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Eunice Ann Simpson

I blushed when Tim Johnson smiled at me on his way. He was whistling and was humming merrily and I concluded that the walk with Jean Louise was a pleasant one. This was a rather pleasant surprise then the looks of bewilderment or glassy lovesick glazes that I usually see on boys on their way from the Finch's Landing. Jean Louise usually like pulling pranks or exert 'revenge' in very subtle forms on a certain group of ex-bullies.

I chuckled when I remembered Jean making a Jewish youth promise to 'delicately smooth the way for needy students, no matter what colour their skin were, and entertain them all cordially, inviting them to take refuge in his house'. In hopes of helping to restore social equality, Jean used these' humanitarian' tactics to trick her possible suitors into helping the unfortunate. And she was so good at it.

What made it worthwhile was, a large number of them took her words seriously and they were waiting for the day that their promises will be fulfilled, that Scout would be engaged to them.

Although it was disheartening to know that the promises Jean made are empty ones, I cannot help but pity her position. This will be the largest scrape she'll ever get into. I said that to her and she just laughed it off and shrugged saying that 'sooner or later, along the way, they'll find someone to spoil an' pamper'.

At two o'clock, the streets are quiet with the occasional trotting of horses or footsteps of children, but the gossipmongers had to mead out a traditional routine: afternoon naps. I quickly hurried to Jean's home. I wouldn't want to be reprimanded for not taking a nap, although Jean had never taken afternoon naps before, and all we do was read in her room. Mrs. Alexandra doesn't even suspect a thing, because we were so quiet.

I stepped onto the porch. The Finch House was a pretty brown cottage, very like the Dove-cote, nestled among the trees. Jean says that I daydream too much and should 'gather the vivid descriptions and translate them into novels'. She also says that I have a 'river of passion for writing' and might as well try experience as a journalist to 'jog the conventional thinking that women can bring the current affairs on paper just as well'.

Taking a few steps, Calpurnia, their black maid opened the door for me and greeted me warmly. "Miss Simpson looking for Miss Jean Louise?"

I nodded curtly, strangely feeling out of place. "Would you mind waiting in the sitting room?"

I shook my head and she gently bundled me into the house, fussing me a little with tea and cakes.

Suddenly, the door in conjunction to the sitting room burst open, revealing a fraught Scout and a persistent Finch male.

"Have you hit your head on the beam again? It was your friend, for God's sake! I thought it would be polite to accept his offer to walk me home!"

I wasn't surprised that Jeremy over-reacted. Again.

Jean Louise was certainly flourishing. She was the most original young person, full of pranks and peculiarities, a heart to house credibility and justice, and the latest, confidence in everything she set her mind into. Of course, her external appearance had begun to glow, and all those who follow the light would be entranced in all that she has to offer.

Although, I was rather disappointed that boys get attracted by looks first, but it is an unfair world as Jean constantly tell her.

My eyes settled on Jeremy, and I involuntarily blushed. I still did not forget how he snidely commented 'If you have faith in God, you wouldn't get burnt' to me when I complained that it was hot in the furnace and the class sho'nt tie me up and leave me there. That was a few years ago.

I didn't hold a grudge to him for his comment. I guess I like him…

This character does appear in Part 1 of the novel before Calpurnia suggested she take Jem and Scout to the First Purchase (church).

Literature Notes:

The novel is set in the 1930s, when USA, like the rest of the world, was suffering from a severe economic depression following the collapse of the stock market in 1929. In every American city of any size, long 'bread lines' of the unemployed formed to receive basic foodstuffs for themselves and their families, their only means of subsistence. It was a time when even a full-time employee, such as a mill worker, earned barely enough to live on; in 1931, a person working 55 or 60 hours a week in Alabama and other places would earn only about $156 annually.

For parts of the deep South like Maycomb County, the Depression meant that the bad times that had been going on for decades got a little bit worse. White farmers were more likely to own land, but they were cash poor. It was common for children to go to school barefoot, and to suffer from ringworm and other diseases. Although automobiles had been around for some years, most families still depended on horses for transportation and to plough their fields.

The economic collapse of the 1930s resulted in ferocious rivalry for very few jobs that became available. Consequently, the ill will between black and white people that had existed ever since the Civil War intensified, as each group competed with the other for the few available jobs. One result was the incidents of lynching – primarily of African-Americans- continued.

To get some idea of what USA was like in those times, I suggest the film Seabiscuit (although it is set in California, not the deep South) or a humorous one, O Brother Where Art Thou, set in Mississippi.

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Was the notes helpful as well? (will be including more in later chapters)