In Chapter 9 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout's cousin Francis taunts her by first reciting what her Aunt Alexandra, his grandmother, says about her keeping company with Dill. Evidently, Aunt Alexandra sees Dill as a homeless waif and thinks of Atticus as letting Scout "run around with stray dogs." Francis further taunts Scout by calling her fathera "nigger-lover" for defending Tom Robinson and saying that Atticus is "ruinin' the family."...
In Chapter 9 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout's cousin Francis taunts her by first reciting what her Aunt Alexandra, his grandmother, says about her keeping company with Dill. Evidently, Aunt Alexandra sees Dill as a homeless waif and thinks of Atticus as letting Scout "run around with stray dogs." Francis further taunts Scout by calling her father a "nigger-lover" for defending Tom Robinson and saying that Atticus is "ruinin' the family." Though Scout has been warned by Atticus not to get into any more fights, especially over ridicule about his defense of Robinson, Scout responds to these taunts in her typical violent fashion.
At first, Scout responds by grabbing Francis by the collar and demanding he take back the evil things he has said. But when Francis breaks free, still continuing with his taunts, and hides himself in the kitchen, Scout decides to wait patiently for him to emerge. Each time he emerges, she commands him to take it back but to no avail. Finally, he taunts her one last time by calling Atticus a "nigger-lover," and Scout responds by socking him in the mouth, splitting her "knuckle on the bone on his front teeth." She is about to hit him again when her Uncle Jack stops her.
Later, when Scout finally gets her chance to explain why she hit Francis, Uncle Jack is equally aghast at the things Francis said, but Scout begs Uncle Jack not to confront Aunt Alexandra about the issue because Scout does not want Atticus to learn about the reason why she was fighting.
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