To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 16 Summary & Analysis

After quietly sneaking into the house and going to bed, Scout realizes what happened. She remembers Atticus preparing to shoot Tim Johnson and begins to sob. Jem comforts her. The next morning, Aunt Alexandra insists that children who sneak out are disgraces. Atticus notes that Mr. Underwood is a known racist; he’s surprised that Mr. Underwood was protecting him. Calpurnia serves Aunt Alexandra coffee and agrees to give Scout a tablespoon of coffee in milk. When Calpurnia leaves, Aunt Alexandra scolds Atticus for talking about Mr. Underwood in front of Calpurnia, since all the black people in town talk. Atticus acidly says that they might be quiet if they didn’t have so much to talk about.

Scout says that she thought Mr. Cunningham was their friend. Atticus says that he is. Mr. Cunningham, he insists, has blind spots, and he notes that mobs are made up of people. He says that it took a child to bring them to their senses and that this is proof that “a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they’re still human.” Scout declares that she’s going to beat Walter up on the first day of school, which Atticus forbids. He leaves for work and tells Atticus and Scout to stay home. Dill arrives and announces that a rumor is flying that they held off 100 people, but Aunt Alexandra gives him a withering stare. The children go outside to watch what seems like the entire county head for the courthouse. They hear the Baptists tell Miss Maudie she’s going to hell for her flowers.

Scout, Dill, and Jem go across the street to see if Miss Maudie is going to court to watch. She isn’t. Miss Stephanie Crawford announces that she’s headed downtown, and Miss Maudie jokes to the children that given Miss Stephanie’s wealth of knowledge, Atticus might ask her to testify. After lunch, the children go downtown. The square is crowded with people eating lunch. They watch Mr. Dolphus Raymond sitting with the black people and watch him drink out of a paper bag—he has whiskey in a Coca-Cola bottle in it, and he sits with the black people because he’s in a relationship with a black woman and has several “mixed children.” Jem says that Mr. Raymond is from an old family and was supposed to marry a white woman, but she committed suicide.

Scout asks what a mixed child is. Jem says they’re half black, half white, and don’t fit in anywhere. Mr. Raymond sent two up north. A happy black child skips by. Jem says that he’s one of Mr. Raymond’s. Scout can’t tell and asks how they know that they’re not black too. Jem says that according to Uncle Jack, they don’t know, but they may have come from Ethiopia during the Old Testament times. Jem says that once a person has a drop of black blood, they’re black. Suddenly, people begin to rise and enter the courthouse. The children wait until everyone else is inside before entering.

Scout gets separated in the crowd and finds herself in the middle of the Idlers’ Club, which is made up of idle old men who are regular court spectators. The men snigger that Atticus does nothing but read, and one notes that the court appointed Atticus to defend Tom. Another says disapprovingly that Atticus is taking it seriously. This is new, confusing information for Scout, since it seems they don’t like Atticus for doing his job. By the time Jem finds Scout, there’s no more room. Reverend Sykes invites the children to sit in the balcony with the black people. Scout surveys the room. Judge Taylor, as usual, looks to be asleep. Scout hopes she can watch him eat a cigar as Mr. Tate takes the stand.