Chapters 29, 30 and 31

Chapter 29
SUMMARY

After it is revealed that Bob Ewell is dead, Mr Tate asks Scout to recount what happened when her and Jem were attacked. At first Scout thought that Bob Ewell was Cecil Jacobs, due to the fact that he had already scared the siblings earlier on. Mr Tate and Atticus realise that Scout's ham costume saved her life because it had been 'crushed to a pulp' and also had a 'shiny, clean line' across it (which was probably cut by a knife.) Scout goes on to tell the men that they were attacked by Bob Ewell but were saved by someone. When Mr Tate asks who saved them, Scout points at the corner of the room where Boo Radley is standing.

KEY QUOTATIONS AND ANALYSIS

 'He was leaning against the wall' implies that Boo felt intimidated by the other people in the room and needed some form of support. The fact that Boo is  'in the corner' gives the impression that he feels vulnerable and is cowering away, like an animal. This description of Boo contrasts with how he is portrayed at the beginning of the novel, as a 'malevolent phantom' who scares the town of Maycomb.

 'Sickly white hands' gives the impression that he is pale, like the ghost he was originally described as, however in the rest of Scout' description of Boo it is clear that he does not have any of the other frightening characteristics that he was described to have.

CONTEXT

Role of women:

'You go ahead Miss Alexandra, I know it's been a shock to you.' implies that Mr Tate assumed that Aunt Alexandra was too delicate to handle the situation so he encourages her to leave the room

Chapter 30
SUMMARY

Atticus is convinced that Jem killed Bob Ewell and wants it to be dealt with by the court, because otherwise it would be unfair and would therefore go against the way that Atticus had raised Jem. However, Mr Tate points out that Jem was too weak, with his injured arm and lack of weight, to have stabbed Mr Ewell. The men are both aware that Boo Radley did kill Mr Ewell but do not want him to be in trouble for it because he is innocent and was only trying to save the children. Therefore they agree that Mr Ewell 'fell on the knife.' The chapter ends with Atticus saying 'Thank you for my children, Arthur', to Boo.

KEY QUOTATIONS AND ANALYSIS

This is the second time in the novel where an injured arm has been used as evidence to show that someone has not committed a crime against the Ewell family ('Atticus would not stand there and maintain that any boy Jem's size with a busted arm [...] could kill a man in pitch dark.')

The motif of the mockingbird is also used in this chapter because arresting Boo would be unfair as he was only trying to save the children and would not have killed Mr Ewell unless this was actually necessary.

'Thank you for my children, Arthur' evokes the mood that Atticus respects Boo because he calls him by his actual name ('Arthur'). Also, by not using a verb between thank you for' and my children', it seems like Atticus is thanking Boo for making it possible that his children are still alive which is more powerful than just saying that he 'helped' or 'saved' them.

CONTEXT

Southern Values:

When Atticus thinks that Jem killed Bob Ewell, he says 'if the whole thing's hushed up it will be a simple denial to Jem of the way I've tried to raise him.' He thinks that it is a good habit to deal with things fairly and wants this to also be important to Jem, so that the opinion will be passed down for generations. He also wants to be a good father to the children and stay true to his word, as he is the only parent that have got.

Chapter 31
SUMMARY 

Scout takes Boo to see Jem, who is asleep before escorting him home. When they arrive at Radley place Boo goes into the house, shuts the door and Scout never sees him again. When she is walking home she realises that she never repaid Boo for giving then all of the gifts in the tree and her and Jem's lives, which makes her upset. She also imagines the whole novel from Boo's point of view because she describes her and Jem as 'the children.' When Scout gets home, Atticus reads to her before going to Jem's room so that he would be there when Jem woke up.

KEY QUOTATIONS AND ANALYSIS

When Scout is farting home, she refers to her and Jem as  'Boo's children  ' which implies that Boo watched them because he felt protective over them. This gives the impression that he has been a passive guardian to the children throughout the novel, perhaps because their innocence made him feel happy despite the rest of the town thinking that he was evil.

Scout seeing things from Boo's point of view indicates that she has matured and become less ignorant since the beginning of the novel and is able to look at things from a range of perspectives.

CONTEXT

Racism and prejudice:

'a hand surprisingly warm for it's whiteness' - prejudiced view and could link to how the white people of Maycomb seem to be cold-hearted towards the black people, such as the Robinson family

Roles of women:

 'She would see Arthur Radley escorting me down the sidewalk as any gentleman would do' relates to how men were supposed to support women. 'See' could also be interpreted as an assumption so people would assume that Boo Radley was more dominant than Scout, due to his gender.