To Kill a Mockingbird — Chapter 6

Narration Prompt

Summarize the chapter's argument or narrative arc, then identify the central tension and evaluate whether the author handles it honestly.

Discussion Questions

1. Jem's decision to return for his pants in the middle of the night is presented by Lee as a moral choice rather than a practical one — Jem prefers the risk of being shot to the prospect of disappointing Atticus. Consider this in light of philosophical accounts of moral motivation. Bernard Williams distinguished between agent-relative reasons (those that derive from one's specific relationships and commitments) and agent-neutral reasons (those that any rational agent would acknowledge); Charles Taylor has argued in Sources of the Self that moral identity is constituted narratively, by the kind of person one is trying to become; Rosalind Hursthouse and other virtue ethicists have argued that moral action is often motivated by the agent's specific conception of moral character. Where does Jem's decision fit within these frameworks, and what does the answer reveal about Lee's broader commitments in moral philosophy?
2. Lee's withholding of what Jem saw at the Radley house — the chapter ends with Jem 'shaking' and the experience left unexplained — is one of her most calculated narrative decisions. Consider this technique against the literature on narrative theory and the management of information. Wayne Booth's distinction between reliable and unreliable narration, Gérard Genette's analysis of focalization, and contemporary work on the rhetoric of withholding all bear on Lee's choice. What does she gain by refusing to tell us what Jem saw, and how does the technique relate to her broader practice of letting significant moments go partly unspoken in the novel?

+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide