Enotes Kill Mockingbird Guide

To Kill a Mockingbird Study
Guide
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eNotes | TABLE OF CONTENTS
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD STUDY GUIDE 1
SUMMARY 5
Summary 5
CHAPTER SUMMARIES 9
Chapter Summaries: Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis 9
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THEMES 60
Themes 60
CHARACTERS 62
Characters 62
Characters: Scout Finch 65
Characters: Jem Finch 66
Characters: Atticus Finch 67
Characters: Boo Radley 68
ANALYSIS 69
Analysis 69
Key Ideas and Commentary: Form and Content 70
Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Christian Themes 72
Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Places Discussed 72
Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Literary Elements Analysis 74
Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Literary Qualities 75
Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Setting 76
Historical and Social Context: Context 77
Historical and Social Context: Impact 78
Historical and Social Context: Historical Context 78
Historical and Social Context: Social Sensitivity 80
Historical and Social Context: Compare and Contrast 80
Connections and Further Reading: Related Work 81
Connections and Further Reading: Related Titles / Adaptations 81
Connections and Further Reading: Media Adaptations 81
Connections and Further Reading: For Further Reference 82
Bibliography: Bibliography and Further Reading 82
Bibliography 83
QUOTES 85
Quotes: Essential Passage by Character: Atticus Finch 85
Quotes: Essential Passage by Character: Scout Finch 87
Quotes: Essential Passage by Theme: Loss of Innocence 89
Quotes: Essential Passage by Theme: Racism 91
SHORT-ANSWER QUIZZES 93
Short-Answer Quizzes: Chapter 1 Questions and Answers 93
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Summary
Summary
PART I
The novel opens with the narrator, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, relating that when her brother Jem was thirteen he
broke his arm badly at the elbow. Scout withholds the exact cause of his accident, transitioning instead to her
memories of the events leading up to Jem’s injury and their childhood in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s. Scout
tells the story as an adult, but within the narrative she is a little girl who’s just six years old at the beginning of the
novel and eight years old at the end. Her brother is four years older than her, and her father, Atticus Finch, is an
attorney and member of the State Legislature who is, for the most part, well-respected in the community. Their
friend, Charles Baker Harris, commonly referred to as “Dill,” visits every summer and becomes one of the primary
sources of humor in the novel.
Other characters include Miss Maudie, the wise neighbor who spends most of her time gardening and baking cakes;
Calpurnia, the African American servant who cares for the Finch children and runs the household; and Aunt
Alexandra, who’s excessively critical of the other characters in the novel—especially Scout. Of the three, Scout has
perhaps the best relationship with Miss Maudie, who teaches her valuable life lessons and explains that Atticus is an
upstanding man. Calpurnia, being Scout’s caregiver and a disciplinarian, is a major figure in Scout’s life and instructs
her on manners, morals, and the divide between whites and African Americans. Atticus, however, is the Finch
children’s moral compass, and it’s from him that they learn to read, think, and react to the world. On Christmas, he
gives them air rifles as presents, but admonishes them never to shoot a mockingbird, because it’s a sin to kill
something that does nothing but make beautiful music for everyone. This is the source of the novel’s title.
It becomes clear early on that Scout isn’t like the other girls in Maycomb. For one, she primarily wears boy clothes
and isn’t interested in acting like a “lady.” On the first day of school, she has a confrontation with her teacher, Miss
Caroline, who doesn’t know that one of Scout’s classmates, Walter Cunningham, is from a poor family and won’t
accept charity. When Scout tries to explain this, Miss Caroline strikes her hand, effectively whipping her in front of
the class. For this, Scout grinds Walter’s face into the dirt and blames him for getting her in trouble at school.
Throughout the first half of the novel, Scout gets into fights with people, including her own cousin, who says bad
things about Scout’s father Atticus, and her brother, who doesn’t want Scout to talk to him at school—only after
school. Nevertheless, Scout and Jem remain close and play together at the house when they aren’t at school.
Scout, Jem, and Dill spend most of the summer playing elaborate games, and these end up being the subject of the
next few chapters of the novel. One of their favorite games is a reenactment of an incident between their neighbor,
Boo, and his father, Mr. Radley. According to town lore, Boo was sitting at a table, cutting up some papers, when
suddenly he took up the scissors and stabbed his father in the thigh as he was walking past. No reason is given for
his outburst, and because of it the children are afraid of Boo to the point where they run past his house to avoid
being in front of it. In one scene, Dill dares Jem to touch the Radleys’ house, and in another, Scout accidentally rolls
into the Radleys’ yard in a tire after Jem pushes her much too hard. This incident leads Boo to start leaving presents
(soap dolls, pennies, gum) for Scout and Jem in a knothole in the tree by their house, and this in turn leads the
children to become curious about Boo and develop a sort of friendship. When Miss Maudie’s house burns down, Boo
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slips out of his house to place a blanket on Scout’s shoulders without her noticing. Without meeting face to face, the
two characters form a special bond.
There are, however, moments of extreme peril in Part I. In addition to Miss Maudie’s house fire, there are mentions
of animals being tortured by a character named Crazy Addie, of houses being broken into, and of course the attack
on Mayella. Jem, Scout, and Dill have a brush with death when they sneak into the Radleys’ backyard and get shot
at by Mr. Nathan Radley. In the process of fleeing, Jem gets his pants caught and has to leave them behind. Nathan
Radley, assuming that he was shooting at an African American man trespassing on his property, doesn’t realize that
the children were trying to sneak a peek inside his house, and to make sure nobody finds out about it, Jem goes
back for his pants. When he does, he finds that someone has mended them for him and left them on the fence. In
Chapter 10, the children are again confronted with death when a rabid dog, Tim Johnson, walks unsteadily down the
street. Atticus, whom Scout previously referred to as “feeble,” reveals himself to be an excellent shot when he puts
the dog out of his misery. Once upon a time, Atticus even had the nickname “One-Shot Finch.” This impresses Scout
and alters her opinion of him forever.
Meanwhile, tensions heighten in Maycomb after Atticus is assigned to defend Tom Robinson, an African American
man accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell, the eldest daughter of Mr. Bob Ewell, one of the town drunks
and perhaps the poorest white man in town. Being a man of high moral principles, Atticus refuses to pass on the
case to another lawyer and instead stands firm in his conviction to defend Tom. Scout and Jem respect him for this,
but the rest of the town doesn’t, and people gossip about it incessantly. Mrs. Dubose, a mean old woman who sits
out on her porch and shouts at passersby, says such terrible things about Atticus that Jem cuts down her camellias
with Scout’s baton. His punishment for this is to read to Mrs. Dubose every afternoon. During these visits, Mrs.
Dubose lies in bed, looking very ill. It’s only after she dies that Atticus reveals to his kids that Mrs. Dubose was a
morphine addict and that in her final weeks she went cold turkey to kick her addiction. Part I ends with Atticus telling
Jem that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person he ever met.
PART II
In Part II, the focus of the novel shifts toward Tom Robinson’s trial, and the racism established in Part I intensifies.
Scout and Jem, who have until now been shielded from the worst of it, see how segregation affects African
Americans firsthand when Calpurnia takes them to her church, which is on the far side of town and called First
Purchase. Atticus is out of town at this time, attending a meeting of the State Legislature, and doesn’t know about
the church visit until after it happens. It prompts Aunt Alexandra, who has just moved into the Finches’ home, to
scold Atticus for his lack of child-rearing skills. When Aunt Alexandra berates the kids about their manners and their
lack of interest in their heritage, Atticus makes it clear that this is of no importance to him. This unites the Finch
children against Aunt Alexandra.
Soon after Aunt Alexandra’s arrival, Scout discovers what she originally thinks is a snake under her bed, but which
actually turns out to be Dill, who has run away from home because he doesn’t like his new stepfather. This incident
adds a little levity to otherwise grim and serious events, like those of Chapter 15, when Atticus sits in front of the jail
house to protect Tom Robinson from all the racist citizens of Maycomb. Late that night, a group of drunk men (some
from Maycomb and some not) approach Atticus, intending, no doubt, to lynch Tom. Scout jumps in at the last second
to save Atticus and stop the men, who are shamed by her presence. Thankfully, Mr. Underwood, the editor of The
Maycomb Tribune, was standing watch over Atticus the whole time, carrying a double-barreled shotgun in case there
was any trouble.
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In the next chapter, Tom Robinson’s trial begins. It’s a “gala occasion,” as Scout puts it, and what seems like every
person in Maycomb, Black and white, comes to watch. Atticus spends the entire morning doing voir dire, or jury
selection, and comes home for lunch around noon. Jem and Dill and Scout then decide—unbeknownst to Atticus—to
go watch the trial that afternoon. As earlier, the courthouse is completely packed, and Scout and Jem have to climb
up to the balcony with the Reverend Sykes to find seats in the “colored” section. Judge Taylor presides over the
court and is impressively stern with the audience of people come to gawk at Tom. He threatens to fine people who
don’t behave during the trial. Heck Tate is the first witness, and Atticus questions him about what he saw on the day
of the alleged rape. Atticus trips him up a little when he asks if Mayella’s black eye was on the right or left side of her
face. Heck Tate says left, then right. Then Mr. Ewell takes the stand and makes a show of accusing Tom of rape.
Atticus then embarrasses him in front of everyone by proving that he’s left-handed and, thus, capable of giving
Mayella a black eye on her right side. Jem finds this damning, but Scout doesn’t think it’s enough.
Next, Mayella takes the stand, afraid that Atticus will embarrass her like he did her father. Judge Taylor soothes her,
though Jem suspects this is just a play for sympathy. Mayella, at nineteen and a half years old, is the eldest child in
her family and has had to spend most of her time caring for her younger siblings, because her father certainly won’t.
It’s a sad life, and Atticus makes a point of showing this to the audience, in the hopes that they’ll understand that her
father, a drunk, is an antagonistic force in her life. Mayella has no friends. No money. No one to look out for her. And
when she saw Tom Robinson, that polite man walking by her house on the way to work, Mayella invited him inside
on the pretense of busting up a chiffarobe. Mayella says that’s when he started to choke her and beat her—with his
right hand, not his left. Tom’s left arm hangs dead at his side, the product of an accident with a cotton gin. He
couldn’t have given her that black eye, and that’s immediately clear when Mayella tells her story. It’s inconsistent
with her father’s testimony. He’s lying, and so, Atticus suggests, is she.
When Tom takes the stand, the reader finally learns the truth: Mayella did lure him into the house with the promise of
a nickel if he busted up a chiffarobe, but he never hurt her. In fact, she started coming onto him, moving in for a kiss,
but when she saw her father in the window she screamed. Tom ran out of there as fast as he could, which made him
look guilty, but he was innocent. It was Mr. Ewell who beat Mayella (and, presumably, raped her). Mr. Ewell blamed
Tom for his crimes, both to keep him out of trouble and to save him from embarrassment, and Mayella does the
same thing. Her reasons are somewhat different, though, because she doesn’t want anyone to know she tried to kiss
an African American man. That’s taboo in racist Maycomb and would reflect poorly on her in court, which is why
she’s so upset when Atticus tries to get the real truth out of her; she knows she can’t tell him. Tom knows that, too.
He shouldn’t have helped her bust the chiffarobe, but he felt sorry for her. This upsets all the white people in the
audience, because in their eyes, a Black man has no right to feel sorry for a white person. When the prosecutor
starts belittling Tom for this, Dill starts crying, and Scout has to take him outside.
Inside, Atticus makes his closing argument, telling the jury that Tom is innocent and that, even if they aren’t entirely
convinced of this, they must be absolutely sure “beyond all reasonable doubt” that he’s guilty in order to convict him.
Given what has come to light on the stand, it would seem impossible for them to have no doubts about Tom’s guilt,
but this is Maycomb, Alabama, and the judge and jury are white, which means Tom’s apparent innocence isn’t
enough to make up for the color of his skin in their eyes. That jury will never take the word of a Black man over the
word of a white one, regardless of how drunk, amoral, and ornery that white man is. Awkwardly, Atticus’s closing
argument is interrupted by Calpurnia, who has come to inform him that his children have gone “missing.” Mr.
Underwood informs them that the kids are in the balcony, and Atticus sends them home with Calpurnia to get their
dinner. When they come back the jury is still out, which is in itself a victory. Had Atticus been less of a lawyer, the
verdict would’ve been immediate. It’s a testament to his skill that the jury had to deliberate before giving the
inevitable verdict: guilty.
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The next morning, Atticus’ kitchen is full of gifts that the African American community sent him to show their gratitude
to him for defending Tom. Miss Maudie, hearing about the verdict (as one of the few people who didn’t watch the
trial), wakes up at five to bake the kids cake, in the hopes that this will make them feel a bit better. She suggests it
was no accident Atticus was assigned to defend Tom—Judge Taylor might’ve done it on purpose to give Tom a fair
shake. In fact, Atticus did so well that Mr. Ewell spits in his face outside the post office. As Atticus explains, race
often comes between a person and their reason, making an otherwise logical or moral man turn into the kind of
person who would, for instance, declare Tom guilty. At home, Atticus reveals to the kids that there was a
Cunningham on the jury, and that this man wanted to acquit Tom, in part because Atticus had earned the
Cunninghams’ respect that night outside the jail house. Scout reconsiders her dislike of Walter Cunningham because
of this, but Aunt Alexandra balks when Scout asks if it would be alright for Walter to stay over at their house
sometimes. Aunt Alexandra says Walter and the Cunninghams are “not [their] kind of folks.” It’s this behavior that
leads Jem to say that he understands why Boo Radley stays inside: because he wants to.
In the aftermath of the trial, Aunt Alexandra attempts to return life to normal by hosting a lunch for her missionary
circle. This proves to be an absurd experience for Scout, who’s forced to wear a dress, under which she defiantly
continues to wear her britches. The ladies of the circle chat all afternoon about various hypocrites and Tom’s verdict,
until finally Atticus comes home and says that Tom is dead—shot while attempting to escape from prison. Atticus
and Calpurnia drive over to Tom’s house to give his wife, Helen, the news. Dill and Jem, who’d been out swimming
at the time, rode in the car with Atticus and reported what they saw back to Scout. “She just fell down in the dirt,” Dill
said, speaking of Helen when she heard the news. Everyone in Maycomb talked about it for a few days, then lost
interest—except Mr. Underwood, who wrote an editorial saying that it’s a sin to kill a cripple. This echoes Atticus’
earlier statement about it being a sin to kill a mockingbird.
School starts up again in the fall, and with it, Jem and Scout’s daily trips past the Radleys’ house. Boo Radley has
been largely absent from this second half of the book, and after Tom’s death, the kids aren’t really afraid of Boo
anymore. Their lives revolve primarily around school and Atticus now. Scout relates a lesson her teacher gave on
Adolf Hitler and democracy, defining the latter as “equal rights for all, special privileges for none.” This neatly frames
the events of the subsequent chapter, in which Mr. Ewell stalks Helen in an attempt to intimidate her. This comes on
the heels of Ewell getting and losing a job with the WPA and then attempting to break into Judge Taylor’s home in
retribution for embarrassing him at the trial. Nobody thinks Ewell is dangerous, in large part because no one takes
him seriously, and the town is more concerned with an incident where unknown assailants (children) sneak into the
house of Misses Tutti and Frutti, two deaf women, and move all their furniture into their cellar one night. It appears
for a moment that the novel is going to end on an easy note, with the children letting go of their superstitions, but
Scout is still working up to how Jem broke his arm.
What happened was this: Scout was playing a ham in Maycomb’s Halloween pageant. No one in the immediate
family was willing to see it but Jem, who walked her there in the dark, without his flashlight. On the way back, they
hear a sound behind them and assume, at first, that it’s just one of Scout’s classmates trying to spook her. Then
someone attacks them, and there’s a brief scuffle before the assailant, Mr. Ewell, falls, having been stabbed by
Scout’s defender, Boo Radley, who carries Jem back to the house after his arm is broken. Scout doesn’t realize at
first that this is her neighbor. Only after Dr. Reynolds arrives to take care of Jem and Heck Tate asks her to tell him
what happened does Scout realize that the pale man standing in the corner is Boo. Atticus wants to tell people what
Boo did and make him a hero, but Heck Tate tells him not to, calling it a “sin” to push such a shy man in the public’s
eye. So they all keep Boo’s secret.
At the end of the novel, Scout walks Boo back to his house, stopping for a moment on his porch to look out at the
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town from his perspective: the children playing, leaves turning, Miss Maudie’s house burning. Scout tells Atticus that
Boo was really nice. She has finally learned the lesson he tried to teach her earlier in the novel: that you can’t really
understand a person until you walk in their shoes. Scout’s story may be about losing one’s innocence, but it’s also
about coming of age, and that’s what makes this novel one of the most popular novels of all time.
Chapter Summaries
Chapter Summaries: Chapter 1 Summary

and Analysis
The novel opens with the narrator, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, relating that when her brother Jem was thirteen he
broke his arm badly at the elbow. Scout withholds the exact cause of his accident, transitioning instead to her
memories of the events leading up to Jem’s injury and their childhood in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Scout
tells the story as an adult, but within the narrative she is a little girl who’s just six years old at the beginning of the
novel and eight years old at the end. Scout has been thinking about the story ever since, and even though she and
her brother disagree about where exactly the story begins, Scout takes it all the way back to General Andrew
Jackson, whose war against the Creek Tribe led Scout’s ancestor, Simon Finch, to sail to Alabama, where he
established a homestead, Finch’s Landing, and grew rich on slave labor. The Civil War altered the family’s fortunes,
but still left them solidly upper middle class. Atticus became a lawyer, and his brother became a doctor.
Scout introduces us to Maycomb, “a tired old town” where people shuffle around with nothing to do, and to
Calpurnia, her family’s servant, an African American woman with a hand as “wide as a bed slat and twice as hard.”
Calpurnia is the disciplinarian in their household, the female figure who picks up the slack left behind by Scout’s
mother, who died when she was two. Scout doesn’t remember her mother, but Jem does, and this sometimes affects
their relationship. In the summer, the Finch children are bounded by Mrs. Dubose’s house two doors to the north and
by the Radley house three doors to the south when they’re outside playing. This suits them fine, and they spend
most of their days playing together just the two of them, having no friends their age living within that radius. That is,
until Dill arrives.
Charles Baker “Dill” Harris is from Meridian, Mississippi, and is visiting his Aunt Rachel for the summer. His arrival
sparks renewed fascination with the Radley house and the stories circulating about it around Maycomb. According to
one of them, Boo Radley, Mr. Radley’s son, was caught making trouble one night with his friends the Cunninghams
when they locked Maycomb’s beadle in the courthouse outhouse. As punishment, Boo’s friends were sent to the
state industrial school. Boo himself stayed home and hasn’t been seen since. Jem says that when Boo was thirty-
three he plunged a pair of scissors into his father’s leg one day for no good reason. Mr. Radley had simply been
walking by, and Boo stabbed him. When the police came, he was just sitting there, working on his scrapbook as if
nothing had happened. This story scares the kids and makes them reluctant to pass the Radley house. Even after
Mr. Radley dies and is replaced by Boo’s older brother, Mr. Nathan Radley, the kids fear the house enough to feel
the need to run past it as fast as possible.
In fact, the kids are scared enough that when Dill dares Jem to touch the house, at first he doesn’t want to do it. Dill
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has to goad him into it, and even then, Jem does it at top speed, running up and slapping the side of the Radley
house before sprinting back to his own porch. The kids think they see a shutter move inside the Radley house, but
then everything goes still.
Alliteration
One example of this is "the grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square."
Allusions
Andrew Jackson (1767 - 1845). A prominent American general and statesman and the 7th President of the United
States. In 1802 Jackson was elected the major general of the Tennessee militia, which he later led during the War of
1812. His service in the war brought him national fame and led to his presidential campaign in 1824, which he lost to
John Quincy Adams in what’s known as the “corrupt bargain.” In 1828, he defeated Adams and was elected
President. Scout refers to him at the beginning of the novel both to segue into her family’s history and to establish
herself as an authoritative narrator.
Battle of Hastings. Fought on October 14th, 1066, between the armies of Duke William II of Normandy and Harold
Godwinson, then King of the Anglo-Saxons, the Battle of Hastings marked the beginning of the Norman conquest of
England. The battle was the result of a succession crisis following the death of King Edward of England and is
considered one of the single most important battles in English history. That the Finches don’t have any ancestors on
either side of the battle is a source of some shame to some members of the family, but doesn’t concern Scout very
much.
Cornwall. An English county bordered by the Celtic Sea and the English Channel. Simon Finch was from Cornwall
—a fact Scout mentions to indicate that he wasn’t from a respectable family.
Creeks. In particular, the “Red Stick” Creeks, a faction of the larger Native American tribe that fought in the Creek
War, also known as the Creek Civil War. Andrew Jackson fought in this war as general of the Tennessee militia.
Were it not for this war, Scout says, her ancestor Simon never would’ve come to Alabama or founded Finch’s
Landing.
Dracula (1931). One of many film adaptations of the popular Bram Stoker novel of the same name. Dill tells Jem
and Scout the entire plot of the film, including the part where Dracula turns to dust. Dill uses this information to
impress Jem and Scout and earn entry into their group.
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875 - 1950). An American writer best known for his creation of the character Tarzan. His
works provide some of the source material for the dramas or plays the kids put on over the summer.
The Gray Ghost by Robert F. Schulkers. One of a series of eleven kids’ books about the character Seckatary
Hawkins, a fat boy with a big cowlick who relates the adventures of his group of friends. Lee was a fan of these
books, and her characters share her appreciation of the series.
Methodists. Members of the Methodist denomination of the Protestant Church. Scout’s ancestor, Simon, was a
Methodist and fled Cornwall, England, to avoid persecution by the Catholic Church.
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Oliver Optic (1822 - 1897). The pseudonym of scholar and writer William Taylor Adams, who published over 100
books for boys in his lifetime. Oliver Optic was the most often used of his many pseudonyms and was also the name
of a periodical, Oliver Optic’s Magazine, in which many of his works were published.
The Rover Boys. A series of popular books for boys by Arthur M. Winfield, a pseudonym of Edward Stratemeyer,
publisher and founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, which published The Rover Boys series.
Tarzan. A series of book written by the author Edgar Rice Burroughs and featuring the popular character Tarzan.
This series is a favorite of Scout, Jem, and Dill’s.
Tom Swift. A series of popular books for boys centered around the character Tom Swift, who was created by
publisher Edward Stratemeyer, the creator of The Rover Boys books series. Tom Swift books were written by many
different ghostwriters, who wrote collectively under the name Victor Appleton.
Victor Appleton. The pseudonym used by the collective of writers who produced the Tom Swift series.
Conflict
Maycomb vs. the Radleys. Maycomb’s gossip mill has not been kind to the Radleys, and in particular to Boo
Radley, whose juvenile arrest record, violent tendencies, and seeming imprisonment have become the subject of
much discussion, particularly amongst the children. Maycomb’s youth has built up the very idea of Boo Radley to the
point of being monstrous, so even though none of them have met Boo, they all fear him. When pets start dying,
everyone suspects the Radleys, which is a good indication of how suspicious Maycomb’s citizens are of the reclusive
family.
Scout vs. Calpurnia. One of the more innocuous major conflicts in the novel is that between Scout and Calpurnia,
the Finches’ stern, hard-handed servant. Calpurnia is the primary disciplinarian in the house, charged with keeping
the peace, teaching the children about good manners, and making sure they stay out of trouble. In part because of
this, and in part because Scout doesn’t like rules in general and lost her female role model (her mother) early, her
relationship with Calpurnia is strained. She doesn’t like being told to be quiet or to act like a girl, and Calpurnia,
despite her obvious affection for the Finch children, can’t replace their mother. Scout and Calpurnia will eventually
come to a kind of truce, but in these early chapters, when Scout has yet to mature, there’s still some conflict.
Foreshadowing
In the first few paragraphs, Scout foreshadows the events that lead to Jem breaking his arm. This doesn’t happen
until the end of the novel, which makes the entire novel a lead-up to that event.
Idioms
One example of this would be the idiom “up the creek,” which means in an awkward position. In Scout’s version of
Simon Finch’s story, General Jackson pushes the Native American Creek tribe “up the creek,” meaning that he’d
driven them into a bad position.
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Puns
Scout puns on the word “creek” and the Native American tribe the Creeks.
Themes
Friendship. Friendship is one of the most important themes in the novel. It’s established early with the arrival of
Dill, a little boy going on seven years old who becomes Scout and Jem’s best friend in the first chapter. Dill is
something of a joker, a teller of tall-tales and player of games, and even dares Jem to touch Boo Radley’s house.
Their friendship provides some much-needed levity to an otherwise serious novel and helps bind the Finch children
together even as they develop different interests.
Gossip. Maycomb seems to thrive on gossip. In this chapter, the gossip is focused mainly on the Radleys, who,
thanks in part to their son Boo, have become outcasts, feared for their strange behavior and unpleasant history. The
Radleys themselves don’t participate in the town gossip mill, which only distances them further from the rest of the
community.
Law. It’s established early in the narrative that Atticus went to study law in Montgomery and that he is a remarkably
good lawyer (perhaps too good for a small town like Maycomb). He’s a member of the State Legislature and appears
to be the most prominent lawyer in Maycomb. Later, we’ll see how the respect Atticus merits as a lawyer leads to his
involvement in the Tom Robinson case.
Nature. When the Finch children aren’t inside reading with Atticus, they’re outside playing in nature. It’s customary
for them to spend time climbing trees, swimming in the creek, and playing in the dirt, which makes nature an
important part of their lives. Later on in the novel, the oppressive summer heat will become a character in itself as it
affects Tom Robinson’s trial.
Superstition. Superstition is another major theme in the novel, though it primarily affects the children. Jem and
Scout have a lot of strange superstitions, mostly about death, ghosts, and the Radley place, which is figured almost
like a haunted house, with shadows moving in the windows. Their superstitions make it difficult for them to
understand Boo Radley at first and contribute to their fear.

