Chapters 28-31: What does Heck Tate mean when he says, “Let the dead bury the dead this time” (369)? Explain what is going on here and what he means. (Ava)

While Scout and Jem are walking back from the pageant, they get attacked by Bob Ewell. Thankfully, Arthur Radley comes to their rescue and carries Jem, who was left with a broken arm, back to their house. During Scout's interview Heck Tate mentions that Bob Ewell is dead, then on the porch he says that he fell on his knife and inevitably killed himself. On page 369 Mr. Tate says, "Let the dead bury the dead" when he says this he means that Tom Robinson(who is dead) is burying Bob Ewell(now also dead). When Atticus asks her how she could be so sure that Bob Ewell fell on his knife Scout says, “Well, it’d sort of be like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” (Lee 370). In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird it's a sin to kill a mockingbird and right there on page 370 of the book Tom Robinson is likened to one. According to the Bible, the payment for sin is eternal death (1John 3:4; 1John 5:17; Ezekiel 18:20; Romans 6:23) and the person that killed Tom Robinson, essentially, was Bob Ewell. This means Bob Ewell had sinned and so him dying was his payment.