[0:01]Meet Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout. She's going to tell us a story about her childhood, starting from when she was six. Amazing how she can remember so far back. It must be an unforgettable story.
[0:19]Scout begins by recalling how her older brother Jeremy or Jem had his arm badly broken when he was nearly 13. That's a clue to the novel's dramatic ending, but don't worry, no spoilers. There's disagreement between Scout and Jem about how he ended up with a broken arm. In Scout's broad view of things, it all started way back with their ancestor, Simon Finch. He came from England to settle in Alabama in the 1800s. Simon Finch established Finch's Landing, the original family homestead on the banks of the Alabama River. He lived to an old age, had many daughters and died rich. This means that the name Finch has some status attached to it. Scout's father, Atticus, broke the long family tradition of farming to practice law in Maycomb, about 30 kilometers east of Finch's Landing. Maycomb is a fictional town in the state of Alabama. Scout describes Maycomb as a tired old town. As the story is set during the Great Depression, which was a real historical event, the people of Maycomb are poor. Instead of using money to pay for things, many use their own crops as currency. Do you think the doctors and lawyers of today would accept payment by potato? Probably not, but that's how things worked back in the 1930s. Scout, Jem, and Atticus live on the main residential street of Maycomb. Their mother died when Scout was two, so they were raised by Calpurnia, their African-American housekeeper. Calpurnia is a much-loved member of the family, although she's tough on Scout. Scout and Jem had to play within calling distance of Calpurnia. Which meant no further than the Radley Place, three doors down. This big, shadowy house terrified the children. They believed it was inhabited by a bloodthirsty monster they called Boo. Get it? Boo! The adventures really kicked off when Dill Harris arrived. He came to stay with his aunt Rachel in the year Scout turned six, and he returned every summer after that. It was Dill's idea to make Arthur Boo Radley come out of his house. The Radleys had a very sad history. Boo had been shut up for many years as punishment for the trouble he got into when he was a teenager. Legend has it, he even stabbed his father in the leg with scissors. No one had seen Boo since. Naturally, the children imagined that he only came out on dark nights to prowl the streets. Sadly, some adults believed that too, like the town gossip, Miss Stephanie Crawford. The children became obsessed with the idea of flushing Boo out of his house. Was he even alive in there? When the time comes for Scout to start the first grade, her first day at school is a disaster. Miss Caroline Fisher, her teacher, scolds Scout for reading too well and forbids her from taking any more lessons from Atticus. Worse, Scout gets smacked for preventing Miss Fisher from lending lunch money to Walter Cunningham. But everyone in Maycomb knows that the Cunninghams never accepted charity. Out in the schoolyard, Scout rubs Walter Cunningham's face in the dirt. She thought it only fair, since he was the reason for her run-in with Miss Fisher. We told you Scout was feisty. Luckily, Jim, who was in the fifth grade, intervenes and saves Walter. Knowing that Walter was probably starving, Jem invites him home for lunch. Walter is welcomed into the Finch home as an honored guest. All was going well until Scout shamed Walter for the way he poured molasses all over his meal. Man, did Scout cop a smack from Calpurnia for that? Back in class, we meet two more of Scout's classmates, Little Chuck Little, a brave young gentleman, and Burris Ewell, a filthy, lice-infested creature. When Burris is rude to Miss Fisher, Little Chuck Little intervenes. Was Little Chuck Little carrying a knife? Surely not. That night, Scout announces that she won't return to school. So, Atticus strikes a bargain with her. If she agrees to go to school, he'll continue to read with her every night, just like always. He also teaches Scout an important lesson. She'll get along better with people, like Miss Fisher, if she considers things from their point of view. Scout's days brighten when she and Jem start finding little gifts in one of the Radleys' big oak trees. First, it was two sticks of fresh chewing gum. Yum, Wrigley's double mint. Then, it was a jewelry box containing two polished lucky pennies. How mysterious. When Dill returns the following summer, Jem invents a risky new game called Boo Radley. A play based on town gossip about the Radleys.
[6:36]Not only was this a mean game to play in public, but Scout also felt that it was dangerous. Boo's a monster, remember? As the summer wore on, Jem and Dill started to exclude Scout from their games. So, she starts hanging out with Miss Maudie Atkinson, a nice lady who lives across the street. She assures Scout that the rumors about Boo Radley have been blown out of proportion. Meanwhile, Jem's daring stunts around the Radley Place land him in trouble with Atticus, who shuts the games down. Will the children persevere with their torment of Boo? Stay tuned.
