To Kill a Mockingbird — Chapter 23

About This Passage

Atticus tells Jem and Scout something the verdict had hidden: Tom Robinson's jury was almost a hung jury. One of the men — a Cunningham — had wanted an outright acquittal at the start, and Atticus had kept him on the panel 'on a hunch.' Lee chooses 'shadow of a beginning' as Atticus's image for it: not a victory, not a result, but a faint mark in the dirt that something started. The same Cunninghams who came to the jail at night to hurt Atticus produced one juror who almost set Tom free — Atticus needs Jem to register both halves of that fact.

Narration Prompt

Retell the chapter as a series of conversations Atticus has with the children: the conversation about whether to borrow a gun (Jem and Scout afraid for him); the conversation about Mr. Bob Ewell with Aunt Alexandra; the long evening conversation about juries and circumstantial evidence; the conversation about the Cunningham juror who almost acquitted Tom; and the bedroom conversation between Jem and Scout that ends with Jem's idea about Boo Radley.

Discussion Questions

1. Atticus tells Jem that he is glad Mr. Bob Ewell took his anger out on him because it 'saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating.' What does this tell you about how Atticus weighs his own safety against the safety of a girl who was a witness against his client? What in the chapter shows that he is not pretending?
2. Atticus has 'deep misgivings when the state asked for and the jury gave a death penalty on purely circumstantial evidence.' He says a defendant should be entitled to 'the shadow of a doubt.' How does Lee show, through Atticus's quiet voice and Jem's adamant 'we oughta do away with juries,' that father and son are wrestling with the same problem from different angles?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide