you need to know about tequila Mockingbird chapter 15 so we got through chapter 15 let's talk through it this is a majorly important chapter and a game-changer for the flow and pacing of the novel we pick up shortly after we left off from chapter 14 that there were phone calls and discussions and a letter before it was decided that dilk could stay Scout tells us they have a peaceful week and then things start to fall apart this chapter details the first dramatic and traumatic event as the trial gets underway it started with a knock from the sheriff at the door when Jim tells Atticus we find out that sheriff Tate didn't come in when he was invited as there were several men outside wanting Atticus to come out Scout says men stand outside like this only for death and politics and she thinks maybe somebody died Jem turns out the lights in the living room so he can look out the window to see who's there we get snippets of the conversation the sheriff says that they're moving him we know it's gonna be Tom Robinson the man accused to the County Jail the next day and doesn't know if there's going to be trouble or not Atticus says that he delayed the trial a little bit just to avoid trouble and jokes that since the times are financially difficult people wouldn't deny him a client well a man named link Diaz names a group from an area called Old Sarum and asked about a change of venue which is a way to move the trial to another area the sheriff says it's a little late for that and Atticus asked if they're scared of that crowd and concern is voiced about them if that crowd has been drinking and even though it was going to be Sunday when they normally wouldn't drink bringing Tom Robinson into town was maybe a special occasion for them where they might need to drink to have courage to do bad things link says he doesn't know why Atticus took the case when it could cost him so much Atticus tells them that Tom would go to the electric chair but that wasn't gonna happen until the truth was told about the situation and they all know what the truth is obviously we don't know yet but knowing the character of Atticus we know he truly believes in his client's innocence the men around him kind of murmur in reply and when Atticus moves to the bottom step they kind of move in closer now this freaks Jim out who's watching so he screams from the window that the phone is ringing this catches everyone off guard and they all kind of jump in and move away but Scout can then see that she knows everyone from the town including the doctor and mr. Avery their neighbor Atticus tells Jim well answer the phone if it's ringing the men all chuckle and they kind of break up and leave Atticus comes in startled to find them all sitting in the dark he goes and sits down and opens the paper but Jim asks if the men were after him and if it was a gang Atticus reassures him that they were all friends Jim reminds Atticus that the KKK was after some Catholics at one point but Atticus just dismisses this saying the KKK is gone and won't be back Scout walks dill to his aunt's house and here's the end when she comes back of a tense conversation between Atticus and aunt Alexandra when she asked Jim later he tells Scout that and Alexander is giving Atticus a hard time about defending Tom Robinson and how it makes the family look Jem admits he's worried that someone may try to hurt Atticus but he's not doesn't say anything more about it now Sunday is the next day and Scout notes between sunday-school insurance that Atticus was standing talking to the sheriff and mixed mr. Braxton Underwood who runs the local newspaper and who never goes to church once he starts coming into church Atticus tells Scout that Tom Robinson was moved to the Macomb County Jail now the afternoon passes with boredom and the living room is where they end up that night and Scout feels dill in on the last winter's events with Boo Radley and all of that stuff so that night after dinner the kids see Atticus come through the living room with an extension cord with a light bulb on the end he tells them he's going out for a little while and says good night as they be asleep when he gets back now Jim notes he's taking the car which is unusual for him because he usually walks to places when going to bed Scout can tell Jim is not doing his usual nighttime routine so she goes into his room and he tells her he's going downtown so to avoid a fight he lets her go too and gives in when Scout says well we're going to is gonna want to go so they go whistle for Dylan he joins them quickly asking what's up Jem says he just has a feeling so they head to town as they go through town and check Atticus's office which is empty we get a description of various parts of the town and gets a little long Jem says he wants to see if maybe Atticus is talking to mr. Underwood since he's not in his office who lives above the newspaper office in the middle of town they have to pass the jail to get there which Scout tells us is kind of Victorian looking and out of place with the town's architecture people either love it or hate it going by it though Jem notices it has a light outside it doesn't normally have the kids see the light on an extension cord from a second-story window with Atticus propped against the door in an office chair reading Jem doesn't let them go see him holds them back and judges the Atticus is fine and heads home while they're leaving though they see four cars roll into the square and go stop in front of the jail nobody gets out of the cars right away but Atticus folds up his newspaper in