When they first meet Dill, they are beginning the "day's play in the backyard"(11). The implication is that it becomes routine for them to play and that each day brings on a different experience.
Dill also shows that he is warm hearted by caring about the littlest things, “it’s sort of like making a turtle come out…” “How’s that?” asked Dill. “Strike a match under him.” I told Jem if he set fire to the Radley house I was going to tell Atticus on him. Dill said striking a match under a turtle was hateful. “Ain’t hateful, just persuades him—‘s not like you’d chunk him in the fire,” Jem growled. “How do you know a match don’t hurt him?” “Turtles can’t feel, stupid,” said Jem. “Were you ever a turtle, huh?” “My stars, Dill! Now lemme think… reckon we can rock him…” Jem stood in thought so long that Dill made a mild concession: “I won’t say you ran out on a dare an‘ I’ll swap you The Gray Ghost if you just go up and touch the house.” Jem brightened. “Touch the house, that all?” Dill nodded. “Sure that’s all, now? I don’t want you hollerin‘ something different the minute I get back.” “Yeah, that’s all,” said Dill. “He’ll probably come out after you when he sees you in the yard, then Scout’n‘ me’ll jump on him and hold him down till we can tell him we ain’t gonna hurt him.” (17-18) This also shows Dill fascination about the
His second charateristics is him needing attention. The first time the reader see that he is needing attention is when Dill said, “Mr. Finch don’t tell Aunt Rachel, don’t make me go back, please sir! I’ll run of again!”(188) This quote shows how Dill is just wanting attention. Somebody who would say they’ll run away again just wants attention. Another time that the reader sees that he is needing attention is when Scout and Dill are talking, when Dill tells Scout, “The thing is, what I’m tryin’ to say is they do get on a lot better without me, I can’t help them any. They ain’t mean. They buy me everything I want, but it’s now-you’ve-got-it-go-play-with-it. You’ve got a roomful of things. I-got-you-that-book-so-go-read-it.”(191) By using this quote it shows how he’s wanting attention by wanting affection by his new parents. By the tone of this quote the reader can tale that Dill is filling upset that all he wants is attention.
What happens after Jem finds his pants, neatly folded and crookedly sewn together as if they were expecting him, when he goes back to retrieve the from the Radley Place, is told in a way that I found very interesting and critical to move the plot along. Scout narrates that she tried to “climb into Jem’s skin and walk around it” (Lee 65), and when she decides to leave Jem alone with his thoughts, it shows that she can’t, or doesn’t want to, imagine what it’s like to sneak around the Radley Place after midnight. What impresses me in this section is that, although Scout is only an incoming second-grader, she already has the capacity to empathize for her brother, and not question his moody and silent behavior.
11:14 p.m.-I slowly ascend from my small wooden chair, and throw another blank sheet of paper on the already covered desk as I make my way to the door. Almost instantaneously I feel wiped of all energy and for a brief second that small bed, which I often complain of, looks homey and very welcoming. I shrug off the tiredness and sluggishly drag my feet behind me those few brief steps. Eyes blurry from weariness, I focus on a now bare area of my door which had previously been covered by a picture of something that was once funny or memorable, but now I can't seem to remember what it was. Either way, it's gone now and with pathetic intentions of finishing my homework I go to close the door. I take a peek down the hall just to assure myself one final time that there is nothing I would rather be doing and when there is nothing worth investigating, aside from a few laughs a couple rooms down, I continue to shut the door.
From their first impression of Dill Scout and Jem feel that, Charles Baker Harris is a small, weedy, but oddly curious child whose name was "longer'n you are". At the initial meeting he was wearing "blue linen shorts that buttoned to his shirt, his hair was snow white and stuck to his head like duck fluff". Even though he seemed odd to Jem and Scout when he spoke of going to the cinema and seeing films like Dracula he automatically had their attention and respect. This initial meeting grows into a flourishing relationship between Dill and Jem and Scout.