Journal #8: To Kill a Mockingbrid

 As the children’s curiousity of their neighbor, Boo Radley, deepens, they decide to take action by looking inside the Radley House. Initially, Jem is dared to go to the door of the house; his interpretation of the dare is running and touching the house then running away as fast as possible. The children then try again, this time at the end of the summer in the middle of the night. Their reasoning is as follows: “Because nobody could see them at night, because Atticus would be so deep in a book he wouldn’t hear the Kingdom coming, because if Boo Radley killed them they’d miss school instead of vacation, and because it was easier to see inside a dark house in the dark than in the daytime” (69). Jem is the guinea pig again, and goes so far as to peeking into the window on the porch. Unfortunately, someone in the house hears the children and fires a gunshot to scare them away, and they are left just as curious as before. Later, however, they get a glimpse into the heart of Boo Radley. When their neighbor, Miss Maudie’s house burns down one winter night, Boo Radley silently provides the children with a blanket as they wait in the cold. That same winter, the Finch’s spend Christmas, as they usually do, with Atticus’s brother and his sister’s family. Trouble arises when Scout is provoked by her older cousin Francis, who makes a slur about her father in regard to a legal case he is working on. Francis calls Atticus a “nigger-lover." In response, Scout fights Francis. Only Francis’s side of the story gets told, and Scout is punished. Later Scout privately tells her uncle the true story and he apologizes for punishing her.

            As I read this story, I see Scout growing up. She started out in the beginning of the story extremely innocent. She followed all of Atticus’s orders and idolized Jem. After every page, however, she grows. She is more inclined to fight physically than to resolve disputes with words. She and Jem aren’t on such close terms any longer, either. Jem holds information from Scout, because he fears Scout might not agree with his as she always did previously. Scout is growing older and gaining an attitude, and as such is not afraid to stand up for herself any longer.