on their way to school, Jem and Scout are frightened by Cecil Jacobs, who jumps out of a bush
when the pageant starts, the children go backstage, yet Scout misses her entrance because she has fallen asleep
at the end, she runs onto the stage and the audience laughs whereas the woman responsible of the pageant is upset with Scout because she thinks that she ruined it
Scout is ashamed and she wants to wait backstage until everyone has gone before going home
walking back home, Jem hears noises coming from behind, believing it must be Cecil
calling out for Cecil, no one answers
Jem notices someone running after them and screams for Scout to run, who loses her balance due to her costume and falls
Scout feels something tearing at the wires from her costume and hears struggling
Jem breaks free and helps Scout down the road, but he is pulled back by someone
when Jem screams, Scout runs toward him and is grabbed and squeezed
however, their assailant is pulled away and the fighting noises stop
Scout finds a drunk man on the floor when searching for Jem and runs back home, seeing that a man carries Jem
at home, Heck Tate and Dr. Reynolds are called to the scene
Scout is being told that Jem is just unconscious and Dr. Reynolds confirms that Jem has a broken arm and a bump on his head
entering Jem‘s room, Scout sees the man who carried Jem to their house but does not know him
Heck Tate informs Atticus that he found Bob Ewell dead with a knife stuck under his ribs
Summary Chapter 29
Heck Tate shows Scout the costume that has some tearings in it, indicating that a knife tore through it, but that it was stopped by the wire
Scout recounts the incidents of the evening and looks at the man who carried Jem back home
he has a thin, pinched face and colorless eyes and Scout realizes that it was Boo Radley who saved her and Jem
Summary Chapter 30
Scout is sitting on the front porch with Mr. Arthur (Boo‘s real name) and they overhear a discussion between Atticus and Heck Tate
Heck believes that Bob Ewell‘s death was an accident but Atticus thinks that Jem is responsible for Bob Ewell‘s death and does not want Jem to be protected from possible consequences
Heck Tate insists on the fact that Bob Ewell fell on his knife, thus proving the innocence of Jem and at the same time hiding the fact that it was Boo who killed Bob Ewell because Heck Tate does not want to bring any more attention to Boo
Tom Robinson‘s death is now in some twisted manner revenged since the responsible man is dead
Summary Chapter 31
Scout takes Boo back to his house and when he enters, she knows that she will never see him again and she thinks about how Boo‘s life must be
she goes back home and Atticus reads a book to her until she falls asleep
Function
elements of foreshadowing
the dark night
Cecil Jacob trying to scare Jem and Scout
the walk back home
revelation of Bob Ewell‘s character
reader thinks that Bob Ewell would attack Atticus for his role in the trial of Tom Robinson
yet, he would never work up the courage to attack a man of Atticus‘ status in town
the children are much more vulnerable and his attack on them shows how loathsome and hateful Bob Ewell is
final recognition of Boo as a human being and as an innocent mockingbird
Scout believes that the man who had saved her and Jem is some countryman
this points toward the children‘s inability to see Boo as a human being and instead, they treat him more as a mythical creature
when Scout actually talks to Boo, she develops her character into a more grown-up version of herself and she sees him as their neighbour and a real person and no longer as a ghostly phantom
Heck Tate protects Boo from the public by saying that Bob Ewell fell on his knife
Scout claims that exposing Boo to the public would be like shooting a mockingbird - those words mark her second step of her transgression into the adult world
for Scout, Boo is proof that goodness exists despite an environment that is infused with evil
