What was unusual about the big oak Jem and Scout passed on their way to the pageant?

Answer 1

The big oak had a large, knothole-like indentation that was filled with cement. Inside the cemented hole, Jem and Scout found two shiny Indian-head pennies. This was seen as unusual because someone had intentionally hidden the coins in the tree.

Answer 2

Simple answer. The Mockingbird represents Moral Innocence. Tom Robbins, Scout, Jem, Dill and Boo were the literary equivalents of innocence in this book and they harshness of the world around them (racial bigotry, poverty, drunkenness) constantly encircled them just as the rabid dog. Atticus Finch, just as in the case with the rabid dog, did his best to keep them from harm no matter the cost. He killed the dog, risked his life and unwittingly risked the lives of his children in an effort to protect the innocent from those who would 'shoot a mockingbird." Do you remember that Atticus said it was a sin To Kill a Mockingbird because they did no harm, just made a beautiful song? In the closing chapter of the book, Scout references this allegory when Atticus considers prosecution of Boo Radley for the righteous killing if Jem and Scout's attacker. While the book made it clear that Boo was the mockingbird in Scout's view, the reader can easily see that most of the characters in this book were Mockingbirds that were being threatened .... or in the case of Tom Robinson... killed as the effects of a changing world and society began to imapct their young lives, the town and their way of life. Remember that this book was written about life in rural South during 1936. A time that saw most of the south on the cusp of change but still held back by old ways, old laws and old social and racial order. You must also remember that this book was written in the early 1960's, when America WA on the cusp of losing innocence as well. The was in Korea was "over" and we were now looking at the Soviet Union as the Boogie Man in the dark of the forest, ready to jump out and attack us like innocent children. It would be years before our innocence would be shot and killed like a mockingbird with the assassination of John Kennedy, but just like Scout, we would never again be so innocent as we were before Jem and Scout were attacked. Shooting a mockingbird may seem like a trivial incident on its own, but if you consider what the final effect of killing Tom Robbins led to, you can see that all the events in the book were very significant in changing the characters.

I do hope that you will keep a copy of this brilliant book and read it every 5 years as you grow and develop. This is a timeless story with a very poignant lesson for us all. We need to be reminded regularly of the moral innocence we carried as children to gauge how far we have strayed from what we once considered right and wrong.

An even simpler answer: If I remember correctly, the unusual thing about the oak was that the ground was cool under it so that when they (Jem and Scout) passed it, it was kind of a landmark for them. This is the basic, not in depth answer.

(actually the accused's name is Tom Robinson, not Tom Robbins.)