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           "Youknow,"hesaid,"I’veseenAtticuspathisfootwhenthere’sfiddlin’ontheradio,andhelovespotliquorbetter’nanymanIeversaw—"

           "ThenthatmakesusliketheCunninghams,"Isaid."Ican’tseewhyAunty—"

           "No,lemmefinish—itdoes,butwe’restilldifferentsomehow.AtticussaidonetimethereasonAunty’ssohippedonthefamilyisbecauseallwe’vegot’sbackgroundandnotadimetoournames."

           "WellJem,Idon’tknow—AtticustoldmeonetimethatmostofthisOldFamilystuff’sfoolishnessbecauseeverybody’sfamily’sjustasoldaseverybodyelse’s.IsaiddidthatincludethecoloredfolksandEnglishmenandhesaidyes."

           "Backgrounddoesn’tmeanOldFamily,"saidJem."Ithinkit’showlongyourfamily’sbeenreadin’andwritin’.Scout,I’vestudiedthisrealhardandthat’stheonlyreasonIcanthinkof.SomewherealongwhentheFincheswereinEgyptoneof‘emmusthavelearnedahieroglyphicortwoandhetaughthisboy."Jemlaughed."ImagineAuntybeingproudhergreat-grandaddycouldreadan’write—ladiespickfunnythingstobeproudof."

           "WellI’mgladhecould,orwho’dataughtAtticusandthem,andifAtticuscouldn’tread,youandme’dbeinafix.Idon’tthinkthat’swhatbackgroundis,Jem."

           "Wellthen,howdoyouexplainwhytheCunninghamsaredifferent?Mr.Waltercanhardlysignhisname,I’veseenhim.We’vejustbeenreadin’andwritin’longer’ntheyhave."