After Mrs. Merriweather organizes a pageant at the school to honor Maycomb's agriculture, Scout is assigned to play the role of a cured ham. Mrs. Crenshaw, a seamstress, makes the costume out of bent chicken wire and brown cloth with two peepholes cut into it. Although Scout recognizes that Mrs. Crenshaw did a "fine job" designing the costume, she has several complaints: it's too hot, too tight of a fit, it does not allow her...
After Mrs. Merriweather organizes a pageant at the school to honor Maycomb's agriculture, Scout is assigned to play the role of a cured ham. Mrs. Crenshaw, a seamstress, makes the costume out of bent chicken wire and brown cloth with two peepholes cut into it. Although Scout recognizes that Mrs. Crenshaw did a "fine job" designing the costume, she has several complaints: it's too hot, too tight of a fit, it does not allow her to scratch her itchy nose, and she could not get out of it alone.
Scout drops her costume off backstage before the pageant begins and explores the Halloween carnival that has been set up to keep the children out of trouble. When she returns, she makes a sad discovery: "Somebody's mashed my costume." Mrs. Merriweather swoops in to save the day, re-shaping the chicken wire to look like a ham once again.
Although Scout's costume is ultimately okay, her complaints about it act as foreshadowing of the near-tragedy that occurs after the pageant. Walking home alone, Scout and Jem are accosted by Bob Ewell. As she had already mentioned, Scout cannot escape the ham costume on her own, and the wire meshing gets crushed, trapping her in a "wire prison." Although Jem tries to pull her to her feet, she is so entangled in the costume that it cannot be done. While the costume does prevent Scout from running away, it also protects her, acting as armor against the vicious beating of Ewell. While Jem gets truly thrashed and winds up with a broken arm, Scout manages to get away with only a bump on her forehead.
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