and Analysis
Dill leaves Maycomb at the end of summer. In the wake of his departure, Scout’s only comfort is the thought of
starting school. Her brother walks her to class on the first day, explaining that, as a first grader, she isn’t to hover
around him at recess, talk about their home lives, or embarrass him in any way. He’s in the fifth grade and doesn’t
want to be associated with the little kids. This fact takes Scout by surprise, as does her misunderstanding with her
first grade teacher, Miss Caroline. Miss Caroline is new in town and doesn’t understand that Walter Cunningham,
one of the boys in the class, won’t take anything off of anyone, not even the quarter Miss Caroline offers him to get
lunch in town. Miss Caroline assumes Scout is being insolent and whacks her on the hand with a ruler. Later, when
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class lets out, Scout sees Miss Caroline sink into her chair, discouraged by her first day, but there’s bad blood
between them now, and Scout doesn’t feel sorry for her.
Alliteration
One example of this would be the phrase “professional people were poor.” Another one would be "the cats had long
conversations with each other, they wore cunning little clothes."
Allusion
Tarzan and the Ant Men. The tenth book in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ series of books about the character Tarzan.
Secession. In 1861, Alabama seceded from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America,
fighting against the Union forces in the Civil War. Like most Southern states, they were fighting to keep slavery legal
and, thus, to maintain their way of life. Winston County, however, seceded from Alabama in protest, and Scout know
this, as does every child in Maycomb. She mentions it to bring Miss Caroline’s upbringing into question and show
that she isn’t to be trusted.
Conflict
Once again, Scout comes into conflict with a female authority figure—this time, Miss Caroline. Scout tries to explain
to her teacher about the Cunninghams and is punished for it, which seems unfair to Scout and sours her on the idea
of school. This conflict is, however, slight compared to the bigger, more violent conflicts of later chapters. Rather
than develop this as a primary conflict in the novel, Lee uses this episode to help develop Scout’s character (as an
intelligent, somewhat obstinate girl).
Irony
One example of this would be Miss Caroline saying that she employs experiential learning, then telling Scout not to
read at home or let Atticus teach her.
Similes
One example is Scout saying that Miss Caroline “looked and smelled like a peppermint drop.”
Themes
Education. This chapter marks the beginning of a divide between formal education and individual education, which
becomes more obvious as the novel progresses. Scout’s teacher Miss Caroline takes a kind of totalitarian approach
and tells Scout to stop learning how to read and write at home, because it would interfere with her education. “You
won’t learn to write until you’re in the third grade,” she says, ignoring the fact that Scout already knows how. Scout’s
disillusionment with Miss Caroline and school leads her to seek her personal and moral education elsewhere.
Shame. Miss Caroline unintentionally embarrasses Walter Cunningham by offering him money for lunch without
realizing he can’t pay her back. The shame he feels stems less from his family’s financial situation and more from
13
the fact of not being understood. Everyone in town knows that he’s poor and has learned not to embarrass him by
offering him things, but Miss Caroline, a newcomer, has to be told about how things work. Throughout the novel,
we’ll see characters feel shamed for one reason or another, and this shame will help us understand the social
structure in Maycomb.
Tradition. Tradition often goes hand in hand with superstition, which can at times have negative effects on a
character’s thoughts and behaviors. In this chapter, the best example of a tradition is one where people spit into their
hands to shake on a bargain. Miss Caroline isn’t familiar with this tradition, and this further distances her from the
rest of the town.

and Analysis
Scout chases down Walter Cunningham and grinds his face into the dirt at lunchtime because of what happened
with Miss Caroline. Jem stops her from beating him up, however, citing the fact that their fathers know each other
(Scout said in Chapter 2 that Walter’s family were so poor that they paid Atticus for his services with gifts of wood,
holly, and chestnuts). Jem then invites Walter to lunch, bragging on the way home about how he once touched the
Radley house. At lunch (which Scout calls “dinner”), Scout criticizes Walter for pouring syrup over his entire plate.
Calpurnia is livid because of this and punishes Scout by making her eat in the kitchen instead of at the dinner table.
Scout thinks this is reason enough to fire Calpurnia, but Atticus refuses to.
Back at school, Miss Caroline screams, “It’s alive!” as if she’s seen a mouse. In fact, it’s a cootie living in Burris
Ewell’s hair. None of the kids are bothered by this, least of all Burris Ewell, but it leaves Miss Caroline shaken up.
She’s not prepared to face Burris Ewell, one of the Ewell clan of children who show up on the first day of school, then
ditch for the rest of the year. Burris doesn’t leave until Miss Caroline starts crying and the other kids have to comfort
her. Back home, Scout is even more confused when Calpurnia says she missed Scout while she was at school.
When her father tells her it’s time to read, it’s too much for her, and she goes to sulk on the front porch. She and
Atticus strike a compromise: if she goes to school, they can keep reading together in secret.
Alliteration
This chapter has several examples of alliteration—Miss Caroline’s “sudden shriek,” the Finches’ “silver saucer,” and
Burris Ewell’s threat, “Make me, missus,” to name a few.
Allusions
The Dewey Decimal System. Jem erroneously refers to this as a teaching method when it is, in fact, a
classification system that libraries use to arrange their books. It was first employed in the 18th Century and was
already in use in many schools by the 1930s, when the novel is set.
Conflict
14
The conflict in this chapter is largely benign, as it was in Chapters 1 and 2. Both Scout’s conflicts with Calpurnia and
Walter stem from the conflict with Miss Caroline in Chapter 1, which in itself demonstrates Scout’s often quarrelsome
nature. When she describes Calpurnia as “fractious,” it’s clear that Scout is really talking about herself and isn’t, as a
child, the best judge of her actions.
Burris Ewell vs. Miss Caroline. Once again, Miss Caroline’s lack of familiarity with Maycomb’s ways leads to
conflict, this time with Burris Ewell, who has been showing up for the first day of first grade for three years and is just
about to leave when Miss Caroline sees a cootie on his head and screams. Burris’s attack of Miss Caroline and
school in general is mean-spirited and ugly and leaves her in tears. Scout and all the other children have to comfort
her and explain that it’s just his way. As we’ll see later, the Ewells are all like that.
Scout vs. Calpurnia. This conflict flares up in the middle of the chapter, when Calpurnia punishes Scout for
criticizing Walter’s fondness for syrup. Their fight is so contentious that Scout actually wants Atticus to fire Calpurnia
because of it. He of course does no such thing, and Scout is left smarting for the rest of the afternoon, until she
comes home to find that Calpurnia has made her favorite cracklin’ bread. When Calpurnia tells Scout she missed
her, the girl is so befuddled that she doesn’t know what to think. Their conflict isn’t over yet, but will begin to ebb after
this chapter.
Scout vs. Walter Cunningham. When the chapter opens, Scout is chasing down Walter and grinding his face
into the dirt because he’s indirectly responsible for her getting in trouble with Miss Caroline in Chapter 2. Eventually,
Jem pulls Scout off of Walter and invites him over to their house for lunch. Scout, unable to fully let go of their fight,
criticizes him for pouring syrup all over his plate. Part of this disdain for him stems from Scout’s superior social
status: Walter Cunningham is from one of the poorest families in Maycomb, and, intentionally or no, Scout thinks that
she’s better than Walter. This will change later in the novel, but, for now, Scout has no respect for Walter.
Diction
Lee’s use of diction is most apparent when Scout’s narrative voice breaks to allow Atticus’ use of legal jargon to
seep through. Whenever this happens, the distinctly Southern character of Scout’s voice is enhanced, while Atticus’
formal speech and mannerisms become more apparent.
Idioms
Scout’s narrative voice makes use of many idioms, including: “I’ll be dogged,” “what in the Sam hill are you doing?”
and Scout’s warning that she would “fix” Calpurnia or get back at her. These idioms contribute to the authenticity of
Scout’s voice and emphasize her Southern roots.
Repetition
In addition to the alliterative phrases “sudden shriek” and “silver saucer,” Scout uses repetition in the scenes at
school when she refers to the character Little Chuck Little, who appears, contrary to his name, to be something of a
scrappy fighter, capable of scaring the bigger (and meaner) Burris Ewell. Lee uses repetition to trick the reader into
thinking Little Chuck isn’t capable of violence.
Symbols
15
Harper Lee uses the symbols in this chapter to indicate social status. Later in the novel, symbols will be used as
tools of character development, as elements of moral and logical arguments, and, collectively, as a method of
emphasizing key themes (for example, innocence and justice).
Atticus’ Pocket Watch. Unsurprisingly, Atticus’ pocket watch is a symbol of time and its passing. He tends to take
it out of his pocket when he wants to think, and in so doing imparts the watch with a sort of ruminative power, as if it
were a talisman.
Cooties. When we say someone has cooties, we typically mean that they’re dirty and shouldn’t be touched or
associated with (often, this is said of young boys). That Burris has a literal cootie in his hair is a symbol of his self-
imposed social isolation, which he cultivates with vicious satisfaction.
Themes
Compromise. Atticus and Scout strike a bargain at the end of this chapter: if she goes back to school, then they
can continue reading together in secret. He uses this as an opportunity to teach her about the idea of compromise,
which he defines as two or more parties making concessions in order to reach an agreement. There will be many
compromises in this novel, some more balanced than others.
Courage. The Finch children, being kids, have an underdeveloped idea of what constitutes real bravery. As such,
Jem believes that running up and touching the Radley house was an act of great courage on his part, though Scout
is quick to point out that he’s obviously still afraid of the Radleys. Later in the novel, their idea of courage will develop
and become less childish.
Education. As in Chapter 2, education is a major theme and a source of some disillusionment for Scout. Her
conflict with Miss Caroline sours her on formal education and makes her long for Atticus to take Miss Caroline’s
place and homeschool her instead. This doesn’t happen, but from here on out the elementary school and the
teachers there will be a source of frustration and amusement for Scout, who holds many of their teaching methods in
disdain.
Empathy. Atticus attempts to teach Scout about empathy when he tells her, “You never really understand a person
until you consider things from his point of view....” This is the equivalent of telling her to walk in someone else’s
shoes in order to understand them. Scout doesn’t know how to do this as of yet, and it isn’t until the final chapters
that she learns this lesson.
Gossip. Yet again, much of the gossip in this chapter concerns Boo Radley, whom Walter calls a “hain’t.” (A hain’t is
a ghost or a spooky person).
Humor. Much of the humor in the novel stems from Scout’s narrative voice, which is naturally sharp and humorous,
while at the same time being sensitive to the idiosyncrasies of life in Maycomb. She’s an innately perceptive
character who enjoys pointing out curious facts and behaviors, such as the fact that sometimes Dr. Reynolds will
accept payment in the form of a bushel of potatoes for his help delivering a baby. Lee uses these comical moments
to temper the more serious events of the novel and provide some much needed levity to the narrative.
16
Loneliness. When Scout returns from her first day of school, she’s surprised to find that Calpurnia missed her and
was lonely without her and Jem around the house. This loneliness helps develop Calpurnia’s character, which has
been fairly flat thus far, thanks to Scout’s view of her as a disciplinarian. As the narrative progresses, Lee will
continue to use loneliness as a way of creating empathy for her characters, particularly those who have been
misunderstood.
Superstition. The children in Maycomb believe in “hain’ts,” or ghosts. That Walter calls Boo a hain’t suggests that
there’s something otherworldly about him that frightens the children. Later, Scout will learn that this isn’t true, but for
the moment, at least, the children hold onto their superstitions.
Violence. Though the conflict between Burris Ewell and Miss Caroline has its humorous moments, it is, by and
large, a frightening encounter, with Burris calling Miss Caroline a “slut” and behaving in an inappropriate manner.
There’s also a moment during this fight when Little Chuck Little threatens Burris and sticks his hand into his pocket
as if he has a knife there. Little Chuck Little was earlier described as having infinite patience, and his sudden threat
of violence here is meant to indicate that Maycomb isn’t as safe as it would purport to be.

and Analysis
Unsurprisingly, Scout finds the Dewey Decimal System boring and finds school to be a waste of time. One day, while
running past the Radley house on her way home, she spots a bit of tinfoil in the knothole of an oak tree on the
Radley lot. Inside, Scout finds two pieces of chewing gum. It’s unclear at first who leaves her this gift. Jem doesn’t
believe she found it and makes her spit it out when he gets home from school, but later, when they find more tinfoil
with a pair of Indian head pennies, he becomes curious. He knows there aren’t many people who go by there (Cecil
Jacobs walks a mile out of his way to avoid the Radley house), which makes it especially strange.
Two days after Jem and Scout find the Indian heads, Dill arrives from Meridian. He tells them a bunch of tall tales
about seeing conjoined twins and riding with the train engineer, then pretends to predict the future. Jem scorns these
superstitions, explaining to Dill about Hot Steams, which are spirits that can’t get to Heaven and hang around on
Earth, trying to suck the life out of people who pass through them. Tired of talking and playacting, they decide to roll
around in a spare tire, which leads to Scout accidentally rolling too fast onto the Radley property. When Scout
recovers she runs out of the yard, leaving the tire for Jem to retrieve.
After this, the children act out a play, One Man’s Family, based on the rumors about the Radleys (in particular, Boo’s
attack on Mr. Radley). Whenever Nathan Radley walks by, they pause in the middle of a scene so he won’t know
what they’re doing. Atticus figures it out, though, and this is Scout’s second reason for wanting to quit the game—the
first, she says, is the fact that when she rolled onto the Radley property, she heard someone inside the house
laughing. She assumes this is Boo.
Alliteration
One example of this would be "we polished and perfected it" (referring to the Boo Radley play).
17
Allusions
Time Magazine. A popular magazine first published in March, 1923. It’s among the most influential magazines in
the United States, and the fact that Scout reads it is further proof of her intelligence and her very advanced reading
level.
Metaphor. A good example of this would be Scout inching "sluggishly along the treadmill of the Maycomb County
school system," where school is compared to a treadmill that runs endlessly and gets you nowhere. This is very
telling and reveals Scout's true feelings about school.
Simile. One example of this would be Scout popping out of the tire "like a cork onto the pavement."
Themes
Games. “Summer was Dill,” Scout says, meaning that when he arrives, their lives are enriched, and they play
bigger, more elaborate games, like the play they act out in this chapter. This play marks the beginning of a major
shift in the character of their games, which become less innocent and more dangerous in the proceeding chapters.
Lies. Characteristically, Dill’s first words in this chapter are lies, which he insists on telling despite the fact that
nobody believes them. Dill’s lies are, however, innocuous, and cover up his insecurities, so that one can hardly fault
him for having a little fun. Other characters don’t have such innocent intentions, though, and we’ll see the damage
that lies can do during Tom Robinson’s trial.
Superstition. Like a hain’t, a Hot Steam is a spirit, like a ghost, who can’t get to Heaven. A Hot Steam is more
malevolent than a regular hain’t, however, and hangs around Earth, trying to squeeze the life out of people who walk
through their namesake hot places. That most of the biggest superstitions in this novel have to do in some way with
death represents the fear that an untimely death produces in the main characters.

and Analysis
That summer, Dill proposes to Scout and then forgets about it. Despite Scout’s attempts to jog his memory by
beating him up, Dill ignores her and grows closer and closer to Jem. This frees her to spend more time with their
neighbor, Miss Maudie Atkinson, a middle-aged woman who likes to garden and lets the Finch children run through
her yard as much as they like as long as they don’t disturb her azaleas. Miss Maudie knew Scout’s uncle, Jack
Finch, a strange man who proposed to her every Christmas by shouting across the street. She never married him
and is, in fact, a widow, having been married to a man we never meet, but that doesn’t stop Uncle Jack from trying to
get her goat, so to speak.
One evening, Scout asks Miss Maudie if Boo is alive, and she explains that his real name is Mr. Arthur Radley and
that of course he’s alive. His father, Mr. Radley, was a foot-washing Baptist (as opposed to a regular Baptist like
Miss Maudie), and this appears to have had some effect on Boo, though it’s unclear what it is, exactly. According to
18
Miss Maudie, most of the gossip about Boo comes from Stephanie Crawford and the African American community,
which is commonly believed to be more superstitious than the rest of Maycomb. Miss Maudie didn’t put any stock in
this gossip, though.
The next morning, Jem and Dill tell her about their cockamamie plan to send Boo a note through the broken shutter
on the side of the Radley house. Jem plans to do this by sticking the note to an old fishing pole and trying to drop it
onto the windowsill. This is, unsurprisingly, ineffective, and Atticus catches them in the act. He gives them a long
lecture about not tormenting Boo, and then uses his skill as a lawyer to trick the truth about the play out of Jem. Jem,
who used to say that he wanted to be a lawyer like Atticus, waits until Atticus is out of earshot to yell that he isn’t so
sure he wants to be a lawyer after the way Atticus treated him.
Allusions
The Second Battle of the Marne (July 15 - August 6, 1918). Unbeknownst to the Germans, this was to be their
last major offensive of World War I and would mark the beginning of the Allied advance. About one hundred days
after the battle, the Armistice that ended the war was declared. This was a particularly bloody and important battle,
and the fact that Scout compares it to Miss Maudie’s war against nut grass reflects the sheer level of intensity that
Miss Maudie brings to this endeavor. It’s also a pithy observation that suggests that, in spite of Scout’s evident
boredom in the classroom, she did, in fact, learn something.
Idioms
One example of an idiom is “get your goat,” which Uncle Jack uses in reference to his (repeated) proposals to Miss
Maudie, whom he likes to tease (unsuccessfully, Scout says).
Metaphor
Miss Maudie tells Scout that foot-washing Baptists think "women are a sin by definition." This is untrue, of course,
but it's still a metaphor because it equates two unlike things, women and sin, in an attempt to demonstrate how
these foot-washers think and feel.
Personification
One example of this would be Miss Maudie telling Scout that the Radley house is a "sad house," meaning that it's
not the fearsome place Scout believes it to be. It's "sad" because the things that happen inside it are sad or elicit pity
from Miss Maudie.
Themes
Gossip. In this chapter, Miss Stephanie Crawford becomes a more prominent force within the Maycomb gossip mill.
We'll later discover that she is in fact the biggest gossiper in town, but for now, she's just a source of amusement.
When Miss Maudie asks her if she made room for Boo in bed, Scout misses the sexual implication and just thinks
that it's Miss Maudie's voice that shuts Stephanie up for a while.
Sin. Miss Maudie tells Scout that foot-washers believe "women are a sin by definition." This won't be the last time we
19
hear that something is a sin. Mr. Radley believed that anything that's "pleasure is a sin." Atticus thinks that it's a "sin
to kill a mockingbird." The question of what is and isn't right in the eyes of God preoccupies many characters in the
novel and establishes a kind of moral high ground that others either ignore or aspire to, depending on their own
definition of sin.

and Analysis
On Dill's last night in Maycomb, the kids all go down to Miss Rachel's fishing pond. While there they happen to see
Mr. Avery across the street urinate in the light of the streetlamp. He appears to do it from ten feet away, which leads
Jem and Dill to have a literal pissing contest. After that, the boys want to peep into the Radley house, and they go
sneaking into the yard. Jem and Scout hoist Dill up so that he can see through the broken shutter. When Dill doesn't
see anything, they try the back window, where they nearly get caught by Mr. Nathan Radley.
The kids narrowly manage to escape. Scout trips amongst collards, and Jem gets his pants caught in the fence after
Nathan fires his shotgun, assuming that the children are really an African American man who is trespassing on his
property. The town, hearing the gunshot, comes out into the street, where Dill makes up a lie about winning Jem's
pants while playing strip poker in order to cover up what really happened. Atticus is suspicious of this lie but accepts
it, and Dill goes to Miss Rachel's for the night, stopping only to kiss Scout goodbye, having remembered that they
are engaged.
Later that night, Jem goes back for his pants but refuses to let Scout come with him. The two of them have been
sleeping on the screened back porch, so Atticus doesn't hear him leaving. Scout freezes for a moment because she
hears Atticus's cough and fears that they have been caught, but it proves to be a false alarm. Jem comes back and
refuses to talk about what happened, though he is clearly shaken up. They both have trouble falling asleep that
night.
Allusions
"One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes" by the Brothers Grimm. One of the many German fairy tales
collected by the Brothers Grimm. In it, Little Two-Eyes is a young girl shunned by her mother and two sisters, who
hate her for having "normal" eyes. When a knight comes along, Little Two-Eyes's sisters hide her under a cask in the
hopes that the knight will speak to them, instead. This doesn't work out for the two sisters, and Little Two-Eyes winds
up marrying the knight. Jem alludes to this story to suggest that he and Scout are Little One-Eye and Little Three-
Eyes, respectively.
Themes
Sound. This is the first chapter where sound (and the lack of it) makes a real impact on the narrative. As the
children walk down the street, they listen to the sounds of porches creaking, lights flickering, distant characters
laughing. Lee uses these sounds to create an apprehensive feeling in the reader and contribute to the spooky mood
associated with the Radleys. The creeping silence they hear is broken by the loud blast of Mr. Nathan Radley's
20
shotgun, which scares the children both because it's a deadly weapon and because the sound is so forceful. Later
that same night, when the silence sets in again, Scout and Jem have trouble falling asleep, because they think any
little sound could be Boo Radley coming to get them.

and Analysis
Jem tells Scout what really happened when he went back for his pants that night: when he snuck back, he found that
someone had mended them and left them on the fence for him to find. What's more, that someone didn't do a very
good job of mending the pants, which leads Jem to think that someone knew he was coming back for them, like they
read his mind. While they're talking, they pass the knothole, where they find a ball of twine. Scout convinces Jem to
leave it there for a few days, in case it's someone's secret hiding place. When the ball is still there days later, they
decide to keep it.
Soon after Jem goes through a phase where he tries to walk like an Egyptian, he and Scout find a pair of soap dolls
that look just like them in the knothole. This confirms their suspicion that these knothole items are indeed intended to
be gifts and that someone is trying to be their friend. Next, they find a watch and knife on a chain that Atticus says
would be worth ten dollars if it were still running. Jem tries to fix the watch, but fails. Still, he wears it around,
imitating Atticus, who has a real pocket watch that belonged to their grandfather.
When the kids go to place a thank you letter into the knothole, they find that Mr. Nathan Radley has already filled it
up with cement. He tells them he did it because the tree is sick, but Jem asks Atticus, and he says the tree isn't sick
at all. Later, Scout finds Jem crying and doesn't understand why. It's implied that he's crying because he realized
that Boo was giving them the gifts and that Nathan tried to stop him.
Personification
One example of this would be the pants sitting on the fence "like they were expectin'" Jem.
Symbols
Gifts. Traditionally, gifts are symbols of one's affection or appreciation for their recipient. In the case of the gifts left
for Jem and Scout in the knothole, they're communiques meant, most likely, to build trust between Boo and the
Finch children and prove to them that there's no reason to be afraid of him. However, because the kids are forced to
infer who left these gifts for them, their true intent is the subject of some speculation.
Jem's Pocket Watch. Unlike Atticus' pocket watch, which is a symbol of time and social status, Jem's pocket
watch is a symbol of his respect for his father, whom he tries to emulate by carrying the watch and chain he finds in
the knothole. It's also a symbol of their burgeoning friendship with Boo Radley.
The Knothole. The knothole is a medium of communication and, thus, symbolizes the connection that Boo tries to
establish with the Finch children. His gifts represent his affection for Scout and Jem. When the knothole is cemented
21
up, that line of communication closes, symbolizing the divide between Boo and the other characters in the novel.

and Analysis
Maycomb has an unusually cold winter that year. Mr. Avery tells Jem and Scout that the weather changes when
children disobey adults, which makes them feel responsible for the cold. When old Mrs. Radley dies, people hardly
take notice. Atticus goes over to the house, which prompts Scout and Jem to ask after Boo, but Atticus rebuffs their
questions. The next morning, it starts snowing, and Scout assumes the world is ending. When she realizes it's not,
she wants to play in the snow, and she and Jem go about making a snowman with a frame of dirt and a covering of
snow. When Atticus sees it, he tells them to alter it a bit so it doesn't look too much like Mr. Avery.
That night, the temperature dips to 16°—the coldest night Atticus can remember. He wakes Jem and Scout up
because a fire has broken out at Miss Maudie's house. Atticus tells them to stand in front of the Radley house, where
they'll be out of the way while the men work. The fire truck has to be pushed from the center of town, because the
cold made it stall out. Meanwhile, Atticus and the other neighbors carry Miss Maudie's furniture out of the house. Mr.
Avery manages to fall off the upstairs porch. Unfortunately, the fire truck is too late, and the fire eats up into Miss
Maudie's roof. Eventually, the house collapses, and the fire trucks leave. One had come from Clark's Ferry, sixty
miles away.
When Atticus rejoins the children, he's cross with Scout, because he thinks she disobeyed him to fetch herself a
blanket. In fact, Scout hadn't realized that she had a blanket or that Boo slipped up to her while the house was
burning to lay the blanket on her shoulders. When Atticus figures out what happened, Jem begs him not to tell
Nathan Radley about it, telling him that Nathan is crazy and might be keeping Boo from contacting them. Atticus
agrees to keep it between them, and he tells the kids they don't have to go to school the next day because of what
happened. So the next day they sleep in until noon and then head over to Miss Maudie's. She's in pretty good spirits
for someone whose house just burned down. She already has plans to build a new one.
Allusion
Appomattox. It's unclear whether Miss Maudie is referring to the Battle of Appomattox Court House or to the Battle
of Appomattox Station. The former was one of the final battles of the American Civil War and resulted in a decisive
Union victory and the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. The latter was fought the day before the Battle of
Appomattox Court House and is considered part of the Appomattox Campaign. The battles took place on April 8th
and 9th, 1865. Atticus alludes to Appomattox to emphasize that it hasn't been this cold in Maycomb for a very long
time.
The Rosetta Stone. Discovered in 1799, the Rosetta Stone was the key to deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Mr. Avery alludes to it when he lies to the Finch children about their bad behavior being the cause of the cold
weather. According to him, it's written on the Rosetta Stone that when children disobey adults, the seasons change.
Of course, the Rosetta Stone says no such thing. Mr. Avery is trying to make them feel bad by using an elevated
allusion that they won't understand. It works.
22
Malapropism
Absolute Morphodite. The Finch children's naive pronunciation of "hermaphrodite," which refers to any organism
with both male and female sexual organs or characteristics. Their snowman isn't a hermaphrodite, but they continue
to use this term, to the great amusement of Miss Maudie.
Personification. Some examples of this would be the fire that "devoured" Miss Maudie's house and the siren that
"wailed" down the street, "screaming" like a person would.
Simile
Some examples of this would be Miss Maudie's house looking "like a pumpkin" as it burns orange and Miss
Maudie's hat encased in ice "like a fly in amber."

