In To Kill a Mockingbird what do Jem and Scout believe about hot steams?

Answer 1

Hot steams is one of jem's childish superstitions.

We had strolled to the front yard, where Dill stood looking down the street at the dreary face of the Radley Place. "I - smell - death," he said. "I do, I mean it," he said, when I told him to shut up.

"You mean when somebody's dyin' you can smell it?"

"No, I mean I can smell somebody an' tell if they're gonna die. An old lady taught me how." Dill leaned over and sniffed me. "Jean - Louise - Finch, you are going to die in three days."

"Dill if you don't hush I'll knock you bowlegged. I mean it, now -"

"Yawl hush," growled Jem, "you act like you believe in Hot Steams."

"You act like you don't," I said.

"What's a Hot Steam?" asked Dill.

"Haven't you ever walked along a lonesome road at night and passed by a hot place?" Jem asked Dill. "A Hot Steam's somebody who can't get to heaven, just wallows around on lonesome roads an' if you walk through him, when you die you'll be one too, an' you'll go around at night suckin' people's breath -"

"How can you keep from passing through one?"

"You can't," said Jem. "Sometimes they stretch all the way across the road, but if you hafta go through one you say, 'Angel-bright, life-in-death; get off the road, don't suck my breath.' That keeps 'em from wrapping around you-"

-A
a ghost or haint, spirit

"Haven't you ever walked along a lonesome road at night and passed by a hot place?" Jem asked Dill. "A Hot Steam's somebody who can't get to heaven, just wallows around on lonesome roads an' if you walk through him, when you die you'll be one too, an' you'll go around at night suckin' people's breath -"
A hot steam is a ghost that hasn't passed on yet. One of the Maycomb superstitions.
-ghost or spirit
The hot steams are when spirits are still left on earth.

Answer 2

They play a game where someone gets in a tire and they roll it. Scout gets in and Jem pushes the tire so hard it keeps rolling and bumps up and down and hits everything in the tire's way causing Scout to feel nauseous and hurt. She lands in Boo Radley front yards after hitting his front steps and bouncing into his yard.

Answer 3

Jem and Scout believe that hot steams can help cure a variety of ailments and provide comfort, as taught by their African American housekeeper, Calpurnia. This belief is rooted in traditional Southern folk medicine and reflects the importance of community knowledge and remedies in their small town of Maycomb.

Answer 4

he means the stream of life of this mocking bird is sloly being cut

Answer 5

Page 49

(note: page numbers may vary in different editions of the book)