To Kill a Mockingbird — Chapter 5

About This Passage

Selected for thematic weight (Miss Maudie is making a daring statement about how a holy book in the wrong hands can do worse harm than a clearly dangerous thing in the wrong hands), and rhetorical sophistication (the parallel construction sets up an unforgettable comparison that Scout will remember her whole life).

Narration Prompt

In your own words, tell the story of this chapter. What were the most important moments? What made them important — and how do you know?

Discussion Questions

1. Miss Maudie tells Scout that when she knew Boo Radley as a boy, 'he always spoke nicely to me, no matter what folks said he did.' This is the very first time anyone in Maycomb has spoken about Boo as a real person rather than as a phantom. Why do you think Miss Maudie is the only adult in the children's life who tells the truth about Boo, and what makes her brave enough to do it?
2. Miss Maudie says that the foot-washing Baptists 'believe anything that's pleasure is a sin' and that they once told her she would 'go to Hell' for her flowers. She laughs about this. Why is Miss Maudie able to laugh at people who would condemn her to Hell, and what does her laughter tell us about the kind of person she is?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide