Blogging To Kill a Mockingbird: Part 3 (Chapter 4)

I’d like to address some angry emails I’ve been getting. Yes, the title of this blog is “Blogging To Kill a Mockingbird.” This doesn’t mean that I am blogging about killing an actual mockingbird. How would that even work? A hit counter attached to some sort of electrical device on top of a birdcage?

Also, before I get any more angry emails, no, I am not actually getting any angry emails from people who thought that I was blogging about killing an actual mockingbird. On to the book!

Chapter Four

After school one day, Scout walks by the mysterious Radley place and sees some tinfoil sticking out of a knothole in one of the trees. She reaches in and discovers two pieces of gum. She immediately shoves both of them into her mouth and then tells her brother Jem what she's done (notice the order of those two events. The lesson is: if you find free gum or candy, do not share it). Jem freaks out and makes her spit out the gum. On the last day of school, they find two old “Indian-head” pennies in the same knothole.

Unfortunately, the two don’t talk in detail about where the objects are coming from. They briefly discuss Boo Radley, but I feel like Harper Lee really missed an opportunity here. Jem and Scout could have become convinced that they were dealing with some kind of magic oak tree. Imagine the adventures they would have had as a result. I will be printing out this post and mailing it to Ms. Lee in case she wants to revise her book, so if you have any additional suggestions for her, let me know in the comments section.

Finally, the summer arrives and so does Dill. When I was on summer break, TV and video games often lured me indoors; reading about the way these kids climb inside an old tire and roll down the street makes me wish I'd spent more time in the sun. Then Scout accidentally ends up in front of the Radleys' steps and I realize that had I spent my youth frolicking outside, I probably would have broken an arm or ended up in front of a creepy house.

The kids decide to play “Boo Radley,” a game that involves acting out all the rumors they’ve heard about the family—no mean feat, because the large Radley family includes the three boys, the father, and, my favorite, the probate judge. This part of the novel really makes me long for the days when me and my friends played “Probate Judge.” My best friend pretended to be a lawyer whose client's deceased father had left behind a rather puzzling will. You can't imagine the fun we had conferring upon the executors the power to administer the estate.

One day Atticus catches the kids playing their game, and asks if it has anything to do with the Radleys. Jem lies. Afterward, the kids decide maybe they shouldn’t be playing this game after all.

I think they should play “Probate Judge” instead, but the rules are pretty complicated…