# To Kill A Mockingbird. Dill. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510 "2001-10-10T04:30:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/21 "2001-10-10T21:30:44Z")
After his many nude ‘swimming lessons’ with Jem, Dill founded Maycomb County’s first Gay and Lesbian Alliance. He also managed to clean up Mayella Ewell, who went on to be the Maycomb County Pork Festival Queen. ---
**Author:** ![south333](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@south333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/south333)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/22 "2001-10-10T22:00:06Z")
1. Do not start a thread asking someone _else_ to do your homework for you. 2. [Sparknotes.com](http://Sparknotes.com) is your friend. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/23 "2001-10-10T22:03:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andygirl \* > \*\*I would have loved the book were it not for that bizarre love triangle between Dill, Atticus, and the maid. What was Harper Lee thinking? \*\* “The Maid”, Calpurnia, was actually the inventor of the Cotton Gin. She was going incognito in Maycomb County while studying the lady in the moon, sitting at her dressing table and combing her hair. She was funded by a radical splinter group of the Daughters of the American Revolution, whose ultimate goal was to see how it was possible for ladies in the Maycomb heat to end up like saddened, over powdered, wilting tea-cakes by late afternoon. Come ON. If we’re gonna be helpful, we have to give the whole story. ---
**Author:** ![d12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71c47a/32.png) [@d12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d12)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/24 "2001-10-10T23:14:54Z")
Cal didn’t invent the cotton gin, EVERYONE knows it was Al Gore! Well now that I’ve nearly finished the book (:)) I’ve noticed that Harper Lee hardly gives any sort of physical descriptions of Dill. The only one that comes to mind is in Chapter 25 (I think) it says something along the lines of Dill’s fat foot came crashing down on the bug? Fat Foot = Fat Dill? I’m not exactly accustom to the writing style of 1957. Oh yeah, I also just found out Harper Lee is a girl! ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/25 "2001-10-11T00:09:58Z")
**d12** , humourous comments aside, if you _really_ want to impress the teacher, you need to include references to the **sequel**. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/26 "2001-10-11T00:42:13Z")
Bah. **TPWombat** , I can’t believe you would bring that up. I mean, the whole point of the original book is to explore Dill’s drive to succeed, as contrasted with his failure to win in the heavyweight bout with Apollo Creed. The so-called “sequel” is just an excuse to tack an unneeded happy ending onto a much greater original. Not to mention that it set up a bunch of even more derivative sequels in which Dill beats up on progressively more grotesque opponents, with nary a bit of plot to be found. Personally, I refuse to admit that those later sequels even exist. ---
**Author:** ![RenMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@RenMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RenMan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/27 "2001-10-11T02:51:37Z")
“Evil Dead Mockingbird” The bird is back. And it’s very very hungry. ---
**Author:** ![d12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71c47a/32.png) [@d12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d12)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/28 "2001-10-11T03:15:46Z")
I’m not even going to bother to ask if there really is a sequel. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/29 "2001-10-11T03:39:36Z")
I personally think To Kill a Mockingbird really only made sense after finishing the trilogy. Sure, the second and third books were pretty formulaic and a bit of a disappointment, but did provide a complete picture if you took the time to track them down and read through them. _possible spoiler_ I personally found the Eldridge Cleever/Black Panther sections toward the end of the third book to be highly entertaining, but that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![d12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71c47a/32.png) [@d12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d12)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/30 "2001-10-11T03:54:17Z")
What have I gotten myself into?! I honestly need to know if anyone add physical attributes to this: Dill, or Charles Baker Harris, arrives one summer… yadda yadda yadda. ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/31 "2001-10-11T04:21:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by China Guy \* > \*\*_possible spoiler_ I personally found the Eldridge Cleever/Black Panther sections toward the end of the third book to be highly entertaining, but that’s just me. \*\* Even though they revealed that the sex scenes were ghostwritten? I thought it compromisd her artistic vision. And the scene in the second book where the cat is tortured to death is just sick. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/32 "2001-10-11T05:46:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RenMan \* > \*\* > “Evil Dead Mockingbird” > > The bird is back. > > And it’s very very hungry. \*\* /hijack/ May I use this for a sig?/end hijack/ ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/33 "2001-10-11T07:25:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TPWombat \* > \*\ ***d12** , humourous comments aside, if you _really_ want to impress the teacher, you need to include references to the **sequel**. \*\* No, the sequel didn’t do it for me. I felt Lee was just phoning that one in. I really got into Dill’s mind in the prequel. It’s his voice, his point of view, sheds light on his unique point of view. Hunting that down will blow it wide open for you. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/34 "2001-10-11T12:37:43Z")
To me, the saddest part of the book was when Addicus had to lock the rabid dog up in the corncrib and then kill it with 11 shots from a WristRocket. That after the dog had come all the way across the county with that blind dog and the cat. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/35 "2001-10-11T12:45:39Z")
Agreed with most of you about the sequels. I often think it would have been better if Harper Lee had only ever written one book. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/36 "2001-10-11T13:07:29Z")
Was it a mistake for Gregory Peck to take a pass on the movie based on the sequel? After all, both Quentin Tarratino and John Travolta got Emmy nominations for it! The third movie was crap, and is only seen Sunday afternoons and during baseball rain delays. ---
**Author:** ![RenMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@RenMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RenMan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/37 "2001-10-11T13:12:40Z")
> [@](#): > > /hijack/ May I use this for a sig?/end hijack/ /hijack/ Tequila Mockingbird: no problem /end hijack/ ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/38 "2001-10-11T13:24:32Z")
Whoa, whoa - whaddya mean it would’ve been better if Harper Lee had only written one book? Now you’re going to tell me that it would’ve been better if her son had taken on the challenge and expanded the whole Mockingbird series, and all of the movies that resulted: To Pummel a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird Harder- Samuel L. Jackson did a wonderful job as Tom Robinson Jr. in the movie, but I though Bruce Willis made a poor adult Jem Atticus Finch and the Goblet of Fire- Spielberg was right not to direct this, n’est pas? The Mockingbird is Not Enough - granted, Pierce Brosnan was okay as Dill, but couldn’t hold his own against Rene Russo’s Scout all grown up - rowr! and my personal favorite: To Kill A Mockingbird - yeah, he used the same title, but Tim Burton’s insightful re-interpretation was money! Who’da expected the shocker at the end when Scout looks behind the door and instead of Boo Radley, sees Papa Ewell, who then kills her…I am still in shock! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/39 "2001-10-11T15:41:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andygirl \* > \*\* > And the scene in the second book where the cat is tortured to death is just sick. \*\* It’s only sick if you don’t understand it. That scene was symbolic of Calpurnia’s forbidden love for Atticus. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510/40 "2001-10-11T20:24:53Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \* \*\* > [@](#): > > That scene was symbolic of Calpurnia’s forbidden love for Atticus. \*\* As exemplified by her endorsement of the rich syrup poured all over the supper plate by Jim’s schoolfriend guest? I’ll be dammed… I missed that before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird-dill/86510.md?page=3)