To kill a Mockingbird
1. Content
2. Character
3. Important Topics
CONTENT
- novel takes place between 1933 & 1935 in Maycomb, Alabama
- Although narrator Scout is grown, she tells her story through the eyes of her six- year-old self.
- Scout's narration begins with an intimate view of her family -> introduces her father, Atticus, a widower
who is raising his children with the help of Calpurnia, the family cook
- Calpurnia, employee is treated as a member of the family & a sort of surrogate mother to the kids
- As story progresses Scout introduces the residents of Maycomb
- She & Jem soon meet Dill, Finch's next-door neighbor
- While Scout is initially apprehensive of (in Furcht vor) Dill, Jem accepts him into their group after
discovering he's seen the movie Dracula
- Dill soon grows bored of putting on plays with Jem and Scout & becomes fascinated with sensational
stories about Boo Radley, who according to Jem, "dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch."
Dill's fascination soon grows into obsession as he plots to lure Boo outside with help from Jem and
Scout
- Summer ends & Dill is sent back home to Mississippi
- Scout is looking forward to her first day of school
- At this point Scout's classmates are introduced—a unique group of characters who set the tone for the
social division seen throughout the rest of the book
- One day while Scout is walking home from school, she sees something shiny in the knothole of an oak
tree in front of the Radley house
- => turns out to be two sticks of gum in tinfoil wrappers. Who left them is a mystery, but when she and
Jem subsequently find more treasures left in the tree it becomes apparent that the gifts are meant for
them, & they suspect that Boo Radley = gift giver
- Jem & Scout's lives become more complicated when Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson
- Although many of Maycomb's more enlightened residents are certain of Tom Robinson's innocence, the
community's pervasive racism means that Tom has little chance of a fair trial
- Despite knowing he cannot win the trial, Atticus knows he must nonetheless defend Tom
- During trial it becomes apparent: Mayella’s father = true criminal (having physically & sexually abused her)
- Ewell is enraged that Atticus has directed the community's attention toward him, & even though Tom is
convicted Ewell publicly threatens Atticus
- When Tom Robinson is killed trying to escape from prison Ewell says, "one down & about two more to
go," referring to his plan to kill Scout and Jem.
- The two plots converge when Ewell finally makes his move. Drunk & angry, he stalks Jem & Scout one
evening as they make their way home after a school play. Still in costume as a ham, Scout is defenseless
when she & Jem are attacked by an assailant in the dark cover of the trees just outside the Radley house.
- After the scuffle escalates she hears Jem cry out in pain. That's when she sees a silhouette of a second
man—not the attacker—carrying Jem toward the Finch home.
- Sheriff Tate discovers Bob Ewell dead from a stab wound where the attack occurred.
- Although it is clear that Boo Radley is the mysterious figure who saved Jem & Scout, Atticus & Sheriff
Tate cover for Radley by saying Ewell fell on his own knife
- Boo stays with the Finches that evening until he knows Jem is safe from harm
- He then asks Scout to walk him home, & she does, her hand resting gently on his arm like a lady
escorted by a gentlemen
- When Boo enters the Radley house & closes the door, that is the last she sees of him, but the lessons
that he, Tom Robinson, & Atticus have taught her will resound across her lifetime
,
1. Content
2. Character
3. Important Topics
CONTENT
- novel takes place between 1933 & 1935 in Maycomb, Alabama
- Although narrator Scout is grown, she tells her story through the eyes of her six- year-old self.
- Scout's narration begins with an intimate view of her family -> introduces her father, Atticus, a widower
who is raising his children with the help of Calpurnia, the family cook
- Calpurnia, employee is treated as a member of the family & a sort of surrogate mother to the kids
- As story progresses Scout introduces the residents of Maycomb
- She & Jem soon meet Dill, Finch's next-door neighbor
- While Scout is initially apprehensive of (in Furcht vor) Dill, Jem accepts him into their group after
discovering he's seen the movie Dracula
- Dill soon grows bored of putting on plays with Jem and Scout & becomes fascinated with sensational
stories about Boo Radley, who according to Jem, "dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch."
Dill's fascination soon grows into obsession as he plots to lure Boo outside with help from Jem and
Scout
- Summer ends & Dill is sent back home to Mississippi
- Scout is looking forward to her first day of school
- At this point Scout's classmates are introduced—a unique group of characters who set the tone for the
social division seen throughout the rest of the book
- One day while Scout is walking home from school, she sees something shiny in the knothole of an oak
tree in front of the Radley house
- => turns out to be two sticks of gum in tinfoil wrappers. Who left them is a mystery, but when she and
Jem subsequently find more treasures left in the tree it becomes apparent that the gifts are meant for
them, & they suspect that Boo Radley = gift giver
- Jem & Scout's lives become more complicated when Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson
- Although many of Maycomb's more enlightened residents are certain of Tom Robinson's innocence, the
community's pervasive racism means that Tom has little chance of a fair trial
- Despite knowing he cannot win the trial, Atticus knows he must nonetheless defend Tom
- During trial it becomes apparent: Mayella’s father = true criminal (having physically & sexually abused her)
- Ewell is enraged that Atticus has directed the community's attention toward him, & even though Tom is
convicted Ewell publicly threatens Atticus
- When Tom Robinson is killed trying to escape from prison Ewell says, "one down & about two more to
go," referring to his plan to kill Scout and Jem.
- The two plots converge when Ewell finally makes his move. Drunk & angry, he stalks Jem & Scout one
evening as they make their way home after a school play. Still in costume as a ham, Scout is defenseless
when she & Jem are attacked by an assailant in the dark cover of the trees just outside the Radley house.
- After the scuffle escalates she hears Jem cry out in pain. That's when she sees a silhouette of a second
man—not the attacker—carrying Jem toward the Finch home.
- Sheriff Tate discovers Bob Ewell dead from a stab wound where the attack occurred.
- Although it is clear that Boo Radley is the mysterious figure who saved Jem & Scout, Atticus & Sheriff
Tate cover for Radley by saying Ewell fell on his own knife
- Boo stays with the Finches that evening until he knows Jem is safe from harm
- He then asks Scout to walk him home, & she does, her hand resting gently on his arm like a lady
escorted by a gentlemen
- When Boo enters the Radley house & closes the door, that is the last she sees of him, but the lessons
that he, Tom Robinson, & Atticus have taught her will resound across her lifetime
,
