is a
motherless girl growing up in a poor Southern town in the middle of the Great Depression.
Nevertheless, she feels secure within her family and community. Her father is generally
indulgent and encourages his childrens intellectual and moral development. There are two main
occasions when Scouts security is threatened. The first serves asfor the second. In both cases,
her family intervenes to save her, but in the second case, another community members actions are
crucial.
The first time Scout confesses to feeling fear is when the rabid old
dog named Tim Johnson comes down their street. Calpurnia callsat his office as well as town
authorities and shepherds the children inside. Scout has heard about rabies but believes dogs
only get it in summer and that they foam at the mouth. This incident occurs in February, and old
Tim is not foaming. She says, Had Tim Johnson behaved thus, I would have been less
frightened.
The idea that danger comes when and where you least expect it is
picked up when Bob Ewell attacks the children.deliberately establishes an environment that seems
entirely innocent: the childrens performance at the school pageant. She even gives Scout a
ridiculous costume, that of a ham; as it is Halloween, another character makes a joke about how
ghosts (haints) should watch out for her, implying that she looks scary. When she andare
walking home, he pauses because he hears a noise.
Scout claims not to be
frightened: Jem, are you trying to scare me? You know Im too old As the children strain to
hear and identify the sound, Scout says, Heard an old dog just then. But of course it is not a
dog; it is Bob Ewell, determined to harm the children. Lee describes what happens, including
Jem's saving his sister while being injured himself. She uses the action and dialogue to convey
Scout's terror while never explicitly stating that she is afraid.
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