and Analysis
This chapter opens with a fight between Scout and her classmate Cecil Jacobs, who announces to the entire school
that Atticus "defend[s] niggers." Scout takes offense to this and shouts at him to take it back, but refrains from getting
into a physical fight for fear of being punished. Atticus has to tell her not to use the word "nigger" because it's
"common," meaning that the only people who say it are people who don't know any better. Thereafter, Scout uses
the word Negro, instead, and asks Atticus if all lawyers defend African American people. He explains to her that it's
his job to defend Tom and that, if he succumbed to peer pressure and refused to defend Tom, like the other citizens
of Maycomb want him to, he wouldn't be able to hold up his head in town. He intends to defend Tom even though he
knows he won't win.
Christmas comes, and, with it, Uncle Jack, Atticus's brother, who stays with them for a week. He likes to make Scout
laugh, but is also a very serious man—a doctor—who removes her splinters and warns her not to swear. On
Christmas morning, Jem and Scout play with the air rifles Atticus bought them, but aren't allowed to bring the rifles
with them when they go see Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Alexandra, Atticus's sister, at Finch's Landing. Aunt Alexandra is
so unlike Atticus in every way that Jem thinks she was switched at birth and is actually a Crawford. Her grandson,
Francis, is the most boring kid alive, according to Scout. He asked for a bowtie for Christmas. What's worse, he says
bad things about Atticus defending Tom, which leads Scout to punch him in the face.
Uncle Jack punishes Scout for fighting with Francis. Later, when they return to Maycomb, Scout tells him that he was
unfair to her and explains why she punched Francis, but asks him not to tell Atticus, because she doesn't want to
disappoint her father. Still later, Scout overhears Uncle Jack and Atticus talking. Uncle Jack says he doesn't want to
have children. Atticus says Scout's use of bad language is just a phase. He knows that she tries to obey him, and
he's sorry that she's going to have to deal with the ugliness of the trial soon. He knows that she's listening, but wants
her to hear this so that later she'll understand.
Allusion
23
General Hood (1831 - 1879). John Bell Hood, a brilliant Confederate general whose reputation was destroyed by
his defeats in the Atlanta Campaign and the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. According to Scout, her cousin, Ike Finch,
the last living Confederate veteran of the Civil War in Maycomb, has a beard like General Hood's, which grows
several inches long and juts powerfully out from his chin. That so many of Scout's allusions refer to the Civil War and
Confederate generals serves as a potent reminder of the South's dark history.
House of Commons. Traditionally, this refers to the lower house of the British Parliament, but may, in other
contexts, refer to the equivalent house of the Canadian or Irish parliaments. Uncle Jack alludes to it while trying to
answer Scout's question asking what a "whore-lady" is. It's unclear exactly how the two things are related.
Lord Melbourne (1779 - 1848). A Whig politician who served as the British Prime Minister from 1835 to 1841. He
was involved in a couple sex scandals, one involving his wife, who had an affair with Lord Byron, and another
involving his friend, the author Caroline Norton. It's unclear how exactly Lord Melbourne relates to what Scout and
Jack were talking about before.
The Missouri Compromise. This United States federal statute was devised by Henry Clay and illegalized slavery
in Louisiana Purchase territories north of the 36°30′ parallel, except within the state of Missouri. According to Cousin
Ike, the Missouri Compromise marked the beginning of the end for the antebellum South, whose way of life was
destroyed when they could no longer rely on slave labor.
Stonewall Jackson (1824 - 1963). Sometimes referred to as Ol' Blue Light by his men, Thomas Jonathan
"Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate general who earned his nickname at the First Battle of Bull Run, where he
and his brigade of Virginians stood their ground against a Union attack. Cousin Ike alludes to him when discussing
the Civil War with Scout and Jem.
Conflict
Once again, the primary conflicts in this chapter involve Scout. This time, her conflicts are with men, not women, and
therefore have a different feel and character. In this chapter, Scout actively attempts to hold back and keep out of
trouble, out of respect for Atticus, but finds this difficult.
Scout vs. Cecil Jacobs. This chapter opens with Scout shouting at Cecil to take back the mean things that he's
said about Atticus. Remarkably, Scout is able to refrain from getting into a physical fight this time, but only because
she has already spoken to Atticus and he has explained to her that he has a moral duty to defend Tom Robinson.
Her cousin Francis, however, doesn't get off so easily.
Scout vs. Francis. Like Cecil Jacobs, Francis speaks ill of Atticus because he's defending Tom Robinson.
However, because he's related to Scout and should know better than to speak that way about relatives, Francis
doesn't get off as easy as Cecil did. Scout patiently tortures him for a little while, trapping him in the kitchen and
shouting at him occasionally before finally punching him in the face. She doesn't explain why she does this to Aunt
Alexandra, and she ends up being punished by Uncle Jack.
Scout vs. Uncle Jack. Though Scout loves Uncle Jack, they come into conflict because he doesn't want her using
swear words or bad language. When he hears that Scout has been fighting with Francis, he punishes her without
first waiting to hear her side of the story. Once he does hear it, though, he apologizes for being cross with her, later
24
telling Atticus that he doesn't want any children of his own, because he doesn't understand them.
Idiom
An example of an idiom would be "to draw a bead on someone," which Scout uses when she has a fight with
Francis. Generally, the phrase refers to aiming a gun (drawing a bead on your target), but in this context refers to
Scout keeping an eye on Cecil Jacobs, whom she decides not to fight.
Themes
Heritage. In this chapter, Scout relates the particulars of her family's heritage, including the architecture of Simon
Finch's house, which is exceptionally peculiar (his daughters all slept in one bedroom, the staircase to which could
only be accessed through his master bedroom). Scout tells us this not to impress upon the reader how old and
wealthy her family was, but to describe Finch's Landing, a new setting that the reader has never seen before. Thus,
the long expositional passages about the house and her ancestors are less a product of Scout's interest in her
heritage than they are of Lee's need to quickly orient the reader in a new setting.

and Analysis
This chapter opens with the humorous line, "Atticus was feeble: he was nearly fifty." This serves as the premise of
the chapter, which Atticus later disproves through his actions. In the beginning of the chapter, Scout and Jem are
embarrassed by Atticus because he's old, doesn't play football, works in an office, wears glasses, and intends to
defend Tom Robinson in court. What's more, he won't teach them how to shoot their new air rifles. He does,
however, tell them not to shoot down mockingbirds, because it's a sin. Miss Maudie elaborates: mockingbirds don't
do anything but fly around and make music for us to enjoy. She also says that Atticus was a master checker player
(a fact that Scout finds even more embarrassing). Irritated, Scout aims her air rifle at Miss Maudie's behind that
evening, but Atticus stops her from shooting.
One Saturday, a rabid dog by the name of Tim Johnson comes twitching slowly down the road to the Finch house.
Calpurnia rushes the children inside and calls Atticus at the office. He drives up with Heck Tate, the Sheriff, who
confirms that Tim Johnson does indeed have rabies. Jem makes the grim observation that the dog is "lookin' for a
place to die." Heck Tate can't make the shot, so he hands the rifle to Atticus, who protests at first, because he hasn't
shot a gun in thirty years. His children are surprised to learn that he was once called One-Shot Finch because of his
deadly aim, and they have a hard time processing it when Atticus shoots Tim Johnson. Miss Maudie explains that
Atticus gave up shooting when he realized that it gave him an "unfair advantage" over other living things. Jem later
calls Atticus a "gentleman" because of it.
Alliteration
Some examples of this would be Miss Stephanie Crawford's "face framed" in the window or the idea that mad dogs
"leaped and lunged at throats."
25
Motifs
Swimming. In Chapter 4, Jem was described as "treading water" at the Radleys' gate, pausing a brief moment
before running in after the tire Scout left on the Radley lot. Lee uses a second swimming-related image in Chapter
10 when Scout says Atticus moved slowly, "like an underwater swimmer." The swimming motif thus becomes linked
to the theme of time, which appears in the novel to ebb and flow like water.
Simile
One example of this would be Tim Johnson shivering "like a horse shedding flies."
Symbols
Guns. In this chapter, guns are both symbols of death and (occasional) sources of amusement, as when Scout aims
her air rifle at Miss Maudie's behind. These air rifles are toys and downplay the more traditional symbolism
associated with guns (that of death and destruction). When Atticus shoots Tim Johnson, that symbolism comes to
the forefront, but is tempered by the fact that Atticus has to kill Tim Johnson to keep his family and the rest of
Maycomb safe from the dog's rabies. Thus, guns are also methods of protection and symbolize the need for safety.
Mockingbirds. When Atticus tells the children that it's a sin to kill a mockingbird, he establishes it as a symbol of
innocence and, ultimately, of vulnerability, because the mockingbird can't defend itself. Miss Maudie explains that the
mockingbird is innocent because it doesn't do anything but make music for people to enjoy. Later, we'll see how
Tom Robinson and Boo Radley themselves become the symbolic mockingbirds of the book.
Themes
Age. Scout's erroneous assumption that Atticus is feeble because he's fifty further emphasizes the age differences
between Scout, Jem, and Atticus. Jem, who is five years older than Scout, has pulled away from her, in terms of
interests and maturity level, but when compared to Atticus and other adults in the novel, the two seem more alike,
thus proving that age, like time, is relative.
Death. Tim Johnson's death isn't the first in this novel, in which both Mr. Radley and Mrs. Radley have already died
without Scout so much as batting an eyelash, but it is the first death that has a real effect on the Finch children, who
are shocked by their father's skill with a gun. Tim Johnson, an innocent dog who happened to be infected with
rabies, is sometimes considered a mockingbird, like Tom and Boo, but the fact of his disease muddies the
symbolism considerably.
Innocence. Mockingbirds are symbols of innocence, which makes this one of the most important themes in the
novel. In addition to the symbolic mockingbirds of Tom and Boo, innocence can be found in Scout, Jem, and Dill,
who undergo a loss of innocence later in the novel, when they watch Tom's trial. Unsurprisingly, Lee associates
innocence with youth and the natural world—two things that are traditionally considered innocent and pure.
Sin. In previous chapters, Lee established sin as a theme in relation to Christianity and the sometimes extreme
beliefs of Christians in Maycomb. Here, Atticus reorients the theme of "sin" to a purely moral or personal belief in
26
what's right and wrong, effectively eliminating the extreme religious connotations of the word "sin." This is an
important change, because it allows Scout and Jem to develop their sense of morality independent of their religion.
Time. Thus far in the narrative, the pocket watches have hinted at the theme of time, which has by and large had
little effect on the novel, except where Scout has dipped into flashback and employed foreshadowing. In this chapter,
time becomes an important theme, both in relation to age and to the speed of events, as when it slows to a crawl
while Atticus prepares to shoot Tim Johnson. In the beginning of the chapter, Scout makes a point of saying that
Atticus is old and feeble, but her perception of time and age changes when Atticus shoots the dog. Suddenly, she
realizes that time is relative and that the way she perceives time can be affected by her emotional state.

and Analysis
This chapter focuses on Mrs. Dubose, the cantankerous old woman who sits out on her porch and yells terrible
things at the children of Maycomb. She's so mean, in fact, that Cecil Jacobs walks a mile out of his way just to avoid
her house. One Saturday, the day after Jem's twelfth birthday, he and Scout walk into town to buy a steam engine
and a baton, and on their way there Mrs. Dubose yells at them that Atticus is "no better than the niggers and trash he
works for!" This is racist and classist and makes Jem so mad that after he buys their toys, he takes Scout's baton
and hacks all the blooms off Mrs. Dubose's camellia bushes. Naturally, this doesn't go over well with Atticus.
Jem's punishment is to read to Mrs. Dubose for two hours every day after school and on Saturday for an entire
month. During this process, Mrs. Dubose's health deteriorates to the point where her mouth seems to move of its
own volition, allowing great ropes of saliva to pour out of her mouth. After she dies, Atticus reveals that she was a
morphine addict and that she'd quit cold turkey around the same time Jem destroyed her camellias. She was sick
because she was going through withdrawal while Jem and Scout sat with her. Because of this, Atticus thinks Mrs.
Dubose is the bravest person that he has ever met. This is an important lesson about courage for Jem and Scout.
Part I ends with Jem thinking about Mrs. Dubose's bravery while staring at a camellia.
Allusions
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. This is the first book Jem reads to Mrs. Dubose. It's about a young nobleman who is
disinherited by his father and winds up going on an adventure, first being wounded in a tournament, and then being
captured by his enemies, before finally marrying his true love, Lady Rowena. This story of knights and valor appeals
to Jem, and it allows Lee to build on the theme of courage.
Conflict
Jem vs. Mrs. Dubose. Scout's narration makes it seem like Mrs. Dubose has ongoing conflicts with almost every
single character in the novel. Of these conflicts, the biggest and most important is between her and Jem. He's so
upset over her calling Atticus trash that he destroys her camellias, and as punishment he's forced to read to her six
days a week for over a month. During her lifetime, these two are never able to reconcile, but after she dies, Jem
begins to understand why she was the way she was.
27
Hyperbole
An example of this would be when Scout and Jem wait for Atticus after Jem destroys all of Mrs. Dubose's camellia
bushes. Scout says, "Two geological ages later," Atticus returns, which clearly exaggerates how long it took and
builds on the theme of time.
Symbols
Camellias. Mrs. Dubose leaves a single Snow-on-the-Mountain camellia for Jem after she dies. This flower alone
symbolizes the end of their conflict, embodying Mrs. Dubose's forgiveness and Jem's worth in her eyes. Collectively,
however, the camellias are a symbol of Maycomb's racist heritage, both because they're white and because
camellias are the state flower of Alabama, which of course has a long history of racism and segregation.
Themes
Courage. Thus far in the narrative, courage has largely consisted of being willing to touch or just approach the
Radley house, but in this chapter courage starts to take on a more serious character, with Mrs. Dubose fighting
through a very painful and largely unnecessary withdrawal because she wanted to die "free," without being beholden
to anyone or anything. Atticus thinks that she's the bravest person he's ever met because of this, but Jem and Scout
have trouble understanding this, at first. Later in the novel, we'll see how this first lesson in courage affects their
understanding of Tom's trial and Atticus's actions.
Time. Once again, time is most noticeable to Scout when it seems to drag, as when the alarm clock in Mrs.
Dubose's house keeps them there a little bit later every day. In this chapter, Scout and Jem lose much of their
precious free time on weekday afternoons and consequently begin to feel that their responsibility to Mrs. Dubose,
like school, is a tremendous waste of time. Only after Atticus explains to them about her morphine addiction does
Jem begin to think that perhaps all this time wasn't completely wasted and that, in the end, he did learn something.

and Analysis
Part II begins with Scout emphasizing the divide between her and Jem. He's twelve now and has pulled away from
Scout, bossing her around and telling her to act like a girl, though her tomboy clothes never bothered him before.
This would be fine to Scout if Dill were there, but he's forced to stay in Meridian because he has a new stepfather.
What's worse, Atticus is called away for an emergency meeting of the State Legislature, so Scout and Jem are left in
the care of Calpurnia. If not for an incident where Scout and Jem, along with a few of their friends, took advantage of
the absence of authority figures and tied a girl named Eunice up in the furnace room at Church, then maybe they'd
be allowed to go to Church on their own on Sunday. Instead, Calpurnia decides to take them to First Purchase
African M.E. Church, so called because it was the first purchase the freed slaves made with their wages.
For the most part, the African Americans Jem and Scout meet at First Purchase are very polite to them and don't
mind having white children in their church. The primary exception to this is Lula, a large, seemingly seven foot tall
28
woman who doesn't like that the kids are there. Lula wants this church to be just for African Americans, a safe space
where their community can come together, without having to fear white people or their presence. Reverend Sykes,
however, welcomes Jem and Scout to their church. Though they don't have hymnals, the Reverend is able to lead
the flock through hymns using a process called "lining," that is, reading a hymn line by line so members of the
congregation can read or sing it back. When collection time comes, Reverend Sykes demands that the congregation
come together to give ten dollars to Helen Robinson, Tom Robinson's wife, who is, unsurprisingly, having trouble
finding work. After Church, Scout finally learns what Tom is on trial for: he has been accused of raping Mayella
Ewell, Bob Ewell's daughter.
In this same conversation, Scout also learns that Calpurnia is older than Atticus, that she's one of only four African
Americans in Maycomb who can read, and that she was taught to read by Miss Maudie Atkinson's aunt, Miss
Buford. When Jem asks Calpurnia why she speaks differently (that is, more colloquially) around African Americans,
Calpurnia says if she spoke like a white person at home it would seem like she was putting on airs. This leads to
Scout asking if she can come to Calpurnia's house sometime. Calpurnia says she would like that.
Unfortunately, when they get home from Church, they find that Aunt Alexandra has come to stay with them and that
she might have something to say about Scout visiting Calpurnia.
Allusion
The Commentaries on the Laws of England by Sir William Blackstone. First published from 1765 to 1769,
Blackstone's Commentaries is divided into four volumes and for many years was considered the definitive book on
English law. That Calpurnia taught Zeebo how to read out of it seems absurd to Jem, who knows that the
commentaries are extremely dry and difficult to get through for a first-time reader.
Gethsemane. The Garden of Gethsemane, which sits at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Jesus and
his disciples are said to have slept in the garden on the night before his crucifixion. Every pew in First Purchase
comes with fans that have a "garish" image of Gethsemane on it (garish, no doubt, because the Garden of
Gethsemane isn't appropriate subject matter for a cheap fan).
"The Light of the World" by William Holman Hunt. Hunt's allegorical painting depicts Jesus standing at a
door, preparing to knock, as in Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice,
and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." First Purchase uses a rotogravure
print of the painting as decoration.
"On Jordan's Stormy Banks." A religious hymn composed by Samuel Stennett, a Seventh Day Baptist. There are
several other hymns sung during the scene in church, one of which is called "Jubilee."
Moses. A Biblical figure famed for parting the Red Sea and leading the Jews out of Egypt, where they'd been
enslaved. Calpurnia alludes to him when she says that, if she were to talk "properly" (like a white person) at home,
then it would seem like she was putting on airs like Moses, meaning that it would seem like she was trying to be
bigger and more important than she is.
Rotogravure Print. A kind of print made using a rotary printing process, which is itself a type of intaglio printing in
that it uses an image engraved onto a carrier (usually a cylinder) to print copies of a pre-created image for
29
widespread distribution. The rotogravure print of William Holman Hunt's "The Light of the World" is the only piece of
decoration in First Purchase, which indicates to the reader both that the church is poor and that the congregation
believes Jesus is indeed the light of the world.
Conflict
Part II marks an important shift in the nature of conflict in the novel. In Part I, we saw that many of the conflicts were
between either Scout and another character or Jem and another character. In Part II, as Scout's world starts to
expand and the trial swings into full force, that changes, and the conflicts become more complicated, stemming from
issues of racism, sexism, and classism.
Calpurnia vs. Lula. When Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to First Purchase, most of the African Americans there
are happy to accept the Finch children, in part because they know what Atticus is doing for Tom and respect him for
it. Lula, however, doesn't want the children there, because she wants this space to be reserved solely for African
Americans. In this, we can see the products of segregation, which has put unnecessary strain on this encounter.
Diction
We've seen before how Atticus's diction, as a lawyer, differs from Scout's. In this chapter, diction again becomes
important when Jem asks Calpurnia why she uses the same colloquial diction that other African Americans use
when she clearly knows better. Calpurnia explains this to him with an allusion: if she were to speak like a white
person with her Black friends it would seem like she was putting on airs, like Moses. In this, we can clearly see how
one's use of diction is associated with one's intelligence, with the assumption being that anyone who can't speak the
"right" way in Jem's mind being uneducated and low class.
Metaphor
One example of this would be when Scout says the Governor of Alabama wants to "scrape a few barnacles off the
ship of state," where the state government is figured as a ship with an underside littered with useless, clinging
barnacles (laws, politicians, etc.) that need to be scraped off.
Simile
One example of this would be Scout's over-starched skirt coming up "like a tent" when she sits.
Themes
Racism. Understanding the effect racism and segregation has had on the African American community in Maycomb
is key to understanding Lula's problem with the presence of the Finch children. Rather fairly, she wants First
Purchase to be a safe haven for African Americans, who are persecuted by whites everywhere else they go. By
bringing to white children to their church, Calpurnia has, in Lula's mind, betrayed her race and invited their enemy to
sit at the table, so to speak. No one else in the congregation appears to feel this way about the Finch children in
particular, but it's entirely possible that, if Calpurnia had brought any other white people, things would've been
different.
30
Religion. Given that this novel is set in Alabama in the 1930s, it's safe to assume that everyone in town is Christian
and belongs to some Protestant sect, if not to the Catholic Church. It's unclear exactly what denomination Calpurnia
and the African Americans at First Purchase belong to, but this is of less importance than their religious practices,
which seem to be founded on charity, devotion, and community. In this chapter, we get the sense that the African
American community has come together to support Tom and Helen Robinson. This stems both from their belief in
charity and the continued devotion they feel to the community.

and Analysis
Unbeknownst to Jem and Scout, Atticus has arranged for Aunt Alexandra to come live with them indefinitely, so that
Scout can have some "feminine influence" in her life. Aunt Alexandra leaves her own husband and son behind, but
this seems not to bother her at all, really. She fits right in with the women in Maycomb, especially people like Miss
Stephanie Crawford, and immediately begins asserting her social dominance. She declares that one poor teenager's
suicide is a result of his family's "morbid streak," as opposed to the Funny, Drinking, and Gambling streaks that other
families have. That Scout and Jem don't believe in Aunt Alexandra's "Streak" theory causes a bit of tension in the
household.
Aunt Alexandra shows Scout and Jem a book written by their Cousin Joshua, who, according to Atticus, went crazy
in college and tried to kill the president. When Jem relates this last part back to Aunt Alexandra, she gets huffy and
questions whether the children understand how important their heritage is. This leads to an uncomfortable scene
where Atticus tries to impress upon them that they're the product of "gentle breeding," though they both know that
this isn't really how he feels. He jokes that maybe he's going crazy, too, in an attempt to put Scout and Jem at ease.
This is only moderately successful.
Allusion
William Wyatt Bibb (1781 - 1820). A US Senator and the first Governor of Alabama. Scout alludes to Bibb when
she explains how, when the Governor sent a team of surveyors to Maycomb, a clever tavern owner by the name of
Sinkfield got the surveyors drunk and convinced them to draw their lines in a shape favorable to Sinkfield and, thus,
to Maycomb.
Meditations of Joshua S. St. Clair. This is a fake book written by Scout's Cousin Joshua. Aunt Alexandra
presents it to Scout in the hopes of interesting her in the Finch family heritage. This backfires.
Reconstruction Era (1865 - 1877). A period directly following the end of the American Civil War, when there was
a concerted effort to rebuild the South, first by enforcing the end of slavery and then by reintegrating the South into
the Union, ensuring that there would be no more internal conflict. Many Southerners believed the Civil War
destroyed their way of life, and this Reconstruction Era brought many "great" families to ruin. As a result, Maycomb
grew smaller and more insular, becoming the "tired old town" that Scout described in the first chapter.
The War Between the States (1861 - 1865). Another name for the American Civil War. Though this name was
31
rarely used during the years of fighting, it became popular afterward as former secessionists attempted to avoid the
word "civil," which implied that there was fighting between two parts of the United States rather than between the
Union and the recently seceded (and, therefore, autonomous) Confederacy. Today, we refer to this war primarily as
the Civil War.
Hyperbole
One example of this would be when Scout says Sinkfield owned a tavern at the "dawn of time," meaning that it was
ages ago, in her mind. This is yet another example of Scout being unable to understand the subtleties of time and
assuming that anything that didn't happen recently is part of the ancient past.
Idiom
One example of this would be when Jem says Cousin Joshua "went around the bend," as in, went crazy and tried to
assassinate the President.
Simile
Scout uses a simile when she says Aunt Alexandra fit in "like a hand into a glove."
Themes
Heritage. Of the Finches, Aunt Alexandra is the only one who's truly interested in their heritage. She wants to
impress upon Scout and Jem just how genteel and well-bred they are, and so she shows them a very important-
looking book written by their Cousin Joshua. This backfires on her, however, and Jem and Scout end up getting a
very uncomfortable lecture from Atticus because of it. Scout has, by virtue of her narrative, become a keeper of their
family's heritage, but not of the heritage Aunt Alexandra has selectively edited for the public record. Scout tells the
reader everything, even and perhaps especially if it's embarrassing.
History. Related to the theme of heritage is the theme of history, which takes a much broader view of the past.
Despite not seeming particularly interested in either history or heritage as a child, Scout has become a de facto
historian who relates both the public and personal history of Maycomb for the reader's edification.

and Analysis
Two chapters later, Scout finally gets around to asking Atticus what "rape" is and tells him about that day at
Calpurnia's church. Aunt Alexandra, of course, doesn't approve and won't allow Scout to visit Calpurnia's house. A
small fight ensues, in which Aunt Alexandra tries to force Atticus to fire Calpurnia, to no avail. Jem then patronizes
Scout for being young, which causes those two to fight. Atticus has to come break it up and send them to bed. Alone
in her room after, Scout thinks she feels a snake, but it turns out to be Dill, who has ridden the train by himself
because he wants to escape his new stepfather, whom he doesn't like. He tells them that he was bound in chains
32
but escaped to join a small animal show, but in reality he just stole thirteen dollars from his mother's purse and took
the nine o'clock train to Maycomb Junction, then walked the rest of the way to the Finch house. This adventure has
left him very hungry.
Dill's mother doesn't know where he went, so Jem calls Atticus in to help. He goes over to talk to Miss Rachel while
Dill eats and takes a bath. Miss Rachel then comes over to scold Dill, but then lets him stay there, like he wanted.
Later, Dill climbs into bed with Scout, and they talk about his real reasons for running away: his mother and
stepfather weren't really "interested" in him, which seems to mean that they ignored him and that, when they didn't
ignore him, they expected him to act more like boys his own age. Dill, who has already been established as an odd
character, didn't like that.
This chapter ends with Dill telling Scout fanciful stories about an island of babies "waiting to be gathered like
morning lilies." Scout then asks why Boo Radley hasn't run away, and Dill says he might not have anywhere else to
go. The sadness of this is tempered by the sweetness of Dill and Scout's relationship, which provides some much
needed emotional relief before Tom's trial.
Alliteration
One example of this would be the kids "squirm[ing their] way through the sweating sidewalk."
Allusion
Herbert Hoover (1874 - 1964). The 31st President of the United States. He was in office from 1929 to 1933, and
the beginning of his first and only term roughly coincided with the 1929 Stock Market Crash, which drove the country
into the Great Depression. Hoover, though not directly responsible for the Stock Market Crash itself, wasn't able to
pull the country out of the Depression, making his four years in office pretty grim for the American public. Only after
Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office did things begin to improve. Scout alludes to Hoover when she points out the
"Hoover cart" that someone is driving. (A Hoover cart is one that has been fitted with the wheels of a car and is being
pulled by a mule or horse. It's called a "Hoover" cart because it was invented during Hoover's presidency.)
Conflict
In this chapter, the various conflicts parallel each other: Atticus's conflict with Aunt Alexandra is similar to Scout's
conflict with Jem in that they're all siblings disagreeing over the way Scout and Aunt Alexandra are supposed to act
around each other.
Atticus vs. Aunt Alexandra. Their fight in this chapter stems from a larger conflict over how Atticus raises his
children. Aunt Alexandra is critical of his parenting skills, particularly where it comes to Scout, who hasn't had a
strong (white) female role model growing up. Aunt Alexandra's presence is in itself a result of her questioning
Atticus's ability to raise his children and is, thus, a threat to Scout and Jem, who would prefer to think of Atticus as a
stand-up (if old and bookish) father.
Scout vs. Aunt Alexandra. This conflict stems from the really fundamental difference in the way these two
characters think about gender and self-expression. Scout likes to wear overalls instead of dresses and to speak her
mind instead of being demure, and in many ways this makes her a rebel, because polite society in Maycomb is more
33
aligned with Aunt Alexandra and her now outdated belief that girls should be feminine, wear dresses, and defer to
men. Scout doesn't agree and therefore doesn't respect Aunt Alexandra's authority. This leads to trouble.
Scout vs. Jem. This conflict stems from the age difference between Scout and Jem, which has become far more
pronounced over the last few chapters. Jem, who's now old enough to be called Mister Jem, has begun to take on
airs and to talk down to Scout, which understandably irritates her. When he has the gall to suggest that he'll spank
her if she crosses Aunt Alexandra (as if he even has the right), Scout jumps him and tries to beat him up. This levels
the playing field between them once again, if only because engaging in the fight with Scout means that Jem is in no
way superior to her. The fight is eventually broken up by Atticus, who tells Scout that she only has to mind Jem
when and if he can make her (knowing, no doubt, that he can't). We don't see Jem's response to this.
Idiom
Scout uses an idiom when she says the only way that she could leave the room "with a shred of dignity" was to go to
the bathroom.
Simile
One example of this is Dill "shiver[ing] like a rabbit" when he hears Miss Rachel's voice.

and Analysis
This chapter opens on a dark note, with Heck Tate and several other men showing up outside the Finch house to tell
Atticus that there might be trouble when Tom is moved to the town jail. These men don't intend to hurt Tom
themselves, but give Atticus an ominous warning that he could lose everything because of this case. Atticus doesn't
think so and turns his back on the other men with complete confidence, though Jem and Scout, watching from inside
the house, are terrified. Jem's lie about the phone ringing breaks the tension outside and causes the group to
scatter.
Inside, Jem asks Atticus if those men were part of a gang like the Ku Klux Klan. Atticus explains (somewhat
erroneously) that the KKK is gone and is never coming back, then tells the kids not to worry, because those men
were still their friends and neighbors. The next day, Sunday, these men approach Atticus again outside church, but
Scout and Jem don't hear what they say. After church, the kids bum around, bored out of their minds, and then settle
in for a lazy evening when to their surprise Atticus announces that he's going out and takes an extension cord with
him. Curious, the Finch children fetch Dill, who's still staying at Miss Rachel's, and follow Atticus into town. They find
him sitting outside the jailhouse, reading the newspaper.
Soon after the children find Atticus, a mob approaches him, intending no doubt to lynch Tom. To Scout's dismay,
these men are strangers hailing from Old Sarum, and though they're related to the Cunninghams, they have no
reason to refrain from hurting Atticus. Scout jumping in between the mob and Atticus shames them enough for them
to stop, particularly after Scout kicks one of them in the groin and calls out Mr. Cunningham (Walter's father) for
34
having legal troubles; because of this, the men shuffle off, leaving Atticus and the kids alone.
Before they go home, Tom calls down to thank Atticus for protecting him. Then Mr. Underwood reveals that he has
been watching all along, holding his loaded shotgun at the ready in case there was any real trouble and he needed
to defend Atticus.
Allusions
Gothic Architecture. An architectural style popular in the late medieval period and characterized by the use of
pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses, which were built in a comically small scale inside the jailhouse,
which consists of only two cells. The Gothic style is meant to make it seem foreboding and sinister, but its size turns
it into a joke.
Henry W. Grady (1850 - 1889). A journalist who helped reintegrate the Confederacy into the Union following the
Civil War. His stance as a white supremacist complicates Atticus's seeming admiration for him, making the fact that
he forces Jem to read Grady's work very questionable.
Ku Klux Klan. A hate group often referred to as the KKK or, simply, the Klan. It was first founded in the 1800s,
around the time of the Civil War, but didn't gain momentum until the early 1900s, when they first began burning
crosses and organizing mass parades to assert their white supremacist beliefs. The traditional image of a Klan
member is that of a man draped in a white sheet with a pointed hat on top. Atticus erroneously says that the Klan is
dead, but in fact it still exists today, and the kids are right to be afraid that the Klan will intervene in Tom's trial (even
though they don't, in the end).
Themes
Fear. Up until the moment Scout jumps into the circle of men, all the fear in this chapter belongs to the children: fear
that Atticus is in trouble, fear that trial the will destroy him, fear that the men won't let him go home. Once Scout
shows up, however, the fear shifts to Atticus, who worries that both she and Jem will get hurt if this turns into a fight.
In this, we see that Atticus's only vulnerability is his children and that he has been trying to keep them safe by
keeping them away from the trial and any discussion of it. Unfortunately, he won't be able to protect them from
everything.
Light vs. Dark. Traditionally, "light" and the color white are associated with goodness or purity, while "dark" and the
color black are associated with evil. However, given the racially charged subject matter of the novel, Lee avoids
associating black with evil and instead focuses on how light is associated with goodness, education, and
enlightenment. When Atticus sits alone in the light of that one bulb, he appears to be an oasis of morality and
rationality.
Manners. In this chapter, Scout misinterprets Atticus's lessons in manners to humorous effect, dropping the subject
of Walter Cunningham because Atticus told her it was impolite to make people talk about things only you're
interested in talking about. Scout stops asking Mr. Cunningham about his son, reverting to her first line of
questioning: his entailment. Needless to say, Mr. Cunningham doesn't want to talk about this, either.
Racism. This is the first chapter in the novel where Maycomb's racism is directly linked to violence. Thus far, it has
35
mostly been a sociological phenomenon affecting the way people think while dictating where they can and cannot
live. Here, that racism shows its violent potential for the first time and prepares the reader for what lies ahead in Tom
Robinson's trial.
Safety. In a poignant reversal of roles, Atticus, who previously defended his children from the rabid Tim Johnson,
himself has to be defended from the mob by Scout, who jumps in front of him to be his human shield. This
emphasizes the fact that Atticus can't protect his children from all of the bad things in the world and that pretty soon
they'll have to face something they might not yet be able to understand.
Shame. Once again, the theme of shame is connected to one of the Cunninghams. In Chapter 2, we saw Miss
Caroline embarrass Walter Cunningham by offering him money for lunch, and now we see Scout embarrass Walter's
father by reminding him that he's drunkenly threatening a man who has done nothing but help him through his legal
troubles. Mr. Cunningham sobers up and goes away with his relatives from Old Sarum, but it's only because Scout
put him in his place.
Violence. Thus far, the violence in the novel has been fairly innocuous, consisting mostly of Jem and Scout fighting
and the children being afraid of Boo. Up until the Cunninghams came up to Atticus with the intent of killing Tom, the
most violent thing to happen was Boo stabbing his father in the leg with a pair of scissors. Here, the threat of
violence is sinister enough that it shakes Atticus up and makes him worry about exposing his kids to the trial. It's set
to start on Monday.

and Analysis
This chapter marks the beginning of Tom Robinson's trial, which will be the primary focus of the narrative for the next
five chapters. The action picks up where it left off in Chapter 15, with Jem, Scout, and Atticus heading home and
then having a somber breakfast the next morning. It seems like the entire town is on the way to the courthouse to
watch the trial. Some overzealous Baptists passing by Miss Maudie's house criticize her flowers for being sinful, but
Miss Maudie criticizes the zealots right back. In town, Dill sees Dolphus Raymond (a white man) drinking from a
paper bag and sitting with the African Americans, and Jem explains that this is just Dolphus's way. We will see more
from him later.
The kids refrain from going to watch the trial until after lunch. Atticus had spent the morning in voir dire, or jury
selection, so when they finally arrive the trial is just starting. The courthouse is so packed that they end up sitting in
the balcony with Reverend Sykes and the African American community that has come to support Tom. On the way
to their seats, Scout overhears that Atticus has been appointed by the court to defend Tom, meaning that he's
required to (a fact he neglected to tell the kids, though that would've made it easier for them to defend him to his
detractors). For this reason, many of the people in the courthouse don't begrudge his defending Tom, though they
worry that Atticus is actually going to try to prove Tom's innocence. This seems inappropriate to them. Any other
lawyer would've let Tom go to the chair.
Scout spends some time describing the courthouse's architecture (eclectic and disjointed) before moving on to
36
describing the jury and the spectators. Judge Taylor, who sits as the bench looking like a shark with his pilot fish
(stenographer) writing around him. She tells an amusing little tale about Judge Taylor throwing out a frivolous
lawsuit pitting the Cunninghams vs the Coninghams (their nominally different relations), then adds that Judge Taylor
had a way of chewing dry cigars down to nothing. Then Heck Tate takes the stand, and the trial truly begins.
Allusions
Ecclesiastes 6:4. In the King James Version of the Bible, the full verse reads: "For he cometh in with vanity, and
departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness." Those zealots who drive by Miss Maudie's
house allude to this verse to suggest that Miss Maudie's is letting her vanity about being a great gardener get in the
way of her faith and her piety. She snaps right back at them with another Bible verse that drives them away.
Proverbs 15:13. In the King James Version of the Bible, the entire verse reads: "A merry heart maketh a cheerful
countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." Miss Maudie quotes the first half of this verse to the
zealots who criticize her gardening and, in so doing, effectively tells them not to look so sour and judgmental.
William Jennings Bryan (1860 - 1925). An American statesman from Nebraska famed for his skill as an orator.
He's perhaps best known for his "Cross of Gold" speech, in which he argued that the gold standard was halting
progress in America and preventing the economy from growing. Miss Stephanie Crawford alludes to him to suggest
that the crowd heading to Tom's trial is disproportionately large, given that Tom is not as famous or important as
someone like William Jennings Bryan.
Motifs
Fire. In Chapter 8, when Miss Maudie's house burned to the ground, "fire" was a menacing image and threatened to
destroy all of the houses on her block. Since then, fire has become associated with Miss Maudie and her garden,
which is "ablaze with summer flowers." Fire in this instance is not an image of destruction but rather one of beauty,
energy, and vitality. Even though the fire burned down Miss Maudie's house, she was able to rebuild it as she liked,
making it more beautiful than before. Thus, the fire motif is both about destruction and renewal.
Swimming. In keeping with Scout's description of Atticus appearing to move like an underwater swimmer in
Chapter 10, here she described Judge Taylor as an old, sleepy shark with his pilot fish swimming around him. This
characterizes him as a big, lumbering, powerful man and emphasizes how slow his movements are (though, as we'll
soon find, his mind is actually very quick).
Puns
Scout may be making a pun when she describes Judge Taylor as "a sleepy old shark," where the word "shark" is
often used pejoratively to refer to lawyers.
Simile
One example of this would be Scout saying Judge Taylor looks "like a sleepy old shark."
Themes
37
Racism. This is most obvious in the fact that the African Americans are segregated to the balcony and not allowed
to sit on the main floor of the courthouse along with the white people. It's also clear, just from the conversation that
Scout overhears, that Atticus is the only reason Tom's getting a decent defense. If not for him, he'd be shafted and
have no chance in court. It's implied through this that African Americans don't have the same legal protections that
white people do and that racism has been systematized in Alabama to the point where any African American on trial
is assumed to be guilty before the trial even begins.

and Analysis
Heck Tate's testimony starts with him being questioned by Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor. He relates the events of the
day in question: Bob Ewell came to find him on November 21st of the previous year and brought him back to the
house, where Mayella had been beaten up. She said it was Tom who beat her, so Heck went to arrest him. When
Atticus cross examines him, more details come out: Heck didn't call a doctor, despite the severity of Mayella's
injuries; Mayella had a black eye on her right side; and there were finger marks around her throat where she'd been
choked. This is the end of Heck Tate's testimony.
Next, Bob Ewell takes the stand, looking to Scout like "a little bantam cock of a man" ("bantam" meaning chicken).
Scout takes the time to explain that the Ewells live in a ramshackle little home down by the dump, with a fence made
out of random bits of things they've pulled from the dump while looking for food. Their house isn't as nice, in Scout's
opinion, as the cabins that the African American citizens live in, though these are also situated right next to the
dump. It's understood in this chapter that Bob Ewell's drinking is the cause of his family's poverty and that he's not a
man worth respecting, but that they're all listening to his testimony because he's white and is accusing a Black man
of rape.
Once Mr. Gilmer starts questioning him, Ewell goes into a sensationalized account of the rape he says he saw. This
is, of course, a lie, which Atticus will prove later, but it's dramatic enough that the audience erupts and Judge Taylor
has to bang his gavel for five minutes to call them down. In an effort to keep them quiet without having to close the
courtroom off to spectators, he threatens all of them with contempt charges. The trial continues, with Judge Taylor
and Mr. Gilmer asking some clarifying questions. Then Atticus cross examines him, beginning again with questions
that focus on Mayella's injuries. He then has Ewell write his name to show that he is left-handed, and, therefore,
capable of having given Mayella a black eye on her right side. Jem thinks that this will be enough to prove Tom
innocent. Scout isn't so sure.
Conflict
Atticus vs. Bob Ewell. It's safe to say that Bob Ewell has conflicts with everyone: his daughter, Atticus, Tom, and
just about everyone else in the courtroom. His behavior on the stand makes a mockery of the court, and his obvious
lies bring him into conflict with Atticus, who has no respect for him. One could argue that Bob Ewell's conflicts all
stem from the fact that he thinks he deserves to be respected when he doesn't.
38
Metaphor. One example of this would be Scout saying that Ewell is "a little bantam cock of a man," where the word
"bantam" means a certain breed of chicken.
Motifs
Flowers. When Ewell writes out his name, Scout says Judge Taylor looks at him as if he were a "gardenia in
bloom." This picks up on the flower imagery established through Miss Maudie's character and neatly (if briefly)
dehumanizes Mr. Ewell, whose behavior has been pompous or "flowery" in the sense that it has been flamboyant.
Note that Mayella Ewell is also said to have grown several red geraniums in jars, a fact that is meant to endear her
to the reader.
Repetition
One example of this would be the repetition of the word no in the passage that reads: "No truant officers could keep
their numerous offspring in school; no public health officer could free them from congenital defects…"
Simile
One example of this is Scout saying that Mr. Gilmer can make a "rape case as dry as a sermon," where "dry" means
boring.
Themes
Boredom. Unlike the boredom Scout and the children have experienced in previous chapters where they ran out of
games to play during the summer, the boredom in this chapter comes as a result of the trial not being as exciting as
the spectators originally expected it to be. They want to be entertained by the trial, and when it isn't immediately
thrilling, they get restless. This boredom wanes at the end of the chapter when Ewell starts putting on a show.
Law. When Atticus starts questioning Ewell, Ewell accuses Atticus of trying to trick him. His outburst doesn't reflect
well on him, but isn't entirely off the mark: as Scout points out, Atticus is adept at asking questions to get the
answers he wants and avoiding the ones he doesn't. The law, though a righteous and formidable thing with the
capacity to do great good in the world, is also something that can be manipulated or used to manipulate, as when it's
used unfairly against Tom Robinson.
Violence. The violence in this chapter is indirect, related to us on the witness stand rather than in scene. We learn
from Heck Tate's testimony that Mayella Ewell has accused Tom of raping her and that Bob Ewell claims to have
witnessed this act of violence. Though we'll soon find that Tom never raped Mayella, the sensational nature of the
case and the presence of the spectators makes the violence seem especially lurid.

and Analysis
39
Next, Mayella takes the stand and promptly bursts into tears. Judge Taylor has to comfort her and tell her not to be
afraid of Atticus or his questions, which earns her the sympathy of the court and makes Scout wonder if she has
good sense. Mayella then testifies that she was sitting out on their porch on the night in question and that when Tom
walked by she offered him a nickel to break up a chiffarobe for her—that's when he raped her, she says. When
Atticus starts cross examining her she accuses him of "mocking" her by calling her Miss Mayella. She's not used to
being treated so politely, and Judge Taylor has to explain to her that Atticus doesn't mean anything by it. Still, the
cross examination starts off badly.
Atticus then asks her a series of questions that establish how old she is (nineteen), what her home life is like (hard
and lonely, spent taking care of her younger siblings), and if she has any friends (she doesn't). She insists that her
father has never hurt her, but does admit that he drinks. Atticus then repeats back her prior testimony about being
choked and beaten and asks her to confirm that Tom was the one who raped her. Tom stands up, and that's when
Scout and the spectators see that his left arm (the one he's supposed to have beat her with) hangs lifelessly at his
side, having been crushed in an accident when he was younger. Seeing this, Jem and Scout realize that Mayella has
been lying about what happened. Mayella figures out that this is what Atticus was getting at, but it's too late.
Atticus begins asking her questions so pointed and incisive that Mayella stops answering—where were her siblings?
Why didn't they hear her? Why didn't she run? These are the holes in her story and Atticus makes them very obvious
to the court. Finally, Mayella snaps back at Atticus, saying that Tom did rape her and that she won't answer anymore
questions. Afterward, the state rests its case, and Judge Taylor calls for a ten minute break before Atticus calls his
first witness. Some of the spectators do some stretching, but most stay in place, waiting for the trail to start up again.
It won't take long. The chapter ends with Atticus saying he only has one witness.
Alliteration
One example of this is Mayella accusing Atticus of mocking her with all his "Maamin and Miss Mayellerin." Atticus is,
of course, just being polite.
Conflict
Atticus vs. Mayella Ewell. This conflict stems from a misunderstanding: Mayella thinks Atticus is sassing her by
calling her Miss and ma'am. In reality, Atticus is just being polite, and Mayella's failure to understand this is meant to
indicate that she has had a hard and lonely life in which no one, not even her father, has shown her any respect.
Metaphor
One example of this would be Mayella twisting her handkerchief "into a sweaty rope."
Symbols
Mockingbirds. Though Tom and Boo are the primary symbolic mockingbirds of the novel, an argument can be
made that Atticus is also figured as a mockingbird. In this chapter, Mayella even accuses him of "mocking" her,
which may be Lee's way of playing on the word and indicating to the reader that Atticus is innocent of what she
accuses. He's also a mockingbird in the sense that he hasn't done anything wrong by defending Tom, whose case
he was assigned, even though he's vilified in the eyes of the public.
40
Themes
Honesty. Midway through this chapter it becomes clear that Mayella is lying about what really happened and that
Tom couldn't have possibly hurt her, because his left arm doesn't work. When Mayella hesitates to clarify how Tom
beat her and in what order events occurred, it's obvious that she has made up her story, but that she hasn't prepared
herself for cross examination. There are holes in her testimony, and Atticus points them out with his questions.
Unfortunately, this doesn't change the fact that she's a white woman and it's her word against a Black man's.

and Analysis
This chapter opens with Tom Robinson attempting to guide his left arm (the bad one) to swear on the Bible. When
he fails, he takes the oath without placing a hand on the Bible. Atticus then asks him his age (twenty-five), if he has
any children (three), and if he has ever been in trouble before (once; he did thirty days for disorderly conduct).
Atticus asks him all this to prove to the jury that Tom has nothing to hide. He then asks Tom about Mayella. Tom
testifies that he'd gotten to know Mayella over a period of a couple months when she asked him to do various odd
jobs around the house for her, including busting up that chiffarobe. It's clear that Tom was the only person to ever
really be nice to Mayella, and that this is what ended up getting him in trouble. He denies hurting her. In fact, she
came onto him.
It happened like this: Mayella saved up seven nickels so all of her siblings would go into town to buy ice creams.
This meant that she and Tom would be alone and that she could flirt with him in private, without her family seeing.
She had him stand up on a chair to reach for something, then, when she hugged his legs, he jumped down, and she
hugged him again, this time kissing him on the cheek. (Tom also testifies, "She says what her papa do to her don't
count," but Atticus doesn't press him to explain this, just leaves it for the jury and the reader to figure out. This line
makes it clear that Ewell was the one who raped his daughter.) Tom then says that Ewell saw Mayella kiss him
through the window and that he threatened to kill his own daughter, calling her a "whore." It shouldn't come as a
surprise that Tom ran away as fast as he could. This revelation leads his boss Link Deas to announce to the court
that Tom was always a good worker and that he never caused any trouble. Judge Taylor throws Link Deas out of the
courthouse, but the truth has already been said. Tom is innocent.
Then it's Mr. Gilmer's turn to question Tom. He doesn't believe that Tom would help Mayella out of the goodness of
his heart and badgers him until he finally says that he did all of those odd jobs for her because he "felt sorry for her."
The white people in the audience don't like this, because in their opinion it's inappropriate for an African American to
feel superior enough to a white person to feel sorry for them. Mr. Gilmer then asks Tom why he ran away so fast if
he was innocent, and Tom says that he knew he'd be arrested even though he didn't do anything (the implication
being that an African American has no chance when a white person accuses them of something). This upsets Dill
enough that Scout has to take him outside, where they talk about what happened. Dill thinks Mr. Gilmer was mean
to Tom, but Scout knows from experience that he was being easy on him. Still, Dill thinks it's wrong. He doesn't have
the stomach for it.
Symbols
41
The Bible. In the context of a courtroom, the Bible becomes a symbol of truth and justice. Swearing on it is
considered the highest oath, and it's traditional for witnesses to rest their hand on the Bible when they swear to tell
the truth on the stand. Tom, unfortunately, can't place his left hand on the Bible, because that's his bad arm, but it's
important to remember that he still takes the oath (he just does it verbally, without touching this Bible). Tom's oath is
considered binding by Judge Taylor and is thus just as powerful as the oaths all the other witnesses took.
Mockingbirds. Tom's innocence makes him a symbolic mockingbird. Given that he's at the center of the biggest
and most important narrative arc in the novel, it's safe to say that the entire novel is arguing that it's a sin to kill him
(or, in this chapter, to put him on trial for a crime he didn't commit). It's clear to Scout and to anyone whose mind isn't
clouded by racism that Tom is innocent and that putting him on trial is in itself a serious injustice; but that won't
change the verdict, unfortunately.
Themes
Innocence. Up until the beginning of Tom's trial, innocence took the form of childish innocence, of the kind that
leads Jem to believe that Atticus will win the case with pure logic. In this chapter, innocence becomes a more
weighted term, taking on legal connotations indicating that Tom is innocent (not guilty) of a crime. His innocence
stems not from his youth or naivete but from the fact that he did not do anything wrong. Unfortunately, being
innocent doesn't mean that he'll be found not guilty.
Racism. Tom points out the underlying racism of his arrest when he says that he ran away because he was afraid of
having to face "what [he] didn't do," meaning that he'd be blamed for something that he didn't do and not be able to
prove his innocence because it would be a white man's word against his. This speaks to the systemic racism in
Maycomb and the South at that time that made it near impossible for an African American to be treated fairly in the
legal system. Tom is lucky in that he had Atticus to defend him. Other men in his position fared much worse in court.

and Analysis
Dill, still upset about the trial, accepts a drink from Dolphus Raymond, who, it turns out, hasn't been drinking whiskey
at all but rather Coca-Cola. He explains that he does this to make it easier for the people of Maycomb, who can write
off his behavior (like having children with an African American woman) to the fact that he's a drunk. In reality, he
doesn't like to drink much, but it just makes things easier if people think he does. He tells Scout and Dill this because
he saw how Dill got upset at the trial and knows they'll understand, because they're not racist. They do, however,
want to see the rest of the trial, so they leave Dolphus Raymond behind and head back inside.
When they sit down again, Atticus is giving his closing argument. He argues that there is no real case against Tom,
that there's no medical evidence to suggest that a rape actually happened, and that Mayella has accused Tom of
rape simply because she's afraid of what will happen if people think that she came onto him and not the other way
around. It's taboo for a white woman to be at all attracted to a Black person, so to save herself any embarrassment,
she covers up what she did with a lie. Tom, on the other hand, hasn't lied to the court once, and as Link Deas said,
he is and always has been a good, hard-working, and respectable person. He wouldn't hurt Mayella, and he didn't.
42
She lied.
Atticus concludes by quoting the old phrase "all men are created equal," which was first used by Thomas Jefferson
in the Declaration of Independence. If all men are created equal, he says, then surely Tom deserves better than he
has gotten in court. The chapter ends with Calpurnia walking into the courtroom, looking for Atticus.
Allusion
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955). A Nobel Prize winning physicist famous for developing the Theory of Relativity and
creating the formula E=mc2. He's generally considered to have been one of the most intelligent people to ever live,
and Atticus alludes to him here as a paragon of intelligence, saying that the courtroom is the one place where a
stupid man can be the equal of someone as smart as Einstein.
John D. Rockefeller (1839 - 1937). An American industrialist well-known for both his wealth and philanthropy. His
namesake plaza in New York City (home of the building colloquially known as “30 Rock”) is a good example of his
status within the New York City financial industry in early 20th Century America. His name quickly became
synonymous with wealth and prestige. Atticus alludes to him to suggest that the courtroom can make a poor man the
equivalent of a rich man like Rockefeller.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826). One of the original Founding Fathers and the Third President of the United
States. He famously wrote in the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal," though he himself
had slaves and is widely believed to have fathered children with one of them, Sally Hemings. Atticus alludes to
Jefferson not because he was a slaveowner (or a hypocrite) but because he was a major proponent of democracy.
Uncle Tom. The titular character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in
1952, just two years after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act. Stowe, a staunch abolitionist, wrote the book to
expose the horrors and injustices of slavery, which had by then been banned in Northern states for almost fifty years.
Following its publication, the abolitionist movement saw a strong resurgence, which led to the Civil War. However, in
recent years, the character Uncle Tom has been criticized as meek and appeasing, and the phrase "Uncle Tom" is
used to describe Black people who are eager to please white people and, often, quick to betray other Black people.
Idiom
One example of this would be when Scout says that she couldn't decide "which fire [she] wanted to jump into" (the
fire of getting too close to Dolphus Raymond, a known sinner, or of the court). In this context, the fire is a dangerous
situation she's willing jumping into despite knowing that it could lead to trouble.
Personification
One example of this would be Atticus's pen "winking" in the light.
Simile
One example of this would be when Atticus says Mayella's lies are "as black as Tom Robinson's skin," where "black"
means dark or evil when it refers to the lies.
43
Symbols
Atticus's Clothes. According to Scout, Atticus never loosens or takes off any of his clothing until before bed, which
makes the fact that he takes off his jacket in court somewhat alarming for her. His clothes have in many ways
become a symbol of his propriety and moral fortitude, so any loosening of his clothes appears, at first, like a loss in
stature. This doesn't, however, affect his skill as a lawyer and in the end does nothing but emphasize the fact that
this is a difficult case, even for Atticus.
Colors. Black and white are traditional symbols of good and evil, and Lee uses them here to suggest that Mayella's
lies are evil. However, Lee doesn't associate Black people or dark skin colors with evil, and this is important to keep
in mind when Atticus says the lies are "as black as Tom Robinson's skin." He's merely playing on traditional color
symbolism to make a point, as when he says that his case is "as simple as black and white," meaning that it's
obvious Tom is innocent.
Themes
Light vs. Dark. Previously, Lee associated Atticus with light and goodness when he sat under the little light bulb in
Chapter 15. Here, she makes the connection between "black" and "evil" when she says the lies that Mayella and her
father tell are "as black as Tom Robinson's skin." This is a simile that serves to establish the color black as a symbol
of evil and darkness. It's important to note, however, that Atticus doesn't associate Tom himself with evil, and that
this is merely a rhetorical device that he uses to prove a point: Mayella is the guilty one, not Tom.

