In chapter 15, Atticus goes to the jail to watch for anyone who might have any ideas about sabotaging the next day's trial. Without his permission, Jem, Scout and Dill follow him downtown to see what he was doing. Naively, Scout runs through the standing mob, up to the jail, and next to her father without knowing what she's doing. The boys follow after her and suddenly there is a very dangerous situation with three children standing in the middle of it. Fortunately, the mob stands down because Scout speaks so sweetly to Mr. Cunningham, who eventually calls off the men. In an effort to avoid any other problems involving his children, Atticus tells Jem in chapter 16 the following:
"There's a day ahead, so excuse me. Jem, I don't want you and Scout downtown today, please" (158).
One would think that the children would obey their father after finding themselves in a dangerous situation the night before. Atticus clearly tells them not to be downtown, which means they should stay home. Maybe he should have attached a consequence to his statement, such as, "If I see you downtown today, I'll ground you for a month." Either way, Jem and the other children wind up at the trial against Atticus's wishes. Luckily, there's no mob this time.
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