To Kill a Mocking Bird Chapter 29 and 30

By Tushar Mittal

Topics to be discussed in this presentation…

• Summary of chapters 29 and 30• Comment on Characters• Themes of the chapter• Comment on the author’s choices

Summary - Chapter 29

• Mr Tate confirmed that Bob Ewell is dead• Scout is asked by Mr Tate to explain what

happened• Mr Tate examined the damaged costume and

saw a knife which slashed the costume• When Bob Ewell tried to kill Scout, Scout said

someone pulled him off her and she thought Jem had got up again

Continued…

• She said she thought it was Atticus but it wasn’t

• Mr Tate asked who that person was• Scout said it was……BOO RADLEY! • The chapter ended when Scout said, ‘Hey,

Boo’

Boo Radley

• Projected as a very dangerous character of what we heard of him before this chapter

• His presence is finally revealed in this chapter• Helpful person as he saved Scout from Bob Ewell• Clear signs that Boo Radley was locked up for a

very long time in his house“His face was as white as his hand that had never

seen the sun. His grey eyes were so colourless that he was looking blind. His hair was dead and thin”

Atticus

• Atticus is getting older• “His age was beginning to show, his one sign

of inner turmoil: the strong line of his jaw melted a little, one became aware of tell-tale creases forming under his ears, one noticed not his jet black hair but the grey patches growing at his temples”

Scout

• Scout is growing up• Scout’s casual greeting to Boo shows that the

man she feared is now accepted as a friend • “Hey, Boo”

Themes

• Good against Evil• Perspective

Author’s choices

• Author opened up suspense using interrogative approach

• Description of characters (Boo Radley and Atticus)- describes this by describing their physical appearance in great detail

Chapter 30 Summary

• Everyone meets Boo Radley for the first time• Boo Radley obvious suspect of killing Bob

Ewell• Atticus thinks that Jem killed Bob Ewell and

doesn’t want his son to be protected by law because he is fair and he is a man of law

• Tate explains the situation that Bob Ewell died after falling on his own knife

Continued…

• Tate comes to the conclusion that neither Jem nor Boo will be prosecuted, and says, “Let the dead bury the dead”

• Atticus and Scout agree with the decision as well

Atticus• Shows Atticus is a very fair person • “I don’t want anybody saying, “Jem Finch…his

daddy paid a mint to get him out of that.” • Shows that Atticus is a very loving father to his

children and cares a lot for them“Sometimes I think I’m a total failure as a

parent, but I’m all they’ve got. Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can squarely back at him”

Mr Heck Tate

• Fair man• Won’t let the injustice happen upon anyone• Shows this by proving Jem and Boo are both

innocent“Lived in this town all my life an’ I’m goin’ on

forty-three years old. Know everything that’s happened here since before I was born. There’s a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for it’s dead. Let the dead bury the dead this time, Mr Finch”

Themes

• Justice“Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a

mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” • Love & Care

Author’s choices

• Wants us to think that Boo Radley and Jem are not guilty of killing Bob Ewell

• Gives us a clear picture of the situation by describing it in great detail

• Builds up tension“His hands dangled limply between his knees.

He was looking at the floor. He had moved with the same slowness that night in front of the jail….”

THE END!