his lap the kids sneak back but not too close to be noticed men get out from the cars and go up to the door asking if Tom is inside Atticus says he's sleeping and asked them to be quiet now strangely considering why these men are there they start whispering one man asks Atticus to move aside since he knows what they want Atticus calls him Walter so Atticus knows who he is and tells him to go home as the sheriff is around somewhere now one man tells him they've called the sheriff off on a snipe hunt which is a fake chase so it's sheriff's not around Atticus tells them that although he thought about that happening he didn't want to believe it and asked them if they really think that that changes anything now at this point Scout breaks through and runs to them and Wiggles through the circle of men thinking that she's giving them a nice surprise she sees shock and fear in Atticus's eyes and she realizes this is not the same group of men as before she smells kind of farm on them and booze Atticus gets up slowly and Scout can see his hands shake a little Atticus tells Jem to take Scout home Jem stands Atticus repeats his order to go home two or more times before one of the men grabs Jim saying that he would send him home now scat Scout reacts saying not to touch Jim and tries to kick the man in the shin but kicks too high probably hitting him in its private parts if you know what I'm saying Atticus correct Scout to not kick people and one of the man tells Atticus he has about 15 seconds to get the kids to go now scat Scout just stands there as Atticus threatens and then pleads with Jem to take Scout in dill home but Jim refuses Scout looks around the crowd and finally recognizes Walter Cunningham senior and tries to talk to him she brings up his entailment that Atticus helped him with and his son that she goes to school with mr. Cunningham tries to totally ignore her the silence gets really awkward and Scout just keeps trying to say things even when she tries to talk to Atticus they just kind of look at her then mr. Cunningham turns to her and kneels telling her that he'd say hi to Walter for her he then gets up and calls the men off the men get in the car and drive away and Scout asks can we go home Atticus nods and we hear another voice from the jail asking if the men were gone Atticus tells Tom that yes they're gone and they won't bother him and then we hear another voice from across the square that agrees they won't be a problem and we see mr. Underwood in a second-floor window with a shotgun Dyl offers to carry the chair back to Atticus's office and when walking Scout sees Atticus Pat Jemez hair in affection so what are we to get from this chapter well in this chapter we get really a feel for the seriousness and danger of the situation we get a sense of the stakes for Atticus as well and see firsthand he hadn't stand up for what he believes in racism and hate in terms of a theme are at the forefront of this chapter we see that some in town want to do what's right but even they realize what they're facing what we get a feel for is the institutionalized racism of the South during the time period enforced racism is the standard and fabric of the culture that a white person accused a black person was enough to condemn someone the facts didn't matter for the men that came to the jail the accusation was sufficient to make Tom guilty in their eyes so don't make any mistake about it they were there to kill Tom this kind of vigilante justice was not uncommon and would mostly go unpunished if it was white against black this is the ugly reality Harper Lee is portraying we can see that Atticus tries to be optimistic to a fault he downplays the KKK his existence while he may be right that the group was no longer in the area the beliefs and feelings that they held would still be common Atticus also doesn't want to believe that local men would form a lynch mob to come and kill Tom Robinson but despite maybe being even naive about it we see the strength and depth of his convictions he's willing to face this mob mostly alone he Gamble's that he can turn these men away without underwood getting involved we can see he is afraid though when the children unexpectedly intrude upon the scene but it's the children that are pivotal in changing the mob into individual men there's some interesting psychology about mob mentality here people will often do things as an anonymous part of a group that they wouldn't do alone Harper Lee uses a lot of animal imagery in this section as well saying the men growl and she uses the word PAH instead of hand so that's some interesting content Scout's persistence and talking to mr. Cunningham makes him have to break out of the mob and become an individual man once again this breaks the tension of the scene we also get another picture of the difference in maturity between Jem and Scout Jem understands the danger of the situation and the Atticus is in trouble to the point that he won't leave scout does not sense or understand what the men were there to do even at the end her October awkward conversation with Cunningham she still asked what's the matter dill is somewhere in-between because at the end he's totally in awe of Atticus to some extent thinking it's a privilege to carry his chair for him so as you can see this is a significant chapter as up into this point you've only gotten whispers of the seriousness of the case Atticus will be taking now we see really how grave and troublesome the situation really is any questions leave them in the comment box below and I'll get back to you