and Analysis
Calpurnia passes Atticus a note saying that his children have gone missing. It's then revealed that they've been
sitting up in the balcony all along. Atticus tells them to go home and eat dinner, and if the jury hasn't come back by
the time they return, then they can stay and watch the verdict. The children are gone for about an hour, in which time
Calpurnia scolds them, Aunt Alexandra nearly faints, and Jem proudly claims that Tom should be acquitted. Atticus
knows that he won't be, but refrains from telling Jem this. When they get back, the courtroom is just as they've left it,
and the Reverend has even saved their seats.
Scout nearly falls asleep before the verdict comes back: guilty. She watches as in a dream as her father walks down
the aisle toward the door. All of the African Americans stand up as he passes out of respect, and Scout stands with
them.
Idiom
Calpurnia uses an idiom when she tells the children she'll "skin every one of [them] alive."
Motifs
44
Swimming. Once again, Lee uses the image of an underwater swimmer to indicate when events happen very
slowly (or at least appear to). This time, it's the jury who appear to move slowly as they return to announce the
verdict, whereas Atticus, who has been described as an underwater swimmer once before, moves surprisingly
quickly after Tom is convicted. The speed with which he leaves might indicate that he's upset about the verdict.
Personification
An example of this is the the courthouse clock "suffer[ing]" the strain of keeping time.
Pun
One example of this would be when Scout refers to Jem as Calpurnia's "precious Jem," punning on the phrase
"precious gem," which is meant to indicate how highly Calpurnia thinks of Jem.
Simile
Scout uses a simile when she says that the feeling in the courtroom was the same as that of a cold February
morning when everything went still, even the mockingbirds. This stillness is a result of both anticipation and fear, as
Tom and the spectators await the verdict.
Symbols
Calpurnia's Apron. When Calpurnia arrives in the courthouse, she's wearing "a fresh apron." This is notable for
two reasons: that the apron is fresh, meaning that she must've changed it to go out in public, and that she wears it
even inside the courthouse, though she's only required to wear it inside of the Finch house. Her apron is thus a
symbol both of her servitude and of her pride, because she makes sure to always look clean, fresh, and proper. She
might be a servant, but she's a respectable (and very formidable) woman, and that is clear from the way she wears
her apron.
Themes
Time. Lee continues to build on the theme of time by slowing it down while everyone waits to hear the verdict. She
draws on the motif of swimming and swimmers to indicate that time is moving very slowly and that Scout's
perception of time is affected by her physical and emotional state (she is worn out after the long trial). It's telling that
nearly every scene where time has slowed down for Scout corresponds to an event that she has trouble
understanding: the trial, her father's skill as a marksman, and Mrs. Dubose's fight against addiction.

and Analysis
After the verdict, Jem starts crying, saying it isn't right. Together, they all head home, exhausted, and sit up for a
while, considering what happened. Aunt Alexandra tells Atticus she's sorry about the verdict, but wishes the children
45
hadn't watched the trial. Atticus says that they had every right to watch and the racism of the trial is "as much
Maycomb County as missionary teas," meaning it is part of their heritage and way of life, unfortunately.
In the morning, they discover that the African American community has left them a pile of gifts on their back porch to
thank Atticus for defending Tom. There are tomatoes, beans, pickled pigs' knuckles. Atticus grins at those. Soon
after, Dill comes in and tells them that Miss Rachel said a few nasty things about Atticus and the trial ("if a man like
Atticus Finch wants to butt his head against a stone wall it's his head"). When they go outside, Miss Stephanie
Crawford, Mr. Avery, and Miss Maudie are all talking out on Miss Maudie's porch. Miss Stephanie asks them a
series of gossipy and irritating questions, but Miss Maudie saves them from this by inviting them in for cake. She
made one little one each for Scout and Dill, but cuts a slice from a big one for Jem, in recognition of his being older.
Jem's feeling glum because of the verdict and thinks no one tried to help Tom, but Miss Maudie corrects him,
suggesting that Judge Taylor deliberately chose Atticus to defend Tom so that he'd get a fairer trial. She says Atticus
is the only lawyer who could've made the jury deliberate on a case like this for that long—if anyone else had
defended Tom, the jury would've found him to be guilty in five minutes. Outside, Dill says that Miss Stephanie
Crawford and all the other gossips should be "ridin' broomsticks," meaning that they should be recognized for the
witches they are. He declares that when he grows up he's going to be a clown and spend all day laughing at other
people, especially the terrible ones.
When Miss Stephanie and Miss Rachel wave to the kids, they feel obliged to go up to them. The adults then tell
them to get inside, because there's been trouble: Bob Ewell spat in Atticus's face and threatened to "get him if it took
the rest of his life."
Foreshadowing
An example of this is when Ewell said he'd "get" Atticus "if it took the rest of his life." He will in fact die in the process
of trying to get back at Atticus, which makes this line especially ominous.
Hyperbole
One example of this would be when Mr. Avery "nearly blew [the kids] off the sidewalk" with his sneezing fit.
Idiom
Scout uses an idiom when she says, "I stole a glance at Jem."
Metaphor
Perhaps the most important metaphor in this chapter comes at the end, when Dill says that Miss Stephanie and the
other gossips should be "ridin' broomsticks," the implication being that they're witches and that the Tom Robinson
trial has been a metaphorical witch hunt. Another example is Dill eating in "rabbit-bites," which further solidifies the
image of him as a rabbit that Harper Lee introduced in Chapter 14 when he "shivered like a rabbit" at the sound of
Miss Rachel's voice.
Symbols
46
Clowns. Dill has long been a joker in this novel, so it's fitting that he would want to be a clown when he's older.
Though his reasons for wanting this are sad (he's disillusioned with the world and wants to laugh at the racist people
who convicted and vilified Tom), the clown is nevertheless a symbol of humor and mirth. For Dill, being a clown
would merely be a continuation of his youth and would represent his childish innocence, which makes it difficult for
him to cope with the harsh reality of the adult world.
Gifts. In Chapter 7, we saw how the gifts in the knothole were symbols of Boo's affection for the Finch children. In
this chapter, the gifts on Atticus's back steps are symbols of the respect and gratitude that the African American
community feels for Atticus. They appreciate the fact that he defended Tom despite the backlash and want to thank
him somehow, so they give him what they can: food. This is an incredible gesture that almost moves Atticus to tears.
Themes
Gossip. The morning after the trial, the children make a pointed effort to avoid any gossip about the trial. However,
when they head outside, they're immediately confronted by Miss Stephanie, Mr. Avery, and Miss Maudie, who've
been gossiping on Miss Maudie's porch. Dill later says that all of these town gossips should be "ridin' broomsticks,"
because it would be a more accurate representation of their character. In this metaphor, we can clearly see that
gossip has become a malicious force, and that the kids are trying to avoid it for good reason.

and Analysis
After hearing the story of how Bob Ewell spat in Atticus's face and dared him to fight, Scout and the kids set about
trying to force Atticus to carry a gun and defend himself. They try a number of different tactics: asking him, throwing
a tantrum, refusing to eat. Eventually, Atticus realizes just how scared they are and explains that he's willing to let
Ewell spit in his face if it means Mayella and Ewell's other kids are spared a beating. Atticus doesn't think they have
anything more to fear from Ewell, but Aunt Alexandra isn't sure. Atticus destroyed Ewell's credibility on the stand,
and he's the kind to hold a grudge.
Scout and Jem then ask Atticus about Tom, who has been sent to Enfield Prison Farm in Chester County, seventy
miles away. His wife and children aren't allowed to visit him. This sparks Jem to wonder if rape shouldn't be a capital
offense and if the jury could've been more lenient with Tom. Atticus then explains to Jem that the law isn't fair
sometimes and that judges and juries should be careful when sentencing convicts to death, particularly when the
death penalty disproportionately affects Black men (as it still does today). He tells them in no uncertain terms that
any white man who takes advantage of a Black man is trash and that someday karma is going to come for racists
like Ewell.
It all comes back to the makeup of Tom's jury. Unfortunately, women weren't allowed to serve on juries in Alabama in
the 1930s, so someone like Miss Maudie, who could've made a difference in Tom's trial, wasn't allowed to sit on the
jury. However, there was one hold-out who kept insisting that Tom deserved an acquittal: one of the Cunninghams
from Old Sarum. It turns out that Scout and Atticus earned the entire Cunningham family's respect that night outside
the jailhouse, and on a hunch Atticus put one of them on the jury, thinking perhaps that this would work in his favor. It
47
was a risk, but it almost worked. Because of this, Scout's opinion of Walter Cunningham changes and she makes
plans to invite him over once school starts. Unfortunately, Aunt Alexandra doesn't like this idea. She thinks that
Walter is trash. Evidently, she and Atticus have different definitions of that word.
Afterward, Jem shows Scout a hair (he thinks is) growing on his chest, and the two discuss Jem's theory that there
are four different kinds of folks in Maycomb: people like them, people like the Cunninghams, people like the Ewells,
and then the African Americans. This is not terribly unlike Aunt Alexandra's caste system. Scout thinks there's only
one kind of folks—folks—but Jem isn't so sure. He's beginning to think that Boo Radley stays inside all the time
because he wants to.
Allusions
Popular Mechanics. One of the longest running magazines in the United States. First published in 1902, it's a
popular technology magazine featuring sections about cars, trucks, home repair, and the outdoors. Jem is reading it
when he complains to Atticus that Tom's conviction isn't fair.
Conflict
Atticus vs. Bob Ewell. This conflict has its roots in Chapter 17, when Atticus embarrassed Ewell on the stand. He
didn't expect Ewell to confront him about it and doesn't consider Ewell a threat, but this conflict will in fact prove fatal
for Ewell later in the novel. It's also connected to the themes of pride, racism, and violence, which have at various
times been associated with Ewell.
Foreshadowing
Lee foreshadows Tom's death in Chapter 24 by having Atticus discuss the death penalty here.
Themes
Class. Much like Aunt Alexandra does with her caste system, Jem attempts to divide Maycomb up into different
types (or classes) of people determined by whether or not the person can read and write. In other words, he's
attempting to impose artificial methods of social stratification based on one's level of education. His system isn't
perfect, and Scout disagrees with it, saying that there are only folks—just folks, no different classes. This is a very
egalitarian view not unlike the line "all men are created equal" that Atticus quotes during Tom's trial. Jem thinks this
theory is naive, but Lee herself, though she appears to align herself more with Scout, doesn't take sides in this
argument.
Death. Looming over this entire chapter is the knowledge that Tom has been sentenced to death and that if his
conviction isn't overturned on appeal he'll very likely be executed for a crime that he didn't commit. This upsets Jem
and leads Atticus to explain that the death penalty isn't used as fairly or as carefully as it should be. This
conversation foreshadows Tom's death in the next chapter.
Fear. At the beginning of this chapter, the kids are so gripped with fear that Ewell will do something to harm Atticus
that they try to convince him to carry a gun. Atticus tells them not to worry, but this doesn't assuage their fears, and
the entire family expects there to be trouble ahead. Curiously, all of them assume that Atticus will be the target of
48
Ewell's rage, and none of them fear for their own safety. This will prove to be a mistake.
Innocence. In many ways, this entire novel is about the loss of innocence Scout and the children experience, and
this chapter marks an important point in their moral and psychological development, as they begin to understand just
how unfair the justice system can be.
Law. Hand in hand with law is justice, and wherever the two diverge in this novel racism is the culprit. Though
Atticus is a very good and very respectable lawyer, he's aware that some laws need to be changed and knows that,
in spite of this necessity, changing the law will take a long time. When he explains this to the children, he's effectively
telling them that the society they live in is flawed and that society's problems will take a long time to fix. This is,
naturally, quite discouraging, but not entirely without hope: there are more people in Maycomb who think Tom's
innocent than the kids realized.
Pride. In the beginning of the chapter, Ewell accuses Atticus of being too proud to fight him. This says more about
Ewell's pride, which was wounded during the trial, than about Atticus's pride, which is firm and well-founded, rooted
as it is in his sense of honor and moral code. That he's willing to take Bob Ewell's verbal abuse to save Mayella a
beating says wonders about his character, just as Ewell's propensity for violence further damages his public image.
Racism. Yet another example of racism in this novel is that Tom is sentenced to death rather than twenty years in
prison. This is part of a larger, systemic problem that results in the majority of prisoners on death row being African
American. Today, African Americans and other minority groups are disproportionately represented in prison
populations, just as they were in the 1930s.
Safety. Once again, we see that when safety becomes a concern, people often turn to guns or weapons to protect
themselves and their family. In this case, Scout and the kids are urging Atticus to carry a gun, knowing how deadly
he can be and understanding that he must protect himself from Ewell. The kids don't, however, take their own safety
into account, and this will cause problems later.

and Analysis
When the chapter opens, Calpurnia is backing through the swinging door, carrying a charlotte (a kind of cake). Aunt
Alexandra is hosting her missionary circle's tea party, and Scout, having been left behind by Jem and Dill, gets
caught up in the middle of it. After listening to them discuss the plight of the Mrunas, a tribe of Africans living in
squalid conditions, she makes the women laugh by saying that she's wearing her britches under her dress. One of
the ladies asks her if she wants to be a lawyer when she grows up, but she says she just wants to be a lady, which
is a little white lie. The ladies then go back to discussing the Mrunas, as well as a man named J. Grimes Everett, the
missionary who's living with the Mrunas.
This somehow leads to a discussion of Tom and how the African Americans in Maycomb reacted to the trial. Some
of the missionary women were upset that their servants were sulking afterward. Apparently, their servants' legitimate
feelings are an inconvenience to them. Lee uses this fact to illustrate the essential hypocrisy of the missionary circle,
49
which professes to care about the dying people in Africa but treats African Americans like trash back home. One
Mrs. Merriweather even says that "some people" (meaning Atticus) have stirred up the African Americans lately,
because he thought he was doing the right thing by defending Tom. Mrs. Merriweather disagrees with his actions,
and this makes Miss Maudie so mad that she asks if Atticus's food "sticks" when it goes down, meaning that she has
some nerve talking about Atticus that way while eating his food and sitting in his house.
Soon after, Atticus comes home with the news that Tom is dead—shot seventeen times while he tried to escape
from prison. Atticus asks Calpurnia to come with him to tell Tom's wife the news. Hearing this, Aunt Alexandra
breaks down, asking Miss Maudie what more Maycomb expects of him—he's already done what they were too afraid
to do, already worried himself sick over Tom's trial. Miss Maudie tries to soothe her by saying they expected great
things from him because they respect him, but this doesn't seem like enough. Scout, who wasn't allowed to go with
Atticus and Calpurnia, decides that if Aunt Alexandra can go back in and sit with those hypocrites like a lady then
she can, too.
Allusions
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 - 1962). Wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady of the United
States. She was a very powerful political figure in her own right and would go on to be selected as the First
Chairperson of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights after leaving the White House. Eleanor was
interested in many social issues and fought for equality for African Americans, which is the main reason that Mrs.
Merriweather disapproves of her. Lee alludes to Eleanor Roosevelt to suggest to Scout and the reader that even in
1935 there were people fighting for equal rights.
Themes
Gender. Gender has been a major theme in this novel. In particular, Scout's refusal to adhere to traditional gender
stereotypes and wear dresses has led to conflict with Aunt Alexandra, who thinks that she should act more like a
lady. This makes the missionary circle's little gathering especially fraught, because it puts Scout and her
mannerisms in the spotlight. There's some tension in the beginning about Scout's behavior, but this is lost in the
tragedy of Tom's death. In its aftermath, Scout feels that the appropriate thing to do in that situation is to behave like
a lady, which in this context has the same impact as Jem acting like a gentleman (that is, a mature, respectable
person).
Hypocrisy. This theme goes hand in hand with racism and has run through the entire novel, becoming most
noticeable in those moment where it's clear that African Americans and white people are treated very differently,
both in town and by the justice system. In this chapter, hypocrisy is found in the missionary circle, which is
composed of ladies who profess to care about poor Africans but then turn around and treat their African American
servants with disdain.
Religion. Lee builds on the theme of religion by introducing readers to the ladies of Maycomb's missionary circle.
Like the religious community at First Purchase, the circle is typically exclusive to a single race, is interested in charity
work, and upholds the social and the moral values of its community. Unlike First Purchase, however, the circle is
hypocritical, judgmental, and self-important, and its primary goal appears to be self-preservation rather than religious
devotion. Lee uses this chapter to draw a comparison between the missionary circle and First Purchase and show
the reader how hypocritical Maycomb can be.
50
Respect. In Chapters 21 and 22, we saw the great depths of the African American community's respect for Atticus
when they stood up for him as he passed and when they left him gifts on the back steps to thank him for defending
Tom. In this chapter, we can see that at least some of the white citizens of Maycomb also have a great deal of
respect for Atticus, because they entrusted him and no one else with Tom's defense. Miss Maudie says that this is a
sign of their esteem, but Aunt Alexandra and Scout don't think this is enough.

and Analysis
This chapter opens with Jem telling Scout not to kill a roly-poly that had found its way inside the house. Scout is
lonely now because Dill has gone back home to Meridian for the school year, and she can't stop thinking about what
happened the day before he left: how Tom was killed and how Atticus went to tell his wife the news. Atticus and
Calpurnia happened to drive past Jem and Dill while they were swimming, and Atticus allowed them to tag along to
the Robinsons' house. They watched from inside the car as Atticus tells Helen what happened to Tom. "She just fell
down in the dirt," Dill says. "Just fell down in the dirt."
The news spreads fast, and for two days nobody in Maycomb can talk of anything else. Then the gossip dies down,
and things go back to normal until Mr. Underwood writes a column about it in the paper, decrying Tom's murder and
saying that it's a sin to kill a cripple. He even likens this to "the senseless killing of songbirds," unwittingly echoing
Atticus's line about it being a sin to kill a mockingbird. No one seems to pay any attention to this. Bob Ewell even
makes it plain that he considers Tom's death a success. According to Miss Stephanie, he's supposed to have said,
"One down and about two more to go." Those two are Judge Taylor and Atticus.
Metaphor
Scout uses a metaphor when she says that Tom was already guilty in "the secret courts of men's hearts" even
before the trial began. This implies that every person has their own idea of justice, and that these courts determine
what's right and wrong long before anything goes to trial.
Repetition
One example of this is when Dill repeats himself, saying, "She just fell down in the dirt. Just fell down in the dirt."
This repetition is meant to emphasize the effect Tom's death has on Helen and the trauma Dill experiences in
witnessing Helen's grief.
Symbols
Mockingbirds. In this chapter, the symbolism of mockingbirds expands to include all songbirds, which are here
likened to disabled people in that they're supposed to be defenseless (this is an ableist viewpoint, but Mr.
Underwood's intentions are honorable: he's arguing that Tom's murder was a sin and that it was unfair to put him on
trial, because he never had a chance). This solidifies the idea that Tom is the symbolic mockingbird of the novel.
51
Themes
Innocence. Perhaps the most sudden loss of innocence in the novel is Dill's, because he's absent for most of the
year and doesn't experience Maycomb's racism first hand. Instead, he loses his innocence in the span of a few
weeks, between when Tom is convicted and when he's killed. His repetition of the phrase "she just fell down in the
dirt" when telling Scout how Tom's wife reacted to his death indicates that this has been traumatic for him. Scout and
Jem are equally traumatized, but their loss of innocence is gradual, taking place over the course of the novel. Tom's
innocence is, to the reader, unquestionable, but, as Scout notes, was lost in Maycomb before his trial even began.
Murder. Noticeably, Lee never uses the word "murder" to refer to Tom's killing. Atticus simply says that Tom was
"shot" and killed. Mr. Underwood goes the furthest in comparing Tom's murder to "the senseless slaughter of
songbirds," where the word "slaughter" indicates the savage, unnecessary nature of the killing.
Sin. Hand in hand with the theme of murder is sin. This chapter fulfills the title's promise and makes Tom the
symbolic mockingbird, killed senselessly as he was trying to escape. Lee has given the reader several different
reasons why Tom's murder is a sin (that he's disabled, that he's innocent), but in the end it feels like a sin because
it's so egregiously over the top. As Atticus notes, "They didn't have to shoot him that many times."

and Analysis
When school starts again, Scout is in the third grade and Jem is in seventh. He joins the football team as a
waterboy, and he and Scout see less and less of each other. Scout walks by the Radley house alone now, and
though she isn't scared of it and regrets tormenting Boo, she still wants to see him one day. Atticus warns her not to
bother Boo and reveals that he knew about their little excursion into the Radley lot all along; he says they were lucky
Nathan Radley missed. Scout is puzzled yet again by Maycomb's behavior (resenting Atticus for defending Tom, yet
reelecting him to the state legislature) and decides to withdraw from people and never think about them.
Then one day in class she's forced to pay attention. Her teacher Miss Gates forces the students to do a Current
Events presentation every week, and one of Scout's classmates, Cecil Jacobs, brings a newspaper clip about Adolf
Hitler, who has begun putting Jews in concentration camps—this is 1935, fully four years before the invasion of
Poland, and Hitler is still consolidating his political power as Germany's new head of state. Hypocritically, Miss Gates
decries Hitler's actions against the Jews, even though on the day of Tom's trial she said horrible things about African
Americans that suggested they deserve their persecution.
Later that night, she talks to Jem, who's "stuffing" in order to gain weight for football. When she starts talking about
the trial, he grabs her and tells her never to talk about that with him again. He and Scout have grown apart in the last
few chapters, but this outburst still takes her by surprise. It startles her enough that she seeks comfort with Atticus,
who tells her that she's too big now to sit in his lap, but that she shouldn't let Jem get her down. Someday, he'll be
himself again.
Allusions
52
"Sweetly Sings the Donkey." An old children's song with an unknown author and publication date.
Euphemism. During Cecil's Current Events presentation, he informs the class that Hitler has been "washin' all the
feeble-minded," but fails to understand that the "showers" in Hitler's concentration camps are really gas chambers,
and that "washin'" is a euphemism for killing them. Lee uses Cecil's naivete to emphasize the horrors of war and
prejudice.
Simile. One example of this is "the events of the summer hung over us like smoke in a closed room."
Themes
Hypocrisy. Yet again, we see a disconnect between what Maycomb's citizens profess to believe about racism and
their actions toward African Americans. Seemingly sensible people like Miss Gates who say that they're against the
persecution of the Jews turn a blind eye to their own persecution of Black people within their community.
Racism. In this chapter, we're introduced to yet another pervasive breed of racism: Anti-Semitism, which led Hitler
and Nazi Germany to torture and kill millions of Jews in Europe in the 1930s and 40s. The exact number of deaths is
unknown, just as the exact number of deaths during the centuries of slavery in Europe and the United States is
unknown, but these deaths do put Tom's death into perspective: had he been tried in a different time period, the trial
would've been even more of a farce (if there was a trial at all). Tom's trial itself thus takes place at an important step
in Southern history, in which fair-minded and anti-segregationist people began to take positions of power and sway
public opinion. It would be decades before the Civil Rights Movement was able to secure a modicum of equal rights
for African Americans.
Weakness. Previous chapters have emphasized both physical weakness (Atticus's supposed feebleness) and
mental weakness (Maycomb's racism and hypocrisy). In this chapter, Cecil refers to the Jews and other victims of
the Nazis as "feeble-minded" in order to explain why they're being persecuted in the concentration camps. This is in
line with the tendency for oppressors to demonize all of their victims in order to justify their acts of oppression. Thus,
the feebleness or weakness of the Jews is a lie being perpetuated to rationalize the prejudice the Nazis (and racist
citizens of Maycomb) enact on a systemic level.

