Chapter 7- Ben Davis

PLOT SUMMARY

Chapter 7 opens with Jem being moody. He is quiet for a week according to scout. She also says that the second grade is worse than first, except for the fact the she now could walk home with Jem every day. Finally, on the way home one day Jem tells Scout that on the night he ran to the radleys place, he found his pants stitched in a clumsy manly manner. This scares Jem because somebody knew he would be coming back for his pants, and nobody can predict Jem.

That same afternoon, they decide not to take whatever is in the knot hole of the tree, because it may be someone’s hiding spot. When the ball of twine goes nowhere, they consider everything in the tree theirs from then on. Another day, they find a soap sculpture of a boy and girl and are startled when the realize it is a carving of themselves. The two children leave a letter in the knot hole one day, when they come home from school the tree is plugged up with cement. Mr. Radley admits to doing this, but lies and say it is because the tree is sick. Jem and Scout are very upset that the tree has been filled.

MAJOR CHANGES

· Jem is in shock for a week after his run to the Radley Place

· The kids start to wonder why Mr. Radley actually plugged up the tree, and this intensifies the mystery of the Radley’s existence.

QUOTATIONS

· “Atticus, if it’s all right with you, I’d rather have this one [pocket watch] instead. Mabe I can fix it.” (81)

o Jem says he would prefer to have a watch of his own that he can take pride in having fixed himself. This shows us that Jem is a person who loves his pride.

· “Can’t anybody tell what I’m gonna do lest they know me, can they, Scout?”

o In this quote we see that Jem likes the fact that he is unpredictable, and he is shocked that somebody could know he would come back.

LITERARY ELEMENT

The soap carving was intended to symbolize the friendship and love between Jem and Scout.

VOCAB

· Lest- unless

· Burdensome- a word used to describe something that is a pain, or setback

CRITICAL THINKING

1. For what reason did Mr. Radley actually fill the tree?

2. Was it Boo or Mr. Radley that sewed up Jems pants?