Question

Read the text excerpt from To Kill a Mockingbird

Answer 1

I was playing in it with the spoon. "I thought Mr. Cunningham was a friend of ours. You told me a long time ago he was."

"He still is."

"But last night he wanted to hurt you."

Atticus placed his fork beside his knife and pushed his plate aside. "Mr. Cunningham's basically a good man," he said, "he just has his blind spots along with the rest of us."

Jem spoke. "Don't call that a blind spot. He'da killed you last night when he first went there."

"He might have hurt me a little," Atticus conceded, "but son, you'll understand folks a little better when you're older. A mob's always made up of people, no matter what. Mr. Cunningham was part of a mob last night, but he was still a man. Every mob in every little Southern town is always made up of people you know—doesn't say much for them, does it?"

"I'll say not," said Jem.

"So it took an eight-year-old child to bring 'em, to their senses, didn't it?" said Atticus. "That proves something—that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they're still human. Hmp, maybe we need a police force of children . . . you children last night made Walter Cunningham stand in my shoes for a minute. That was enough."

Which best identifies the explicit meaning of the excerpt?

Answer 2

1- The explicit meaning is that Walter Cunningham now believes in Tom Robinson's innocence.
2- The explicit meaning is that mobs are not dangerous because they are made up of ordinary people.
3- The explicit meaning is that Mr. Cunningham has come to terms with his own prejudice.
4- The explicit meaning is that the children's presence stopped the lynch mob.

Answer 3

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