and Analysis
That October, things begin to settle down in Maycomb. Three big things happen: 1) Bob Ewell gets a job working for
the Works Progress Administration (WPA), but quickly loses it due to his laziness, 2) Judge Taylor's house is nearly
broken into one Sunday night—the implication being that Ewell was the one who did it, and 3) Ewell starts stalking
Helen Robinson and has to be run off her boss Link Deas' property. Aunt Alexandra worries that Ewell is holding a
grudge against everyone related to Tom's trial (including Atticus), but Atticus says not to worry, because he has
confronted everyone in their own way and had his time in the limelight. Ewell thought he'd be a hero, but everyone in
Maycomb knows he's a liar. He's sour about it, but Atticus is convinced he won't do anything serious.
53
Things in Maycomb return to normal, with two minor changes: 1) the National Recovery Act is struck down and 2) a
group of children whose identities remain hidden break into the cellar of a pair of spinsters, Miss Tutti and Miss
Frutti, who claim to have heard the culprits (Syrians, they say), despite being stone deaf. This happens on
Halloween, before the pageant in the high school auditorium. Scout unwillingly plays a ham, wearing a heavy
costume made out of chicken wires and cloth. She expects her entire family to come, but Atticus refuses, leaving
Jem to walk her to the school. As Scout says, this begins "[their] longest journey together."
Allusions
James "Cotton Tom" Heflin (1869 - 1951). A United States Senator and Congressman and suspected leader of
the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). In this chapter, Atticus alludes to Cotton Tom when Scout asks if he's a radical, suggesting
that he's as far from it as possible. Critics have pointed to this line to suggest that Atticus is actually racist, but that
his ethics prevent him from behaving in a racist fashion toward African Americans. This aspect of his character is
expanded upon in the sequel, Go Set a Watchman, in which a grown-up Scout is disappointed to hear that her father
has attended meetings of the KKK. Whether Atticus is or is not a racist is still up for debate, but his actions in this
novel are nevertheless interpreted as courageous and progressive.
The Ladies' Law. From the 1907 Alabama Criminal Code: "Any person who enters into, or goes sufficiently near to
the dwelling house of another, and, in the presence or hearing of the family of the occupant thereof, or any member
of his family, or any person who, in the presence or hearing of any girl or woman, uses abusive, insulting or obscene
language must, on conviction, be fined not more than two hundred dollars, and may also be imprisoned in the county
jail, or sentenced to hard labour for the county for not more than six months." Basically, this law is meant to prevent
women and ladies from being catcalled on the street and subjected to the indignities of the world. It's a very outdated
law, but effectively prevents Ewell from harassing Helen Robinson further.
National Industrial Recovery Act (NRA). This law was passed by Congress in 1933 and granted the President
permission to regulate some industries to prevent inflation and stimulate the economy. It was found to be
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the case Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, which brought an end to
the NRA. This act is widely considered a failure and—as evidenced by the continued depression in Maycomb—did
little to relieve the poverty there.
Works Progress Administration (WPA). One of the most significant facets of the New Deal made by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt in an effort to pull the country out of the Great Depression. It provided funding for the creation
of public buildings and utilities and employed musicians, artists, and skilled laborers in an attempt to revitalize the
economy. Ewell gets a job working for the WPA in an undisclosed capacity, but quickly loses the job because of his
laziness and alcoholism.
Conflict
Bob Ewell vs. Everyone. In the wake of Tom Robinson's trial, everyone in Maycomb understands that he and
Mayella lied on that stand and that Tom died for no reason other than Ewell wanted to be thought of as a racist hero.
When this backfires he becomes bitter, lashing out at all of the characters who embarrassed him at the trial or are
associated with it. Atticus says Ewell is just blowing off steam, but as we'll see in the following chapter, he's wrong.
Foreshadowing
54
Aunt Alexandra's fear that Ewell will exact his revenge serves as foreshadowing of his attack on Jem and Scout in
Chapter 28.
Idiom
Aunt Alexandra uses the idiom "somebody just walked over my grave" to mean that she has had a premonition of
something bad happening.
Simile
One example of this would be Ewell telling Link Deas not to look at him "like [he] was dirt."
Themes
Change. This chapter marks an important shift in Maycomb: its citizens go from being more or less united against
Tom to being completely united against Ewell, whom they hold in disdain. In Link Deas's response to Ewell's
harassment of Helen Robinson, we can see that many characters in Maycomb (in fact, a majority of those Scout
elects to spend time with) are against racism and segregation in its various forms. Though most of the changes in
Maycomb are slight, this one will eventually go on to spark radical social change in the South.
Law. Thus far in the novel, there haven't been many allusions to specific laws, with the one exception of Jem and
Atticus's discussion of the rape statute, which made rape a capital offense in Alabama at that time. In this chapter,
Lee refers directly to laws and organizations that provide some order to Maycomb and are a benefit to the
community (particularly to Helen Robinson, who for once is afforded the same rights as a white woman when Link
Deas threatens to invoke the Ladies' Law against Ewell).
Revenge. Aunt Alexandra is right when she says Ewell is the kind to hold a grudge. To him, revenge is less about
getting back at people who have wronged him than about healing his wounded pride. If he were, for instance,
allowed to stalk Helen, then he would be able to assert his dominance and, in so doing, restore his social status as a
white male (with all its associated privileges). Instead, he's reduced to the "dirt" he is and lashes out because of it.

and Analysis
Scout and Jem's long journey begins on Halloween night, when they walk past the Radley house in the dark. There's
no moon, and Jem teases that there might be a Haint waiting for Scott in the yard between their house and the
school. Scout nearly falls and admonishes Jem for not bringing a flashlight, but they make it to the school okay, only
getting scared once when Cecil jumps out of the bushes and surprises them. The inside of the school is full of all
sorts of fun things, like a House of Horrors and big blobs of taffy. After the band plays the National Anthem, the
pageant begins. Mrs. Merriweather, the teacher organizing the pageant, gives a long speech about a one Colonel
Maycomb, the town's namesake.
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Scout is sleepy by then and performs her part in a daze, missing her cue the first time but finally hitting it on the
second. Someone offers them a ride home afterward, but Jem declines, and they set out walking across the yard.
Jem hears something, and they stop, listening. Scout then shouts, "Cecil Jacobs is a big wet he-en!" They inch their
way towards the big oak tree nearer the street, then Jem cries out for Scout to run. Their stalker attacks, and Scout
is caught and squeezed until she can hardly breathe. Then, suddenly, someone pulls the attacker off her. There's a
scuffle, and the attacker falls. He then carries Jem back to the house. Jem's arm is broken, and he has blacked out
from the pain. Aunt Alexandra quickly calls for Dr. Reynolds. Atticus calls Heck, in case the attacker is still out there.
Scout worries that Jem is dead, but Dr. Reynolds assures her otherwise as he assesses her injuries in the hall
outside Jem's room. Heck then arrives and takes a long time explaining that Bob Ewell is dead—stabbed under the
ribs with a kitchen knife.
Alliteration
Two examples of this can be found in the line "Haints, Hot Steams, incantations, secret signs."
Allusions
"Dixie." A popular 19th Century folk song supposed to have been written by Daniel Decatur Emmett. The term
"Dixie" or "Dixie Land" is a very common nickname for the South, where the song became a kind an anthem.
Spanish-American War (1898). Fought between Spain and the United States in 1898, this brief war was sparked
when the U.S.A. intervened in the Cuban War of Independence. This was not an altruistic move on the part of the
United States, as they'd been actively pursuing Spain's territories in the Pacific Ocean prior to the war and were
interested in controlling Cuba. Though Cuba would eventually gain independence, the 1898 Treaty of Paris granted
control over the island to the United States for a short time. The men backstage at the pageant are wearing hats
soldiers wore during this and other wars.
World War I (1914 - 1918). Often referred to as the Great War during the Great Depression, World War I is
considered one of the deadliest wars on record, with fighting taking place in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific, as well
as North and South America. Some of the men backstage are wearing helmets in this style.
Onomatopoeia. There are two examples of this in the line, "What I thought were trees rustling was the soft swish
of cotton on cotton, wheek, wheek, with every step," where "swish" and "wheek" are words used to imitate the sound
of Ewell's pants.
Themes
Death. Of the three major deaths in the novel, Bob Ewell's is the only one that takes place in the present action and
the only one that Scout experiences up close (though she doesn't realize it at the time). It's also perhaps the least
affecting, in the sense that it evokes no sympathy from the reader and is not considered a tragedy. Our sympathies
lie with Scout the entire time, and there's never a doubt in the reader's mind that she'll survive. This brush with death
instead throws the rest of the novel into perspective, reminding us that moral fortitude like Atticus's isn't always
enough to keep his children safe from the real world. In the end, Boo, who saves Jem and Scout, is the true hero of
the novel, not Atticus.
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Journeys. In many ways, this entire novel has been one long journey leading us to this moment when Jem's arm
breaks. Scout foreshadowed this event in the first chapter of the novel and has been working up to it ever since. Now
that the moment has finally arrived, we realize that this isn't an ordinary accident and that we've essentially been
reading the build-up to a near-death experience that has an enormous effect on how Scout and Jem see the world.
Their journey to this moment has been one of trauma and heartache, and in the process they've lost their childish
innocence. In this light, their journey has led them to grow up and wrestle with the themes of death and courage.

and Analysis
After the revelation of Ewell's death, Heck Tate asks Scout to recount everything that happened. He asks her
questions along the way, wondering what she shouted and if Atticus heard it, which he didn't. Heck then explains
that there were perforations on Ewell's clothes and skin, which he realizes were made by the chicken wire from
Scout's ham costume. He calls Ewell a coward, and Atticus, still a little in shock, says he never thought Ewell would
come after his kids. He was, of course, drunk at the time, which probably made it easier for Boo to pull him off Scout.
He's the one who saved them; Scout didn't realize it before, but understands that it's him when she looks him in the
eye. She says, "Hey, Boo," and nearly cries.
Idiom
Atticus uses an idiom when he says Ewell was "out of his mind," meaning crazy.
Simile
One example of this is Heck's assertion that if we always followed our premonitions then "we'd be like cats chasin'
our tails."
Themes
Courage. Lee continues to build on the theme of courage by revealing that Boo was the one who saved the kids
and that he came out of his house for the first time in what might be years in order to do so. This kind of courage
doesn't stem from moral fortitude, but rather from the raw human desire to protect those we love. In this sense, Boo
is like Atticus in that he's extremely protective of Scout and Jem, but unlike him in that he's willing to kill a human
being in order to do it. Atticus never even considered the possibility of Ewell attacking the kids, which is perhaps his
only failure in the novel.
Cowardice. Hand in hand with courage is cowardice, which is what leads Ewell to attack Atticus's children in the
dead of night rather than face Atticus man to man in daylight. Ewell's actions are both furtive and malicious and
evidence a weak moral character that made Ewell a pariah during his lifetime. His attack on the children figures him
as an entirely worthless human being.
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and Analysis
Hearing Scout use the nickname "Boo," Atticus gently corrects her: "Mr. Arthur, honey." That's his real name: Mr.
Arthur Radley. Scout's instinctive fear of Boo makes her run to Jem's side, but she calms down soon enough and
leads Boo to the porch, where she offers him the rocking chair, thinking that he'll like the dark. On the porch, Heck
and Atticus disagree about who should take the blame for Ewell's murder. Atticus wants to claim Jem did it in self-
defense. Heck insists that Boo was the one who did it, but says it would be a "sin" to bring such a shy man into the
public eye, suggesting that Ewell simply killed himself. Atticus is morally opposed to this, but Scout is in favor of it.
She says it would be like shooting a mockingbird, harkening back to the title of the novel.
Allusions
Luke 9:60. In the King James Version of the novel, the full verse reads: "Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou
and preach the kingdom of God." Heck alludes to this verse when he says "let the dead bury the dead," meaning,
let's put the matter to rest and end the cycle of violence.
Symbols
Mockingbirds. In previous chapters, we've seen how both Tom Robinson and Atticus can be figured as symbolic
mockingbirds, persecuted in spite of their innocence. Here, Scout makes it clear that Boo Radley is another
mockingbird and that, though he has, in fact, committed a crime (that of killing Ewell), his intentions were so
honorable that he remains innocent of any wrongdoing. Heck even says, "I never heard tell that it's against the law
for a citizen to do his utmost to prevent a crime." He's the sheriff and thus has the authority to sweep the truth under
the rug in this case, but under different circumstances (for instance, if Boo were African American like Tom), that
wouldn't have been a possibility. The various symbolic mockingbirds demonstrate how different innocence is to
people of different races.
Themes
Heroism. From the theme of courage comes the theme of heroism, which we saw in a nascent form back in
Chapter 10, when Atticus had to shoot the rabid dog Tim Johnson. Here, Boo becomes a hero by quite literally
saving Scout and Jem's lives and protecting them from Ewell. His heroism appears to come out of nowhere, fueled
not by a sense of morality (like Atticus's) but by his affection for the Finch children, with whom he has developed a
friendship almost without their knowledge. It takes a moment for Scout to understand what happened or why Boo
saved her, but in the end she feels an enormous amount of gratitude for him. He's perhaps the greatest hero in the
novel.
Innocence. This is the last we see of this theme, which has run its course throughout the novel. Ewell's death
raises the question of what to do with Boo, the innocent man who acted like a hero. Like Atticus, Boo's innocence is
twofold: he doesn't deserve to be vilified by the public, and his intentions are entirely honorable. Unlike Tom and
Atticus, Boo is protected from the public, and he's able to go home without anyone besides Heck Tate and the
Finches knowing who he is. In the end, he's the only character whose innocence remains intact after the traumatic
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events of the novel.
Sin. Many characters have used the word "sin," defining it variously as: killing a mockingbird, killing a disabled
person, and bringing a shy man into the public eye. Here, Heck Tate's insistence that it would be a sin to spotlight
Boo underscores that when we sin we're making a choice (either to do the right thing or not). However, when we
consider the fact that people define "right and wrong" differently, it becomes clear that, like morality, "sin" can be
relative. Some people would ardently disapprove of Heck's actions. Others would agree. Scout is one of the latter,
and as the reader we are meant to side with her.

and Analysis
When this final chapter opens, Boo is still at the Finch house, coughing dreadfully and shuffling around
uncomfortably. Scout takes him to Jem's room so they can say good night. Jem is asleep, and Boo hesitantly strokes
his hair in farewell before Scout leads him out of the house. She asks him to offer his arm so that it would appear he
was escorting her—and not the other way around. She walks him to his door and then never sees him again. This
saddens her, as does the realization that he gave them all those gifts in the knothole and that they never gave
anything back in return. She turns to leave, but stops on the porch.
From Boo's front steps, she looks out at the town: at Miss Maudie's flowers, at Mrs. Dubose's old house, at the
sidewalk where she and Jem played. She realizes that this is what Boo sees when he looks out and that he thinks of
this as his town, his friends. Thinking of everything that happened from his perspective, she understands how he
came to feel protective of her and Jem. They're his children, in a way. He protects them. Scout doesn't realize this
until she stands in his shoes, so to speak, the way Atticus told her to. It took her almost the entire book, but she
finally learns how.
On the walk home, Scout thinks that, though she and Jem are going to get older, there isn't much left for them to
learn, because they've been through so much that now they're mature and have a highly developed sense of
morality. When she gets home, she finds Atticus sitting in Jem's room, reading The Gray Ghost, which Jem talked
about in Chapter 1. She asks him to read it aloud, but falls half asleep and has to be put to bed. As Atticus helps her,
she mumbles that she heard every word he said, that she remembered the plot of the book that he was reading, and
that "he was real nice," referring, perhaps, to Boo, or to one of the characters in Jem's book. Atticus tells her most
people are nice once you get to know them, then goes to sit by Jem. He'll still be there when Jem wakes up in the
morning, Scout says, ending the novel on a comforting note.
Themes
Empathy. Earlier in the novel, Atticus told Scout that it's impossible to understand someone until you walk around
in his shoes. Scout didn't understand at the time, but when she stands on Boo's porch, she is at last able to see
things from Boo's perspective. It's an important moment in her emotional and psychological development and
indicates that she has learned Atticus's lesson. Her ability to feel empathy for Boo and for other characters indicate
that she has matured.
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Maturity. Scout has learned many lessons over the course of the novel and, as a result, has matured into an
intelligent young woman with a complex understanding of the racial and sociopolitical problems in Maycomb. When
she at last sees the world from Boo's perspective, she learns her final lesson, which Atticus attempted to teach her
at the beginning of the book: to look at things from another person's perspective and to show them understanding
and empathy. Given Scout's often fractious nature, it's no surprise that this was the most difficult lesson for her to
learn. That she finally does so indicates that her maturation is complete (at least, within the content of this novel).
Themes
Themes
PREJUDICE
The key events in To Kill a Mockingbird are driven by the undercurrent of prejudice that runs through Maycomb. The
most obvious victim of this prejudice is Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Tom’s
conviction is all but assured—despite the obvious inaccuracies and impossibilities of Mayella’s accusation—
illustrating the depth of racism in the town. Tom’s accuser, Mayella Ewell, faces prejudice of a different sort. The
Ewell family is considered "white trash” by the rest of the town. Aware of their lowly reputation, Bob Ewell’s
persecution of Tom is driven in part by a desire to assert power over the only group in Maycomb with less social
status than the Ewells.
Though Scout is firmly entrenched in the white world of Maycomb, we get a small glimpse of life for Maycomb’s
Black community when Scout visits Calpurnia’s run-down church. The visit is marred by a confrontation between
Calpurnia and Lula, who argue over whether the children should be allowed to come to a Black church. Though the
rest of the church is welcoming, Lula’s anger at their presence speaks to the inherent unfairness of the situation: the
white Finches—while well-meaning—may enter and leave both Black and white spaces freely, a luxury that Lula and
the other Black people in Maycomb do not possess.
The rampant racism in Maycomb bleeds into the personal lives of the Finch family when Atticus becomes Tom
Robinson’s defense attorney, prompting a swift social backlash from many white neighbors. When their aunt comes
to visit, Scout and Jem witness prejudice within their own family as well: Aunt Alexandra not only encourages Atticus
to fire Calpurnia, but also urges him to teach Jem and Scout about the importance of heritage and class. While many
citizens of Maycomb hold strong racist and classist assumptions like Alexandra does, these individuals are
contrasted against characters like Atticus and Miss Maudie, who choose to judge people by their character rather
than their background or race. This is a lesson that both Scout and Jem learn firsthand through their interactions with
Boo Radley. Though they initially fear Boo due to his obscurity and the rumors about him in town, the children
eventually come to realize that he, too, is a victim of prejudice; instead of trying to understand him, the townspeople
have solidified his outsider status.
MORAL COMPLEXITY
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Over the course of the novel, Scout and Jem come to understand that people cannot be easily categorized as good
or evil. Initially, Scout and Jem naively assume that most of the people in Maycomb are objectively “good.” This
assumption is soon challenged, however, by the racism and hypocrisy they witness during Tom Robinson’s trial.
With Atticus's help, Scout and Jem come to learn that while the people around them aren't perfectly moral, it does
not then follow that these people are irredeemably “evil.” Mrs. Dubose, “the meanest old woman who ever lived,”
regularly yells abuse at Jem and Scout as they walk by her house. It is only after her death that they learn that she
was struggling to overcome a morphine addiction, determined to die on her own terms. The revelation of Mrs.
Dubose’s unexpected bravery leaves Jem and Scout more empathetic and slower to judge those around them.
From the very beginning, Atticus works to convince Scout of the potential for good in people—despite their “blind
spots.” His optimism proves correct when Scout is able to successfully dispel a lynch mob by making innocent small
talk with its leader. These teachings ultimately shape Scout’s perspective, allowing her to adopt a more nuanced
view of those around her. This personal transformation is evident in Scout's observations of Mayella Ewell at the trial.
Though she believes that Mayella’s actions are reprehensible, Scout is also able to recognize that Mayella Ewell has
lived a hard, sad life: “Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world.” Scout’s heightened empathy
allows her to see flawed individuals like Mayella as complex people who are worthy of human dignity and
understanding despite having done terrible things. By the end of the novel, it's clear that Atticus’s teachings have
successfully prepared Scout and Jem to confront the evils of mankind without losing their faith in the goodness of
humanity.
INNOCENCE
To Kill a Mockingbird is, at its heart, an examination of the ways in which innocence is impacted by society. Readers
follow Scout and Jem as they journey away from the world of childhood ignorance and come to terms with the adult
realities that surround them. Atticus’s decision to defend Tom Robinson initiates this loss of innocence, exposing the
children to the ugly racism of their neighbors. Jem in particular struggles to cope with Tom’s conviction and the
resulting realization that truth and goodness do not always triumph over lies. The trial serves as an awakening, not
only for the children, but also for the town: just as the children must grow up and confront the adult world, the trial
forces the town to confront its own deep prejudices.
While Scout and Jem's coming of age is a difficult transition, their loss of innocence leaves them more perceptive
and sympathetic to the people around them. In the beginning of the novel, Scout and Jem are too naive to realize
that their Boo Radley game might be hurtful. To them, Boo Radley is a “malevolent phantom”—a monster rather than
a person. As their awareness of intolerance grows, the children come to see that Boo himself has been a victim of
prejudice. Though Jem and Scout are both deeply affected by the events in Maycomb, Atticus’s guidance ensures
that they emerge from their loss of innocence with their faith in humanity intact.
To Kill a Mockingbird also explores the ways in which the innocent may be unjustly injured by prejudice: racism
denies Tom Robinson his legal innocence, while cruel rumors turn Boo Radley into a social pariah. Both Tom and
Boo are living representations of the symbolic “mockingbird,” an innocent creature whose songs bring beauty to the
world. Not only are Tom and Boo innocent of the accusations hurled against them, but they are fundamentally good
people. Tom goes out of his way to help Mayella Ewell, whom he feels pity for, while Boo Radley braves the world
outside his home to come to the aid Jem and Scout. Ultimately, the reader understands that just as Miss Maudie
says it is “a sin to kill a mockingbird,” it is a terrible sin that the society of Maycomb has treated these two innocent
men unjustly.
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Characters
Characters
JEAN LOUISE “SCOUT” FINCH
Scout Finch is the protagonist and narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird, and the events of the story unfold through her
recollections of growing up in the small town of Maycomb. (Read our extended character analysis of Scout Finch.)
JEREMY ATTICUS “JEM” FINCH

Scout’s older brother, Jem Finch, is only nine years old when the novel opens. In temperament, he is more mature
and thoughtful than his impulsive younger sister. (Read our extended character analysis of Jem Finch.)
ATTICUS FINCH
The widowed father of Scout and Jem, Atticus Finch forms the moral center of the novel. As a respected lawyer,
Atticus uses his exalted position in the community to fight against injustice. (Read our extended character analysis of
Atticus Finch.)
ARTHUR “BOO” RADLEY

Reclusive and mysterious, Boo Radley is an important figure in the children’s lives. He has remained shut in his
house while rumors about him have swirled around town for years. (Read our extended character analysis of Boo
Radley.)
CALPURNIA
Calpurnia is the Finch family’s Black housekeeper. A formidable female presence in the children’s lives, Calpurnia
has helped to raise them since their mother’s untimely death. Though Scout often resents how strict Calpurnia is, the
children clearly love her and see her as a maternal figure. Calpurnia serves as a bridge between the children and the
Black community in Maycomb, helping them see the effects of the Tom Robinson trial from a different perspective.
Though Calpurnia makes an effort to bring the children into her world, she also helps them realize the differences
between their own white world and the oppressed Black community of Maycomb. Scout’s perspective is broadened
when she hears Calpurnia speaking differently among members of her church, forcing Scout to acknowledge that
Calpurnia has an entire life beyond the Finch family.
JOHN HALE “JACK” FINCH

Jack Finch is Atticus’s younger brother and is known to Scout and Jem as “Uncle Jack.” Atticus’s children love Jack,
though he does not understand children quite as well as Atticus. Scout accuses Uncle Jack of being unfair when he
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punishes her for attacking Francis without hearing her out first. After talking with Atticus and Scout, however, Jack
realizes that he should have listened to Scout and apologizes.
AUNT ALEXANDRA
Aunt Alexandra is Atticus’s sister who comes to stay during the trial. She is the epitome of the “Southern Belle” and
firmly adheres to traditional social hierarchies regarding class and race. She strongly opposes Atticus’s involvement
in Tom Robinson’s trial and criticizes his parenting of Scout, who she feels is not being taught to act like a proper
lady. Scout, meanwhile, finds Alexandra to be an overbearing and unpleasant addition to their household. Though
Alexandra—like other citizens of Maycomb—is blinded by prejudice, she truly cares about her brother Atticus. When
Alexandra is upset by the hypocrisy of her missionary circle and the death of Tom Robinson, she is determined not
to let it show. Her strength leads Scout to the realization that being a “lady” takes courage and perseverance.
CHARLES BAKER “DILL” HARRIS

Dill Harris is Scout and Jem’s imaginative young playmate who travels to Maycomb to stay with his aunt every
summer. He is closest to Scout in age and temperament, and they share a playful childhood romance. Dill is adept
at telling fantastic stories, which he often uses to cover up his insecurity over his family life. At one point, feeling
unloved and ignored by his mother, Dill runs away to Maycomb and hides under Scout’s bed, demonstrating the
depth of his attachment to the Finch family. Underneath his dramatic and outgoing personality, he is quite sensitive,
as shown when he breaks down and cries after witnessing Mr. Gilmer’s disrespectful treatment of Tom Robinson
during the trial.
MISS MAUDIE ATKINSON

Miss Maudie is the children’s neighbor and adult confidante. She is one of the few white adults in the novel to share
Atticus’s beliefs about prejudice and injustice. Miss Maudie is patient with the children and helps them make sense
of the events unfolding around them. Her character imparts many key lessons to the Finch children, most notably by
explaining why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. She also models perseverance and optimism for the children when
after her house burns down, she flippantly tells them that she didn’t much care for it anyway.
NATHAN RADLEY
Nathan is Boo’s older brother who upsets the children when he fills in the knothole in his tree with cement, effectively
ending their gifts from Boo.
ROBERT (BOB) EWELL

Bob Ewell is a poor, unemployed drunk who neglects and abuses his many children. When he discovers that his
daughter Mayella favors Tom Robinson, he attacks her, leading Mayella to falsely accuse Tom of rape. Feeling
humiliated after Tom Robinson's trial, Bob vows to get revenge on Atticus. He ambushes Scout and Jem with a knife
after the Halloween pageant but is killed by Boo Radley before he can kill the children.
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MAYELLA EWELL
Bob Ewell’s daughter who accuses Tom Robinson of rape. Though Mayella’s immoral actions result in the conviction
and death of an innocent man, she is also a pitiful character. During the trial, it becomes clear that she has lived a
hard life of abuse and squalor at the hands of her cruel father. Despite her low social status and implausible
accusation, most of the town considers a Black man automatically guilty, illustrating the depth of racism in Maycomb.
TOM ROBINSON
An honest and hardworking Black man who is unjustly accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Though Atticus proves that
Tom could not have raped Mayella, the jury still convicts him due to their racial prejudice. Tom, like Boo Radley, is a
“mockingbird,” an innocent person who has been unfairly harmed by society.
WALTER CUNNINGHAM SR.

