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Go Set a Watchman Chapter 11 Summary

  • This chapter begins Part IV.
  • All that "Atticus is a racist" stuff is put on hold as Jean Louise remembers back to when she was afflicted with…"The Curse. Curse o' Eve" (11.16); i.e., her period.
  • Around the same time, a boy named Albert kissed her.
  • Later, an older girl told her that if a boy stuck his tongue in her mouth, she'd be pregnant.
  • And...Scout thought she was pregnant. (Guess they didn't have sex ed back then?)
  • She counted ahead nine months, and decided she would kill herself right before she was due, on the 30th day of September.
  • She climbed the town water tank as if she were Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, but Henry saw her and brought her down.
  • At home, Scout confessed the Calpurnia that she was having a baby the next day.
  • Calpurnia took the opportunity to teach her the birds and the bees, clearing up all that confusion.
  • Scout realized for the first time that Calpurnia called her "ma'am" and "Miss Scout" (11.129), a sure sign she was getting old.
  • Later that night, Jem told her that he'd protect her if there was ever anything she might not want to tell Atticus about. Aw, siblings.
  • For some reason, Scout wonders if she's fully awake, and if that was all a dream.