The lynch mob lead by Mr. Cunningham in chapter fifteen was something I really didn’t expect to happen. Sure Maycomb is just as racist as any other southern town but it didn’t seem to me like the town would get violent about it. If the children hadn’t shown up, I think the men might have hurt Atticus and probably done something worse to Tom Robinson after that. Also, Mr. Underwood might’ve killed a couple of the men during the fight, too. If Scout hadn’t talked about Walter Cunningham, I think the drunken men would have actually hurt the children after those fifteen seconds.
And now for something completely different, I think that there is more to the story of why Dill ran away and went to the Finch house. Dill claimed he ran away because his parents weren’t paying enough attention to him. The story of how he was chained in the basement and rarely fed by his new father is a more likely reason to run away. Dill traveled from Meridian to Maycomb and nearly starved to death, someone wouldn’t go through all of that trouble just because his parents slightly neglect him. I’m sure if his parents “got along well” without him like he said, then they would have no problem with just sending Dill to Maycomb.
There’s a good reason why the mob dispersed. The children was the key. It was not because of what Scout said or anything. It was her presence. They can’t do anything violent in front of children. It isn’t right. Therefore, instead of hurting Atticus, Tom, and their own morals, they chose to back off. It was the right decision too. If they had gone any farther, Scout would have knocked their lights out. She already mortally wounded a man when she kicked her erm… “parts”. Anyways, back to what I was saying. Were it not for Scout and the others,