The father of Scout’s classmate, Walter Cunningham leads a mob to the jailhouse with the intention of lynching Tom
Robinson. Atticus confronts the lynch mob outside the jail, but they are only stopped when Scout runs out and begins
chatting with Mr. Cunningham about his son. Scout’s innocence and goodness lead Walter to second guess his plan,
and he tells the mob to disperse. Atticus later reveals that on the jury there was a Cunningham who wanted a full
acquittal for Tom Robinson, demonstrating that people can change for the better.
HELEN ROBINSON
Tom Robinson’s wife. She is harassed by Bob Ewell after the trial.
LINK DEAS
Tom Robinson’s employer who speaks out on Tom’s behalf during the trial. He gives Helen Robinson a job after the
conviction of her husband.
MRS. HENRY LAFAYETTE DUBOSE

An old, racist woman who lives near the Finches and often shouts abuse at Scout and Jem as they walk past. When
Jem destroys her flowers, Atticus forces him to read to Mrs. Dubose every day. After she dies, Atticus explains to the
children that she was struggling with a morphine addiction and had shown great courage by trying to fight it.
HECK TATE
Heck is the sheriff of Maycomb and a good man. He agrees with Atticus to keep Boo’s role in Bob Ewell’s demise
hidden in order to spare Boo the unwanted attention.
MR. DOLPHUS RAYMOND

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Dolphus Raymond is a white man who lives with a Black mistress and several mixed-race children. Though the town
believes him to be a drunk, he reveals to the children that he is only pretending to be a drunk because he believes
that the townspeople would never understand his interracial relationship otherwise.
MR. BRAXTON BRAGG UNDERWOOD

Mr. Underwood is the local newspaper editor. Though he admittedly despises Black people, he publishes a scathing
article after Tom Robinson’s trial, criticizing the hypocrisy of Maycomb.
Characters: Scout Finch

EXTENDED CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Jean Louise "Scout" Finch is the protagonist and narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird, and the events of the story unfold
through her recollections of growing up in the small town of Maycomb. When the novel opens, Scout is a precocious
five-year-old excited to attend her first day of school. Her tumultuous first day illustrates some of her defining
characteristics: an impressive intellect and curiosity, a hotheaded and tomboyish disposition, and an innate
innocence and inner goodness. Scout’s personality is greatly shaped by the influence of her father, Atticus, whom
she deeply respects and admires. Scout routinely defies the gender conventions of her small southern town and,
much to the chagrin of her Aunt Alexandra, prefers to tag along on Jem and Dill’s escapades rather than pursue
more ladylike activities.
Scout’s naïveté and strong moral compass make her an astute observer of the injustice and hypocrisy in Maycomb,
and (in part due to her childish innocence) she is one of the few characters that dares to openly confront it. Scout’s
innate sense of optimism and justice is challenged by the racism and hatred she witnesses throughout Tom
Robinson’s trial. With Atticus’s help, she is able to process the terrible events and realize that her fellow citizens are
morally complex individuals who possess the capacity for both goodness and evil. By the end of the novel, eight-
year-old Scout has grown not only physically but emotionally as well. She has gained some control over her temper
and no longer views being a “lady” as synonymous with being weak. Ultimately, Scout learns to look past deceiving
appearances and, like her father, employs empathy and compassion to find the good in those around her.
QUOTES
"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned
to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then:
a black dog suffered on a summer's day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering
shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before
noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet
talcum."
"Summer was on the way; Jem and I awaited it with impatience. Summer was our best season: it was
sleeping on the back screened porch in cots, or trying to sleep in the treehouse; summer was everything good
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to eat; it was a thousand colors in a parched landscape; but most of all, summer was Dill."
"Naw, Jem, I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.”
"Coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates was—she was goin' down the steps in front of us, you
musta not seen her—she was talking with Miss Stephanie Crawford. I heard her say it's time somebody
taught 'em a lesson, they were gettin' way above themselves, an' the next thing they think they can do is
marry us. Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home . . ."
"As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person
in the world. She was even lonelier than Boo Radley, who had not been out of the house in twenty-five years.
When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant, then she thought he was
making fun of her. She was as sad, I thought, as what Jem called a mixed child: white people wouldn't have
anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn't have anything to do with her
because she was white."
Characters: Jem Finch

Scout’s older brother, Jeremy "Jem" Finch, is only nine years old when the novel opens. In temperament, he is more
mature and thoughtful than his impulsive younger sister. Initially, Jem acts as both Scout’s playmate and mentor,
often serving as a bridge between her and the adult world. As Jem is four years older than Scout, he has a more
nuanced understanding of the prejudice and racism in Maycomb and, as a result, is more emotionally affected by it.
Harper Lee uses Jem’s awakening to adulthood to mirror the townspeople's realization of their intolerance. As the
novel progresses, Jem begins to retreat from the childish games that he and Scout used to enjoy, becoming moodier
and more withdrawn. Despite this increasing worldliness, Jem’s pure admiration for Atticus and intense faith in
justice leaves him unprepared for the outcome of Tom Robinson's trial, and he is utterly devastated by the jury's
decision. Though Jem feels disillusioned with Maycomb in the aftermath of the trial, he still retains his inner
goodness and bravely attempts to defend his little sister against Bob Ewell’s attack. By the end of the novel, Atticus
is confident that Jem will eventually be able to move on from his disappointment in the trial and “be himself again.”
QUOTES
“You know something, Scout? I’ve got it all figured out, now. I’ve thought about it a lot lately and I’ve got it
figured out. There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s
the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.”
"It's like bein' a caterpillar in a cocoon, that's what it is. . . . Like somethin' asleep wrapped up in a warm place.
I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that's what they seemed like."
"That's what I thought, too . . . when I was your age. If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along
with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I'm
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beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in
the house all this time . . . it's because he wants to stay inside."
"Atticus says you can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no
matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't."
"Jem wanted Dill to know once and for all that he wasn’t scared of anything: 'It’s just that I can’t think of a way
to make him come out without him gettin’ us.' Besides, Jem had his little sister to think of. When he said that, I
knew he was afraid."
Characters: Atticus Finch

The widowed father of Scout and Jem, Atticus Finch forms the moral center of the novel. As a respected lawyer,
Atticus uses his exalted position in the community to fight against injustice. His deep sense of fairness and empathy
extends to his private life, where he teaches Scout and Jem the value of compassion for others. Atticus’s great
influence over his children can be seen in Scout’s intelligence and Jem’s strong sense of justice. Atticus makes a
point to treat those around him with dignity, even characters such as Calpurnia and Mayella Ewell, whom the rest of
the town considers his social inferiors. This respectful attention is also extended to his children, who can always
count on him for an honest and straightforward answer to their questions. Though Atticus may initially appear to be
almost unrealistically perfect, he is not completely without flaws. He occasionally suffers from self-doubt, as shown
when Aunt Alexandra questions his parenting of Scout. Atticus’s ability to find the good in others may also blind him
to people with truly evil intentions, as is the case when he fails to take Bob Ewell’s threats seriously. Despite these
minor failings, Atticus’s determination to defend Tom Robinson teaches Scout and Jem the importance of doing the
right thing, even when the odds are stacked against you. It is Atticus’s unfailing belief in the innate goodness of
humanity that allows Scout and Jem to emerge from the traumatic events in Maycomb with heightened compassion
rather than cynicism.
QUOTES
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into
his skin and walk around in it.”
"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his
hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter
what."
“There's a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep 'em all away from you. That's never
possible.”
“Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
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“This time we aren’t fighting the Yankees, we’re fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter
things get, they’re still our friends and this is still our home.”
Characters: Boo Radley

Reclusive and mysterious, Arthur "Boo" Radley is an important figure in the children’s lives. He has remained shut in
his house while rumors about him have swirled around town for years. Scout, Jem, and Dill are captivated by the
aura of danger and mystery surrounding Boo and eventually create the Boo Radley game in which they reenact
what they believe to be his life story. Though the children are initially terrified of Boo, they begin to see him in a
different light when he starts leaving them small gifts in the knothole of a tree on the Radley property. Miss Maudie
eventually reveals that Boo was never an evil person but merely someone who has been greatly affected by his strict
and overbearing family. At the end of the novel, it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell. Through their
interactions with Boo, the children learn that they must challenge prejudice by approaching others with compassion.
In the end, Scout realizes that Boo is a “mockingbird,” an innocent and well-meaning person who has been unjustly
hurt by the world around him.
QUOTES
“Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he
dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an
animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what
teeth he had were yellow and rotten, his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.”
“ ‘To my way of thinkin’, Mr. Finch, taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’
draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight—to me, that’s a sin. It’s a sin and I’m not about to have it on
my head. If it was any other man, it’d be different. But not this man, Mr. Finch.’ ”
“He was still leaning against the wall. He had been leaning against the wall when I came into the room, his
arms down and across his chest. As I pointed he brought his arms down and pressed the palms of his hands
agains the wall. They were white hands, sickly white hands that had never seen the sun, so white they stood
out garishly against the dull cream wall in the dim light of Jem’s room. . . . His face was as white as his hands,
but for a shadow on his jutting chin. His cheeks were thin to hollowness; his mouth was wide; there were
shallow, almost delicate indentations at his temples, and his gray eyes were so colorless I thought he was
blind. . . . As I gazed at him in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into a timid
smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with my sudden tears.”
“Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor.
He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But
neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing,
and it made me sad.”
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“A boy trudged down the sidewalk dragging a fishing pole behind him. A man stood waiting with his hands on
his hips. Summertime, and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange little drama
of their own invention. It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dubose's. . . . Fall,
and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day's woes and triumphs on their faces. They
stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, apprehensive. Winter, and his children shivered at the front gate,
silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter, and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a
dog. Summer, and he watched his children's heart break. Autumn again, and Boo's children needed him.
Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around
in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.”
Analysis
Analysis
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird illuminates the racism and prejudice that pervaded American society in the
1930s, some twenty or thirty years before the civil rights movement began in earnest.
The story is set in Maycomb, a fictional Southern town where people are resistant to change. Though the inhabitants
of this small town necessarily live out their lives in close proximity to one another, a myriad of factors, including race,
heritage, and wealth, form a complex social hierarchy within the town. Segregation separates the town along racial
lines, but rigid social distinctions govern relationships within Maycomb’s white community as well. The well-to-do
may live near and frequently interact with the town’s working-class and impoverished members (as seen in Scout’s
classroom), yet the divisions between these groups remain rigid.
It is suggested that this unyielding hierarchy stems from the instinctive desire of individuals in every class to believe
that they are superior to others, which creates complex status relationships that extend beyond the traditional
socioeconomic and racial sphere. For example, the Cunninghams feel justified in looking down on the Ewells—
although they are both poor, white families—because the Cunninghams’ well-known pride and independence
garners them greater respect in the town. As Jem observes,
The thing about it is, our kind of folks don't like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don't like the
Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the colored folks.
Poor, rude, and hostile, the Ewells are despised by most of the town and thus occupy one of the lowest rungs on the
social ladder. However, due to the rampant racism in Maycomb, even the Ewells are considered to be socially
superior to respectable Black individuals like the Robinsons. The Ewells are aware of this fact and exploit this bias to
their advantage in accusing Tom Robinson. Though Bob Ewell is aware of Tom’s innocence, he also knows that as a
white man, it is he, not Tom, who will have the town’s support—regardless of how unpopular he is. The hollowness
and hypocrisy of Maycomb’s strict social hierarchy ultimately highlights the truth of a key lesson expressed in the
novel: “There’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”
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Narrated by a young woman recalling her childhood, To Kill a Mockingbird is a bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age
story. Through the memories and reflections of an adult Scout, readers follow Scout; her brother, Jem; and their
friend Dill as they grow up and learn to navigate the difficulties of coming of age in a changing society. The children
are surrounded by conflicting attitudes, particularly with regard to race and class, and must decipher for themselves
which ones to adopt as their own. The children don’t undertake this journey completely alone, however; and many of
the adults closest to the children—including Atticus, Calpurnia, and Miss Maudie—act as strong moral role models,
helping to guide the children toward integrity and away from cynicism, even in the face of terrible injustices.
The book’s title comes from the notion that “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” which is referenced by multiple characters
in the book. The underlying explanation of this rule—that it is wrong to harm the innocent—is one of the primary
messages of the work. The most clear parallels to the titular mockingbirds are Tom Robinson and Arthur “Boo”
Radley, both of whom, like mockingbirds, are innocents harmed by the harsh ignorance and prejudices of the town.
Tom's race makes him an easy scapegoat in a town mired in racism, which Atticus refers to as “Maycomb's usual
disease.” In sharp contrast to Bob Ewell, Tom is a kind man who cares about helping others. This compassion
ultimately leads to his downfall when Mayella (on the orders of her father) falsely accuses him of rape after her father
witnesses her unsuccessful effort to seduce Tom. Prior to the trial, few people in Maycomb consider that a Black
man accused by a white woman might be innocent, and even after Atticus proves Tom’s innocence beyond a doubt
in the courtroom, his guilty conviction is all but assured.
Boo Radley is yet another symbolic mockingbird—he, too, is prejudged by the people of Maycomb, though the
prejudice faced by Boo stems from hurtful speculation rather than racism. Boo’s reclusiveness causes rumors to
circulate until he is considered little more than a neighborhood pariah. The children regard him as they would a
mythical monster or ghost, believing him to be a vengeful perpetrator of various crimes. In reality, he is a quiet and
painfully shy man whose reclusiveness is perhaps partly due to his overbearing and dominant brother. Boo shows
his true nature in his interactions with Jem and Scout: unbeknownst (at first) to the children, Boo mends Jem’s torn
pants, leaves presents for them in the knothole of a tree, places a blanket around Scout during the fire, and saves
Scout and Jem’s lives when Bob tries to kill them.
As the children grow up, they find that their initial perceptions about their world and the townspeople are frequently
challenged: Boo turns out not to be the “malevolent phantom” they feared, but a mild-mannered, introverted man of
great courage and respect. Mrs. Dubose is not the evil witch she appeared to be, but instead a woman determined to
die with dignity. Dolphus Raymond is not a worthless drunkard, but instead a man who finds a way to live in a society
that judges unfairly. These experiences, reinforced by Atticus’s insistence that “you never really understand a person
until you consider things from his point of view,” help the children learn to lead with compassion and refrain from
judging others. Keeping an open mind allows the children to develop into stronger moral citizens and ultimately
prevents them from becoming jaded when they are confronted with the cruelest aspects of humanity, such as Tom
Robinson’s guilty conviction and Bob Ewell’s attack. Though these traumatic events are difficult for the children,
particularly Jem, to reconcile, the ability to look for the good in those around them helps the children face the harsh
realities of the adult world without losing faith in humanity. Indeed, the book ends on a hopeful note, as Scout
mentions that a character in The Gray Ghost had unexpectedly turned out to be “real nice,” to which Atticus
responds, "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”
Key Ideas and Commentary: Form and

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Content
To Kill a Mockingbird is narrated by Jean Louise Finch, nicknamed Scout, who recalls her childhood spent in the
sleepy Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama. Set in the Great Depression of the 1930’s, part 1 of the novel mainly
consists of Scout’s everyday trials and tribulations with her father, Atticus; her older brother, Jem; their Black
housekeeper, Calpurnia; and their neighbors. Scout and Jem are becoming more aware of the adult world around
them. Atticus Finch desires his children to be more tolerant in a town that has certain deep-rooted prejudices. Scout
and Jem begin this struggle for understanding when Dill, a precocious nephew of their neighbor Stephanie Crawford,
visits one summer. Dill proposes that they try to make Boo Radley come out of his house. Fascinated by the town’s
rumors that Boo is insane, the children make several attempts to lure the mysterious recluse out into the open.
When Dill leaves in the fall, the children’s ideas concerning Boo fade. Scout encounters the school system for the
first time. On the first day of school, she gets in trouble with her new teacher because Atticus has been teaching
Scout to read; the teacher insists that Scout learn to read “properly”—that is, in school. From this encounter, Atticus
teaches Scout about compromise—they will continue to read together every night, but Scout must learn her
teacher’s reading methods as well— and about the value of seeing things from another person’s perspective.
Later in the school year, Jem discovers gifts left in the knot hole of a tree on the Radley place. The children realize
that Boo Radley may have left these gifts for them. The children’s pondering over Boo Radley’s existence is
overtaken, however, by Atticus’ involvement with the trial of Tom Robinson, a Black man wrongfully accused of
raping a white woman. Atticus tries his best to prepared his children for the months ahead. At Christmas, Atticus
gives the children their first air rifles but cautions that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because mockingbirds only bring
pleasure. Later, Scout connects this comment about the innocent mockingbird to Boo Radley.
Part 2 is the more serious section of the novel, moving from the happy memories of Scout’s childhood to Tom
Robinson’s trial and its long-reaching effects on Atticus and the children. On the night before the hearing, a lynch
party is narrowly diverted when Scout, having followed Atticus to the jail along with Jem and Dill, recognizes a
classmate’s father. Her innocent remarks to the man cause him to disband the lynch mob.
The trial brings the whole county of Maycomb to hear the testimony of Mayella Ewell, a white girl who lives in
extreme poverty with her shiftless father, Bob Ewell. During cross-examination, Atticus proves that the Ewells are
lying about Tom, but unfortunately, as Jem and Scout learn, the jury upholds Ewell’s word, and Tom is convicted of
rape. The children and their father barely get over the pain of this conviction before word comes that Tom has been
killed while trying to escape from prison.
By the fall of Scout’s eighth year, the controversy has died down, but Bob Ewell continues to threaten members of
the court who he feels discredited him. He publicly spits on Atticus. Later, Ewell attacks Jem and Scout on their way
home from the town’s Halloween pageant. Scout survives the attack unscathed, but Jem is badly hurt. Reunited with
a frightened Atticus, she learns that it was their reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley, who killed Ewell and saved the
children’s lives. Atticus and the town sheriff decide not to tell the town of Boo’s deed, and Scout agrees, reminding
Atticus that it would be “like shootin’ a mockingbird.” After walking Boo home, Scout stands on his front porch and
finally understands her father’s words about seeing things from another’s point of view.
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Style, Form, and Literary Elements:
Christian Themes
To Kill a Mockingbird examines southern religious practices and beliefs, revealing the tension that exists within a
society that discriminates against select neighbors rather than loving them. Atticus uses Christian values to raise
Scout and Jem. Serving as their primary example, he teaches the children to be ethical, moral, and just. He
demonstrates compassion, morality, and forgiveness. Atticus encourages Scout and Jem to forgive relatives,
classmates, and neighbors who make offensive remarks about him. Yet, Scout struggles to refrain from pummeling
anyone who decides to hurl insults at her. When Bob Ewell spits in Atticus’s face, it affords Atticus the opportunity to
show Jem and Scout what he has tried to teach them all along: A Christian must turn the other cheek.
As a lawyer and state representative, Atticus is respected in the community and known for his honesty and moral
standing. Judge Taylor purposely chooses Atticus to defend Tom Robinson, a Black man accused of raping Mayella
Ewell, a white woman, because he knows Atticus will work hard to prove Tom’s innocence. This case places Atticus
is the position of being a Christ-like figure, bearing the sins of the community. “Let this cup pass from you, eh?”
Atticus’s brother says. Miss Maude argues, “We’re so rarely called on to be Christians, but when we are, we’ve got
men like Atticus to go for us.” Critics suggest that Atticus’s courage to defend Tom stems from his strong spiritual
foundation and his need to make the truth of Tom’s innocence evident to the community.
Lee also uses the action around the case to illustrate the tension between Christianity, bigotry, and hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy and hatred are learned behaviors, suggests Lee, just as love and compassion are. Tom feels compassion
for Mayella, a poor, uneducated young woman physically abused by her father. Similarly, Atticus shows love and
friendship to Tom when he helps protect him from a mob intent on hanging him for a crime he did not commit.
Compassion sets both men apart from other members of the community and is the catalyst for most of the conflict
that surrounds them.
Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Places

Discussed
MAYCOMB
Maycomb. Seat of Alabama’s fictional Maycomb County, located twenty miles east of Finch’s Landing. Through its
citizens from professional, middle, and lower classes, Harper Lee analyzes the values and problems common in
small southern towns during the Great Depression. Scout learns from Atticus to reject the racial and social
prejudices of the town without hating its inhabitants. By walking in the shoes of others both before and after the Tom
Robinson trial, she respects Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, who is determined to cure her morphine addiction before
dying, and she appreciates Judge Taylor, Sheriff Tate, and farmer Link Deas, all of whom try to give Tom Robinson
as fair a trial as possible in Maycomb.
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RADLEY PLACE
Radley place. Home of Arthur (Boo) Radley and his family; located near Atticus Finch’s home. Community rumors
about the seclusion of Boo in his home and about his violent actions provide mystery and excitement for Scout, Jem,
and Dill during their summers. Actually seeing Boo or enticing him to leave his dark, isolated home becomes a goal
for the children and a lesson in tolerance and acceptance. Through the gifts they find in the hollow tree in the Radley
yard, they learn of Boo’s tentative attempts at friendship with them. When Boo saves their lives by killing Bob Ewell
in the woods behind the school, they learn to respect his privacy and his desire to remain hidden from the probing
eyes of the community.
SCHOOLHOUSE
Schoolhouse. School attended by the Finch children. By having children from the town and from the rural community
in the same classes, Lee shows the various social classes in the county and how all have learned to live together.
Miss Caroline Fisher, Scout’s first-grade teacher, is considered an outsider because she is from Clanton in northern
Alabama. She does not understand the social caste system of her students, and her new educational practices
appear impractical to her students.
COURTHOUSE
Courthouse. Government building in the town square in which Tom Robinson is tried for murder. The architecture of
this building symbolizes the strong ties of the town to the past and its unwillingness to change. After fire destroyed
the original classical structure, its massive columns were retained while a Victorian clock tower was added. This
symbolizes the town’s acceptance of change only as a result of a conflagration and its attempt to preserve the past
as completely as possible.
Having the Black residents sit in the balcony of the courtroom during the Robinson trial stresses the physical and
social segregation of the races. In contrast, having Scout, Jem, and Dill accepted by Reverend Sykes in the balcony
also symbolizes the hope that the young generation of white southerners will be able to see both Blacks and whites
differently as they grow up. On the courthouse grounds during the trial, Scout and Dill learn from Dolphus Raymond
that his false drunkenness is only a ruse he assumes in order to provide the community with an excuse for his living
with a Black wife and fathering children of mixed blood.
FINCH’S LANDING
Finch’s Landing. Town in which Atticus Finch grew up. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, it was begun in
the early nineteenth century by Atticus’s ancestor, Simon Finch, an immigrant from England, and remained the home
of the Finch family until Atticus left to study law in Montgomery, Alabama, and his younger brother, Jack, left to study
medicine in Boston. Their sister Alexandra continued to live there with her husband. The small town provides a
strong sense of history and family within which Scout and Jem grow up. Although they only visit there, each child
understands how their current home is an extension of the values and beliefs in which Atticus, Uncle Jack, and Aunt
Alexandra were raised. Neither Atticus nor Jack returns to Finch’s Landing to live because the town is too small to
support their professions, and each seems to disregard many of the mores espoused there as shown through the
actions of Aunt Alexandra.
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Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Literary
Elements Analysis
POINT OF VIEW
The most outstanding aspect of To Kill a Mockingbird's construction lies in its distinctive narrative point of view.
Scout Finch, who narrates in the first person ("I"), is nearly six years old when the novel opens. The story, however,
is recalled by the adult Scout; this allows her first-person narrative to contain adult language and adult insights yet
still maintain the innocent outlook of a child. The adult perspective also adds a measure of hindsight to the tale,
allowing for a deeper examination of events. The narrative proceeds in a straightforward and linear fashion, only
jumping in time when relating past events as background to some present occurrence. Scout's account is broken
into two parts: the two years before the trial, and the summer of the trial and the autumn that follows. Some critics
have proposed that Part II itself should have been broken into two parts, the trial and the Halloween pageant; William
T. Going suggests that this arrangement would keep the latter section from "seeming altogether an anticlimax to the
trial of Tom."
SETTING
The setting of To Kill a Mockingbird is another big factor in the story, for the action never leaves the town of
Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is described variously as "an old town," "an ancient town," and "a tired old town,"
suggesting a conservative place that is steeped in tradition and convention. Scout's description of the local
courthouse reinforces this impression. The building combines large Greek-style pillars—the only remnants from the
original building that burned years ago—with the early Victorian design of its replacement. The result is an
architectural oddity that indicates "a people determined to preserve every physical scrap of the past." The time of the
novel is also significant, for the years 1933 to 1935 were in the midst of the Great Depression. These economic hard
times affected the entire town, for if farmers and other laborers made barely enough money to survive, they had no
extra money with which they could pay professionals like doctors and lawyers. When Atticus renders a legal service
for Walter Cunningham Sr., a farmer whose property rights are in question because of an entailment, he is repaid
with goods such as firewood and nuts instead of cash. This history between the two men influences events during
the novel; when a lynch mob appears at the local jail, Scout recognizes Cunningham as her father's former client.
The conversation she strikes up with him recalls him to his senses, and he sheepishly leads the mob away.
SYMBOLISM
As the title of the novel implies, the mockingbird serves as an important symbol throughout the narrative. When the
children receive guns for Christmas, Atticus tells them it's all right to shoot at blue jays, but "it's a sin to kill a
mockingbird." As Miss Maudie Atkinson explains, it would be thoughtlessly cruel to kill innocent creatures that "don't
do one thing but make music for us to enjoy." The mockingbirds are silent as Atticus takes to the street to shoot the
rabid dog, and Scout describes a similar silence in the courtroom just prior to the jury pronouncing Tom Robinson
guilty. The innocent but suffering mockingbird is recalled in an editorial B. B. Underwood writes about Robinson's
death, and again when Scout tells her father that revealing Boo Radley's role in Bob Ewell's death would be "like
shootin' a mockingbird." Another powerful symbol is contained in the snowman Scout and Jem build after
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Maycomb's rare snowfall. Because there is very little snow, Jem makes the base of the figure from mud; they then
change their "morphodite" from black to white with a coating of snow. When Miss Maudie's house catches fire that
night, the snow melts and the figure becomes black once again. Its transformalion suggests that skin color is a
limited distinction that reveals little about an individual's true worth.
HUMOR
One element of the novel's construction that should not be overlooked is Lee's use of humor. The serious issues the
novel grapples with are lightened by episodes that use irony and slapstick humor, among other techniques. Just
prior to Bob Ewell's attack on the children, for instance, is a scene where Scout misses her cue during the Halloween
pageant, only to make her entrance as a ham during Mrs. Merriweather's sober grand finale. Scout's matter-of-fact,
childish recollections also provide entertainment; she recalls that when Dill ignored her, his "fiancee," in favor of Jem,
"I beat him up twice but it did no good." Other characters are full of wit as well. Miss Maudie Atkinson in particular.
When exasperated by Stephanie Crawford's tales of Boo Radley peeking in her windows at night, she replies, "What
did you do, Stephanie, move over in the bed and make room for him?" Including such humorous portrayals of human
faults enlivens a serious plot, adds depth to the characterizations, and creates a sense of familiarity and universality,
all factors that have contributed to the success and popularity of the work.
Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Literary

