To Kill a Mockingbird

Chapter 25 opens on a September day. Scout notices a caterpillar on the porch and wants to squish it, but Jem orders her not to do so. He explains that much like a mockingbird, the insect never harmed anyone.

Scout’s thoughts turn to Dill, whom she misses. She recalls what he told her about the night when Atticus and Calpurnia went to see Robinsons. On that night, Jem took Dill swimming, and their father spotted them walking down the highway coming back from the swimming hole. When the car picked them up, Jem convinced Atticus to bring them along to the Robinsons.

According to Dill, Helen Robinson collapsed at the mere sight of Atticus, somehow knowing what had happened even before she was told. Dill reported that Helen “just fell over in the dirt, like a giant with a big foot came along and just stepped on her […] Like you’d step on an ant” (274).

In Maycomb, the news of Tom’s death circulates for two days, then quickly passes. Mr. Underwood is among the few people who seem to care, and he writes an impassioned editorial bemoaning the death of an innocent man. In his article, he compares Tom Robinson’s death to “the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children” (275).