Twirling baton
The twirling baton is a small, inexpensive object that carries disproportionate weight in the early life of Scout Finch, representing both her personal ambitions and the breaking point of her brother Jem's patience under the strain of community hostility. Scout has long coveted the baton, which is bedecked with sequins and tinsel and costs seventeen cents, displayed at V. J. Elmore's store. Her burning ambition is to grow up and twirl with the Maycomb County High School band, and she has developed her talent to the point where she can throw up a stick and almost catch it coming down, a skill that has caused Calpurnia to deny her entrance to the house every time she sees Scout with a stick in her hand. Scout believes that a real baton will overcome this defect, and she considers it generous of Jem to buy one for her on the afternoon of his twelfth birthday, when his money is burning up his pockets.
Acquisition and Immediate Use
On the day after Jem's twelfth birthday, he and Scout head for town in the early afternoon, Jem thinking he has enough money to buy a miniature steam engine for himself and the twirling baton for Scout. Jem buys his steam engine, and they go by Elmore's for the baton. On the way home, Scout nearly hits Mr. Link Deas when she misses a toss, and by the time they approach Mrs. Dubose's house, the baton is grimy from having been picked up out of the dirt so many times. Mrs. Dubose is not on her porch when they pass, but the baton has already been dirtied in the service of Scout's practice.
Destruction in a Rage
The baton becomes the instrument of Jem's fury when Mrs. Dubose's insults about Atticus Finch finally overwhelm him. After she shouts that Atticus is "no better than the niggers and trash he works for," Jem, who has stood as much guff about Atticus lawing for niggers as Scout has, suddenly snaps. At the gate to Mrs. Dubose's house, Jem snatches the baton from Scout and runs flailing wildly up the steps into Mrs. Dubose's front yard, forgetting everything Atticus has said, forgetting that she packs a pistol under her shawls, forgetting that if Mrs. Dubose misses, her girl Jessie probably would not. He does not begin to calm down until he has cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owns, until the ground is littered with green buds and leaves. Then he bends the baton against his knee, snaps it in two, and throws it down. Scout is shrieking, and Jem yanks her hair, says he does not care, he would do it again if he got a chance, and if she does not shut up he will pull every hair out of her head. She does not shut up, and he kicks her, causing her to lose her balance and fall on her face. Jem picks her up roughly but looks sorry; there is nothing to say.
Evidence of the Crime
The broken baton becomes the physical evidence of Jem's transgression. When Atticus comes home that evening, he carries the baton in one hand, its filthy yellow tassel trailing on the rug. In his other hand he holds fat camellia buds. He asks Jem if he is responsible, and Jem admits it, explaining that Mrs. Dubose said Atticus lawed for niggers and trash. Atticus tells Jem that doing something like this to a sick old lady is inexcusable and sends him to have a talk with Mrs. Dubose. The baton, now broken and dirty, has served as the instrument of Jem's rebellion and the proof of his guilt, linking Scout's innocent desire for a baton to the violent consequences of the town's racial hatred.
Thematic Significance
The twirling baton encapsulates Scout's childhood world of simple ambitions and the harsh intrusion of adult conflict. It is a cheap, glittering object that represents her dream of belonging to the high school band, a normal, happy aspiration. Yet it is also the tool Jem uses to destroy Mrs. Dubose's camellias, an act of rage against the insults that poison their lives. The baton's journey from a coveted store item to a grimy practice tool to a broken piece of evidence mirrors the way the Finch children's innocence is gradually worn down and shattered by the community's prejudice. Its filthy yellow tassel, trailing on the rug as Atticus holds it up, is a small, vivid image of how the ugliness of the outside world has entered their home.
