Chapter 5 And 6 Summary (To Kill A Mockingbird)

Chapter 5
•Scout convinces Jem to back off on the Radley game, and then Dill asks Scout to marry him. (Hey, it is the South.)
•Despite this moment of passion, the boys spend most of their time together and neglect Scout.
•So, Scout spends her time hanging out with Miss Maudie Atkinson, a usually stand-off-ish old lady.
•Bonus: Miss Maudie makes the best cakes in the neighborhood, and bests of all, shares them with the three kids.
•Flashback: Scout's Uncle Jack has a history of flirting with Miss Maudie, though in a joking way.
•Miss Maudie tells Scout more about the Radleys, including that old Mr. Radley (Boo's father) was a "foot-washing Baptist" (5.27), which are apparently much more hardcore than just regular Baptists.
•In fact, some of Mr. Radleys fellow foot-washers have told Miss Maudie that she and her flowers are going to burn in hell, because any time spent not reading the Bible is time spent in sin, especially if it involves creating something pleasing to the senses. (No word on whether criticizing one's neighbors counts as a sin with them.)
•Miss Maudie says that the Radleys are "so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one" (5.44).
•Is Boo crazy? Well, if he wasn't when this whole thing started, he probably is now.
•Scout finally breaks into Jem and Dill's Get Rid of Slimy girls Club, and finds out what they've been planning to do: use a fishing pole to put a note to Boo through one of the upper windows of the Radley Place.
•When they put the plan into action, Jem has some difficulty maneuvering the fishing pole, which is too short to reach the window.
•And then Atticus shows up. And he doesn't look pleased.
•Atticus tells the kids to stop bothering Boo, who has a perfect right to stay in his house if he wants to.
•Atticus also tells them to stop playing their stupid game, and Jem says they weren't making fun of Boo, inadvertently revealing to Atticus that they were in fact playing at being the Radleys.
Chapter 6
•Jem and Scout spend the day with Dill at his aunt's fish pond.
•Scout wants to keep an eye out for Mr. Avery, a neighbor who had previously astonished them by peeing in an impressive arc off his front porch, but Dill just wants to go for a walk.
•Scout, knowing that no one in Maycomb just goes for a walk, smells a rat.
•Oh, you know, they're just going to go to the streetlight by the Radley Place.
•And then they just want to peek in the window.
•Scout doesn't like this at all, but stops complaining when they accuse her of being a girl about it.
•The trio go under the wire fence at the back of the Radley Place and, after dealing with swishy collard greens, a squeaky gate, and clucking chickens, make it up to the house.
•Jem and Scout raise Dill up so he can look through the window, but all he sees is curtains.
•They're still skulking when Scout sees a shadow—a man's shadow, heading towards Jem.
•The shadow goes up to Jem, raises his arm, drops it again, and then leaves.
•The kids scram, and Scout trips as she hears a loud noise—someone's shooting at them.
•The kids make it home (Jem loses his pants along the way) and see a bunch of neighbors in front of the Radley Place.
•Miss Maudie tells them that Mr. Radley has been shooting at a "Negro" (6.60) in his yard.
•Suddenly everyone notices that Jem doesn't have any pants on.
•Dill tries to save the day by saying they were playing strip poker, but playing cards is a big no-no in Maycomb, so Jem says that they were actually playing with matches.
•Whatevs, everyone says, and they head off to bed. Scout worries that every sound she hears might be Boo Radley coming to wreak his revenge. But Jem's off to get his pants. Scout tries to stop him, but Jem heads off anyway.
•Scout sits outside on the porch, listening for the dreaded shotgun blast and waiting for Jem to return.
•Finally, Jem returns with the pants.