Qualities
Lee neatly structures her novel around a dual plot and dual themes; the novel is evenly divided into two parts. In her
graceful, understated style, Lee weaves together a story about two children growing up in a small southern town,
and a story about the children's father, a white attorney who defends a Black man unjustly accused of raping a white
woman. Because both stories involve Jem, Scout, and Atticus, Scout's first-person narration, with its focus on the
development of these three characters, unifies the different story lines.
The narrator's emphasis on Jem is particularly significant to the structure and meaning of the story. Lee creates in
Scout an immensely likable, funny character, but she invests Jem with the depth and literary complexity of a
protagonist. Each section of the book begins and ends with a description of Jem as he matures and changes. Scout
begins her narrative with the statement: "When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at
the elbow." The rest of the story follows from this simple revelation, and by the final chapters, when the injury
actually occurs, the broken arm carries symbolic significance.
Through much of part 1, Jem is a child who plays make-believe games with Scout and Dill, but toward the end of the
first section, he has begun to recognize the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. Scout's narration
reflects this development; she begins part 2 by noting: "Jem was twelve. He was difficult to live with, inconsistent,
moody." Hence, Scout sets the tone for the section of the novel that deals largely with the trial of Tom Robinson; just
as Jem is entering a difficult stage, learning to confront conflicting emotions and beliefs, so too are the people of
Maycomb feeling the tension of a trial that will shake the foundation of their racially-divided town. Near the end of the
novel, Bob Ewell, who represents the backwardness and evil of prejudice, tries to kill Jem and Scout in a vengeful
attempt to hurt Atticus. Jem's arm is broken during the attack, symbolizing the pain and disillusionment he has
experienced while learning about Boo Radley and witnessing the Robinson trial.
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Jem survives the attack but carries a permanent scar, a symbol of the disabling power of hatred and injustice. Scout
says that as a result of his injury that night, Jem's left arm is "somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or
walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh." In this way, Jem shares
a bond with Tom Robinson, for Robinson's left arm is also shorter than his right. As a result of an accident involving
a cotton gin, he is permanently crippled, and as Atticus argues at his trial, he is therefore physically incapable of
beating Mayella Ewell in the manner that she describes. Yet Robinson's most damning handicap proves to be his
race. Jem's broken arm serves as a reminder of this fact, and Lee implies that Jem has been irreparably changed as
a result of Tom Robinson's trial.
Lee also suggests, however, that Jem's disillusionment is not permanent and that he will grow up to be as fair-
minded and compassionate as his father. Atticus acts as a guardian of justice throughout the novel, and Lee
symbolically ends the story with the image of Atticus watching over his children. Scout's final passage states that
Atticus "turned out the light and went into Jem's room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem
waked up in the morning."
Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Setting

To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama, a town so small and insular that, according to Scout,
her father is "related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the town." Scout devotes the very beginning of
her narrative to a description of her southern heritage, revealing that her English ancestor, Simon Finch, a
slaveholding, enterprising skinflint, founded Finch's Landing, a cotton plantation where generations of Finches,
including Atticus, grew up. Twenty miles east of Finch's Landing, Maycomb is home to old southern families whose
roots, traditions, and biases run deep. Each family name carries its own accepted identity in town: the Haverfords,
for example, have "a name synonymous with jackass"; the Cunninghams are considered poor but very proud; and
the Ewells are cruel and lazy.
The town itself is slow, hot, and uneventful in Scout's memory; the men work from morning till evening, the women
stay at home, and the children go to school and then play outside. In Maycomb, says Scout, "Men's stiff collars
wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like
soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum...There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to
buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County."
Racial segregation is an accepted way of life for the townspeople. The Blacks in Maycomb live in their own part of
town, attend their own churches and schools, 1368 To Kill a Mockingbird have low-paying, menial jobs, and are
implicitly considered inferior by the majority white segment of the town. The whites use pejorative terms to refer to
the Black characters, and public buildings such as the courthouse have separate areas for the whites and for the
"colored."
Much of the action, which occurs over the course of two years, takes place at the Finch home, where Scout lives with
Atticus, Jem, and, during the day, their housekeeper, Calpurnia. Atticus has raised the children with Calpurnia's
assistance since his wife died of a heart attack when Scout was two years old. Dill lives next door to the Finches
during the summer, when he visits his Aunt Rachel Haverford. The rest of the action occurs at school, at the
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courthouse, and in the Black part of town.
The Radley Place, a source of fear and drama for the children, is located down the street from the Finch home.
According to local legend, the Radley Place was once home to Mr. and Mrs. Radley, an aloof, stern couple, and their
son Arthur. While still a teenager, Arthur joined his buddies on a lark, in locking a town official in the courthouse
outhouse one night. Although the offense was trivial, the Radleys disciplined their son by secluding him in their home
for fifteen years. Then, the story goes, when Arthur was thirty-three years old, he nonchalantly stabbed his father in
the leg with a pair of scissors. After this incident, Arthur was kept for a time in the courthouse basement and was
eventually transferred back to his home, where he continues to live in isolation from the community. Although
Arthur's cruel father has died, Arthur's older brother, Nathan Radley, an equally severe man, now occupies the
Radley Place. Arthur, known as Boo to the superstitious, fearful neighbors, becomes a creepy object of fascination
for the children, and the Radley Place is considered haunted property; as Scout explains: "People said that [Boo]
went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people's azaleas froze in a cold snap, it
was because he had breathed on them...A baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions asked."
Historical and Social Context: Context

Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird has become an American literary classic. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961
and was made into an Academy Award-winning film in 1962, with Gregory Peck playing Atticus Finch. The novel
also won the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1961 and was Best Sellers
magazine “Paperback of the Year” in 1961.
Although Harper Lee has not published a major work since To Kill a Mockingbird, the book retains its place in
American literature for its telling of a regional story with a universal message. Also, although it is not a main issue,
the novel features a feminist struggle. Even though the main focus of the novel remains Scout’s growing recognition
of the prejudices of her surroundings, Scout struggles for an understanding of womanhood. Through the strong,
lyrical voice of this independent tomboy, the reader sees a young girl unsure of her place in Southern femininity.
Scout struggles with how to fit into the world of “ladies,” as exemplified by her Aunt Alexandria, and how to retain the
independence that she has had as a child. Men still hold the main arena, and their world seems much more
interesting to Scout than the world of caretaking that her aunt enjoys. Only Miss Maudie, Scout’s outspoken
neighbor, offers a good model for Scout. Maudis is independent and speaks her mind, yet she enjoys her baking and
tending her garden.
Lee has been linked to other Southern writers who emerged in American literature after World War II, such as
Truman Capote (who was the model for Dill in the novel), Carson McCullers, William Styron, and Eudora Welty.
Along with these writers, Lee celebrates the Southern tradition of looking back on the past as did her predecessor
William Faulkner. The new Southern writers, however, wrote about a “new South,” a region that looked not only to its
past but also to its future. Critics praised Lee for her portrayal of the new Southern liberal in the character of Atticus
Finch. They also praise her technical use of point of view and her strong evocation of place as the strengths of To
Kill a Mockingbird.
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Historical and Social Context: Impact
Although frequently referred to as a regional novel, To Kill a Mockingbird quickly proved to have universal appeal. A
best-seller, it received mixed critical reviews but was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and soon became one of the most
widely read contemporary novels in U.S. high schools. Objections to its mild profanity, inclusion of racial epithets,
depiction of hypocrisy in religion, and reference to rape led to occasional short-term censorship in public schools and
libraries but ultimately only increased the popularity of the novel. Written during one of the most turbulent periods of
race relations in the United States, To Kill a Mockingbird effectively reflects and indicts the social code of the South,
which conflicted with established law in failing to provide justice for all, regardless of race. As race relations were
being tested in both the courts and the streets, readers responded emotionally and intellectually to a literary work
that advocated equal justice for all humanity.
Historical and Social Context: Historical

Context
CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE 1950S
Despite the end of slavery almost a century before To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960 (President Abraham
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863), African Americans were still denied many of their basic
rights. Although Lee sets her novel in the South of the 1930s, conditions were little improved by the early 1960s in
America. The Civil Rights movement was just taking shape in the 1950s, and its principles were beginning to find a
voice in American courtrooms and the law. The famous 1954 U.S. Supreme Court trial of Brown v. the Board of
Education of Topeka, Kansas declared the long-held practice of segregation in public schools unconstitutional and
quickly led to desegregation of other public institutions. However, there was still considerable resistance to these
changes, and many states, especially those in the South, took years before they fully integrated their schools.
Other ways Blacks were demeaned by society included the segregation of public rest rooms and drinking fountains,
as well as the practice of forcing Blacks to ride in the back of buses. This injustice was challenged by a mild-
mannered department store seamstress named Rosa Parks. After she was arrested for failing to yield her seat to a
white passenger, civil rights leaders began a successful boycott of the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama, on
December 5, 1955. The principal leader of the boycott was the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Along with other
Black pastors, such as Charles K. Steele and Fred Shuttlesworth, King organized the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference in January, 1957, one of the leading organizations that helped end legal segregation by the mid-1960s.
The same year that Lee won a contract for the unfinished manuscript of To Kill a Mockingbird, Congress passed the
Civil Rights Act of 1957, which provided penalties for the violation of voting rights and created the Civil Rights
Commission. African Americans would not see protection and enforcement of all of their rights, however, until well
into the next decade, when the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Bill of
1968 were passed. These laws banned racial discrimination from public places, workplaces, polling places, and
housing.
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The justice system was similarly discriminatory in the 1950s, as Blacks were excluded from juries and could be
arrested, tried, and even convicted with little cause. One notable case occurred in 1955, when two white men were
charged with the murder of Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old African American youth who had allegedly harassed a
white woman. Like the jury in Tom Robinson's trial, the jury for the Till case was all white and all male; the trial was
also held in a segregated courtroom. Although the defense's case rested on the unlikely claims that the corpse could
not be specifically identified as Till and that the defendants had been framed, the jury took only one hour to acquit the
men of all charges. The men later admitted their crimes to a journalist in great detail, but were never punished for the
murder.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND RACE RELATIONS

The events surrounding race relations in the 1950s and 1960s have a strong correspondence with those in To Kill a
Mockingbird, which is set nearly thirty years earlier. The South, which was still steeped in its agricultural traditions,
was hit hard by the Great Depression. Small farmers like Lee's Walter Cunningham Sr. often could not earn enough
cash from their crops to cover their mortgages, let alone living expenses. Lee's novel captures the romanticism many
white people associated with the Southern way of life, which many felt was being threatened by industrialization.
Part of this tradition, however, protected such practices as sharecropping, in which tenant farmers would find
themselves virtually enslaved to landowners who provided them with acreage, food, and farming supplies. The
desperation sharecroppers felt was brilliantly depicted in Erskine Caldwell's 1932 novel, Tobacco Road. The racism
of the South—many Blacks were sharecroppers—is also portrayed in Richard Wright's novel Uncle Tom's Children
(1938).
There was little opportunity for African Americans to advance themselves in the South. Schools were segregated
between whites and Blacks, who were not allowed to attend white high schools. Blacks were therefore effectively
denied an education, since, in the early 1930s, there was not a single high school built for Black students in the
South. The result was that nearly half of all Blacks in the South did not have an education past the fifth grade; in To
Kill a Mockingbird, Calpurnia tells the children she is only one of four members of her church who can read.
Ironically, the Depression helped to change that when northern school boards began integrating schools to save the
costs of running separate facilities. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal also led to the creation of the
National Youth Administration (founded in 1935) and its Division of Negro Affairs, which helped teach Black students
to read and write. The Depression was particularly painful to Blacks, who, in the 1920s, were already grossly
underemployed. With worsening economic times, however, they found that even the menial jobs they once had like
picking cotton—had been taken by whites. The New Deal helped here, too, with the creation of the Federal Housing
Administration, the Works Progress Administration, and other agencies that assisted poor Blacks in obtaining jobs
and housing.
Yet the oppressive society in the South often prevented Blacks from taking advantage of this government assistance.
Racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Shirts terrorized Blacks out of their jobs The vigilante practice of
lynching was still common in the South in the early 1930s. Only North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and
Alabama had laws specifically outlawing lynching as an illegal activity. (Surprisingly, only two northern states had
similar laws.) By 1935, however, public outrage had reached a point where lynchings were no longer generally
tolerated, even by whites. In Lee's novel, for instance, the local sheriff tries to warn Atticus Finch of a possible lynch
mob while a concerned citizen, B. B. Underwood, is prepared to turn them away from the jail with his shotgun.
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Historical and Social Context: Social
Sensitivity
To Kill a Mockingbird is about two deeply disturbing subjects: rape and racism. Lee addresses both subjects with
grave sensitivity. The details regarding Mayella Ewell's alleged rape come to light during the trial scenes, with Atticus
gently guiding the proceedings. Although these details are not explicitly described, there is the suggestion of incest—
that Bob Ewell not only beat his daughter but raped her as well. Since the story is being filtered through Scout, all of
this information is related subtly and succinctly.
The novel also reflects the reality of racism in segregated southern towns in the 1930s, some thirty years before the
civil rights movement. Blacks are commonly referred to as "niggers" and are considered below the law. Many
members of the white society feel justified in inflicting their own form of justice on Blacks, particularly on those, such
as Robinson, whom they believe have violated racist sexual taboos. By confessing his sympathy for Mayella, Tom
Robinson—a Black man who has the gall to feel sorry for a white woman—offends the ignorant bigots of the town. A
mob of townspeople gather at the jail in hopes of pulling Robinson from his cell and lynching him.
In her measured, deliberate style, Lee exposes the ugliness of this racist society and holds Atticus up as an example
of enlightenment and compassion. Still, her comparison of Tom Robinson to a mockingbird, a harmless bird
described as existing "only to sing his heart out for us," may strike some readers as patronizing and somewhat
racist, for it reinforces the notion of the Black man's role as servant, and does not allow for the intellectual equality of
Blacks.
Historical and Social Context: Compare and

Contrast
1930s: During the Great Depression unemployment rose as high as 25%; the New Deal program of
government-sponsored relief leads to a deficit in the federal budget.
1960: After a decade of record-high American production and exports, unemployment dips to less than 5
percent, while the federal government runs a small surplus.
Today: Unemployment runs between 5 and 6 percent, while the federal government works to reduce a multi-
billion dollar deficit amidst an increasingly competitive global economy.
1930s: Schools are racially segregated; emphasis in the classroom was on rote learning of the basics.
1960: Although backed up by force at times, school integration laws were being enforced; the 1959 launch of
the Soviet satellite Sputnik leads to math and science gaining increased importance.
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Today: School populations are as racially diverse as their communities; classes include a focus on combining
subjects and problem-solving skills.
1930s: Only property owners who were white and male could serve on juries.
1960:: Women and minorities could now serve on juries; while the Supreme Court ruled that eliminating jurors
from duty on the basis of race is unconstitutional, many trials still exclude Blacks and Hispanics.
Today: All registered voters are eligible to serve on juries, although in many cases prosecution and defense
teams aim to create a jury with a racial balance favorable to their side.
1930s: A big trial serves as a entertainment event for the whole town and a child who has been to the movies
is unusual.
1960: Television was becoming the dominant form of popular entertainment, while families might see films
together at drive-in movie theaters.
Today: Although television and film are still large presences, computers and computer games swiftly gain a
share in the entertainment market. Trials still provide public entertainment and are featured on their own cable
channel.
Connections and Further Reading: Related

Work
A 1962 Academy Award-winning film version of To Kill a Mockingbird (screenplay by Horton Foote, directed by
Robert Mulligan) capitalized on and expanded the popularity of the novel.
Connections and Further Reading: Related

Titles / Adaptations
In 1962 To Kill a Mockingbird was adapted as a motion picture with a screenplay written by Horton Foote. A winner
of three Academy Awards, the film was directed by Robert Mulligan and starred Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. The
motion picture is remarkably faithful to the book and has received both popular and critical acclaim.
Connections and Further Reading: Media

81
Adaptations
To Kill a Mockingbird was adapted as a film by Horton Foote, starring Gregory Peck and Mary Badham,
Universal, 1962; available from MCA / Universal Home Video.
It was also adapted as a full-length stage play by Christopher Sergei, and was published as Harper Lee's To
Kill a Mockingbird: A Full-length Play, Dramatic Publishing Co., 1970.
Connections and Further Reading: For

Further Reference
Buelle, Edwin. "Keen Scalpel on Racial Ills." English Journal 53 (1964): 658- 661. Discusses racial themes in Lee's
novel and in Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country.
Erisman, Fred. "Literature and Place: Varieties of Regional Experience." Journal of Regional Cultures 1 (Fall/Winter
1981): 144-153. Discusses Harper Lee, Robert Perm Warren, and Sarah Orne Jewett as examples of writers who
use regionalism in literature.
"The Romantic Regionalism of Harper Lee." Alabama Review 26 (1973): 122-136. Discusses Lee's work in relation
to southern romanticism.
Going, William T. Essays on Alabama Literature. University, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1975. Discusses To
Kill a Mockingbird as a reflection of Alabama history and culture.
Kibler, James E., ed. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol 6, American Novelists Since World War II. Second Series.
Detroit: Gale Research, 1980. Discusses Lee's life and writing, briefly analyzes her novel, and summarizes its critical
reception.
Newquist, Roy. "Interview with Harper Lee." In Counterpoint. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1964. In this interview,
Lee reveals much about her opinions and aspirations, her experience as a writer, and her feelings about the film
version of her novel.
Visser, N. W. "Temporal Vantage Point in the Novel." Journal of Narrative Technique 7 (1977): 81-93. Discusses
Lee's novel along with many others to show ways time is used and conveyed by novelists.
Wakeman, John, ed. World Authors, 1950-1970. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1975. An excellent brief article on Lee's
life and book.
Bibliography: Bibliography and Further

82
Reading
Sources
Adams, Phoebe. Review in Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 206, August 26, 1960, pp. 98-99.
Dave, R. A. "To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee's Tragic Vision." In Indian Studies in American Fiction, edited by M.
K. Naik, S. K. Desai, Punekar S. Mokashi, and M. Jayalakshammanni. Karnatak University Press, 1974, pp 311-23.
Ensman, Fred. "The Romantic Regionalism of Harper Lee." In The Alabama Review, Vol. 26, No. 2, April, 1973, pp.
122-36.
Ford, Nick Aaron. Review in PHYLON, Vol. XXII, Second Quarter (June), 1961, p 122.
Going, William T. "Store and Mockingbird: Two Pulitzer Novels about Alabama." In his Essays on Alabama
Literature. The University of Alabama Press, 1975, pp. 9-31.
Hicks, Granville. "Three at the Outset." In Saturday Review, Vol. XLIII, No. 30, July 23, 1960, pp. 15-16.
LeMay, Harding. "Children Play; Adults Betray." In New York Herald Tribune Book Review, July 10, 1960, p. 5.
Sullivan, Richard. "Engrossing First Novel of Rare Excellence." In Chicago Sunday Tribune, July 17, 1960, p. 1.
Waterhouse, Keith. Review in New Statesman, October 15, 1960, p. 580.
For Further Reading

Bruell, Edwin. "Keen Scalpel on Racial Ills." In The English Journal, Vol. 53, December, 1964, pp. 658-61. An article
that touches on Lee's "warm" portrayal of Scout and the ironic tone in Lee's treatment of the bigoted.
Johnson, Claudia Durst. Understanding 'To Kill a Mockingbird': A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historic
Documents. Greenwood Press, 1994. Johnson's book is the most thorough analysis of the novel to date. She
discusses the literary and historical context of the book, then analyzes its form, its connections to Gothic tradition, its
treatment of prejudicial and legal boundaries, and its focus on communication. Johnson provides a large collection of
sources relating to the novel, including documents about the "Scottsboro Boys" trials, the Civil Rights Movement,
issues of stereotyping, the debates over Atticus in legal circles, and the censorship of the novel.
Lyell, Frank H. "One-Taxi Town." In The New York Book Review, July 10, 1960, pp. 5, 18. Lyell praises Lee for her
characterization and provides some limited criticism of her style.
Schuster, Edgar H. "Discovering Theme and Structure in the Novel." In The English Journal, Vol. 52, 1963, pp 506-
11. Schuster presents a practical classroom approach to the novel and an analysis of its themes and structure.
Bibliography
83
Altman, Dorothy Jewell. Harper Lee. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980. A concise examination of the novel’s themes and
symbolism. Treats the work as a regional novel with a universal message.
Beidler, Philip D. “Introduction: Alabama Flowering II.” In The Art of Fiction in the Heart of Dixie: An Anthology of
Alabama Writers, edited by Philip D. Beidler. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1986.
Betts, Doris. Introduction to Southern Women Writers: The New Generation, edited by Tonette Bond Inge.
Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1990.
Dave, R. A. “To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee’s Tragic Vision.” In Indian Studies in American Literature, edited by
M. K. Naik et al. Dharwar, India: Karnatak University, 1974. Dave provides an interesting discussion of the history of
the mockingbird as a symbol of innocence and joy in American literature. He draws parallels between To Kill a
Mockingbird and Walt Whitman’s poem “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking.” Dave also explores how Lee, like
Jane Austen, evokes a regional place yet makes it a macrocosm describing a range of human behavior.
Erisman, Fred. “The Romantic Regionalism of Harper Lee.” Alabama Review 26 (April, 1973): 122-136. Examines
Maycomb as a microcosm of the South, having within itself the potential to move from reliance on tradition to
reliance on principle and to join the larger world without loss of regional identity.
Going, William T. “Store and Mockingbird: Two Pulitzer Novels About Alabama.” In Essays on Alabama Literature.
University: University of Alabama Press, 1975. Contains a good discussion on Lee’s use of point of view to relate the
story’s themes in a fresh manner. Going also discusses Lee’s ties to the other new Southern writers who emerged in
the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.
Johnson, Claudia. “Secret Courts of Men’s Hearts: Code and Law in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.” Studies in
Fiction 19, no. 2 (1991): 129-139. Johnson gives an excellent overview of the history of racial conflicts in Alabama
during the 1930’s, when the novel is set, and conflicts in the late 1950’s, when the novel was being written, that
Harper Lee drew upon for the trial of Tom Robinson.
Johnson, Claudia Durst. Understanding “To Kill a Mockingbird”: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and
Historic Documents. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994. Offers literary analysis, historical context, critical
studies, and discussion of censorship issues.
Rubin, Louis D., Jr., ed. The History of Southern Literature. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1985. A
brief history of Harper Lee’s place among the new Southern writers such as Capote, Welty, Styron, and McCullers.
Rubin discusses how the new writers reflect on the past yet look toward the future, explore the plight of the Black
man in the South, and focus on portrayals of the new type of Southerner—the liberal who is in conflict with his or her
environment because of an awareness of racism.
Schuster, Edgar H. “Discovering Theme and Structure in the Novel.” English Journal 52 (October, 1963): 506-511.
Deals with the elements of theme and structure in To Kill a Mockingbird, identifying and illustrating five thematic
motifs.
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Quotes
Quotes: Essential Passage by Character:

Atticus Finch
Judge Taylor was saying something. His gavel was in his fist, but he wasn’t using it. Dimly, I saw
Atticus pushing papers from the table into his briefcase. He snapped it shut, went to the court reporter
and said something, nodded to Mr. Gilmer, and then went to Tom Robinson and whispered something
to him. Atticus took his coat off the back of his chair and pulled it over his shoulder. Then he left the
courtroom, but not by his usual exit. He must have wanted to go home the short way, because he
walked quickly down the middle aisle toward the south exit. I followed the top of his head as he made
his way to the door. He did not look up.
Someone was punching me, but I was reluctant to take my eyes from the people below us, and from
the image of Atticus’s lonely walk down the aisle.
“Miss Jean Louise?”
I looked around. They were standing. All around us and in the balcony on the opposite wall, the
Negroes were getting to their feet. Reverend Syke’s voice was as distant as Judge Taylor’s:
“Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’.”
To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 21, p. 211 (Harper Perennial: New York)
Summary
In the trial of Tom Robinson for the rape of Mayella Ewell, Atticus was named as the public defender for Tom. An
African American living in the Black community of the outskirts of Maycomb, Alabama, Tom was accused of the
crime by both Mayella, a nineteen-year-old white girl, and her father, Bob. The Ewells are considered as belonging
to the “white trash” section of town. However, in 1930s Alabama, any accusation against a Black man of taking
liberties with a white woman was extremely serious. Judge Taylor, who would be trying the case, appointed Atticus
as the public defender (as opposed to another, more junior lawyer who was usually assigned such cases) knowing
how divisive this case would become. Delayed for several months, the trial was held during the summer months on
1935.
During the trial, the evidence clearly showed that Tom could not have committed the crime. The bruises attributed to
Tom on the right side of Mayella’s face would have had to have been made by the attacker’s left hand. However,
Tom’s left hand was crippled, due to a farming accident in his youth. Tom, in his defense, states that he regularly
stopped at the Ewells to help Mayella since he “felt sorry for her,” as no members of her family seemed to help her at
all. The prosecutor, jury, and audience seem shocked that a Black man would think himself of such quality that he
felt himself entitled to “feel sorry” for a white person.
Tom further relates that it was Mayella who attacked him, rather than the other way around. Bob Ewell, seeing what
his daughter was doing, called Mayella a “whore” and rushed into the room. Knowing how indefensible his position
was, thus incapacitating him from any means of self-defense, Tom rushed from the cabin. The sheriff, Heck Tate,
85
was then called and an arrest was made.
The case did indeed prove divisive, and the entire town showed up at the courtroom for the trial. Jem and Scout had
sneaked out of the house and taken refuge in the balcony with members of the Black community. Despite the
obvious lack of evidence beyond the circumstantial, the jury, after several hours’ deliberation, finds Tom Robinson
guilty of rape.
Atticus, speaking to Tom after the verdict is read, promises him that there is still hope, as he plans to file an appeal.
Tom, however, is unresponsive.
Jem and Scout watch their father as he slowly packs up his briefs into his case. Instead of taking his usual exit out
the side door, Atticus slowly walks up the middle aisle to the front. As Scout watches his lonely progression, she
feels the hand of Reverend Sykes, the pastor of the Black church, on her shoulder. As she looks around, she notices
all the Black people in the balcony on their feet.
Analysis
As he told Scout months before the trial took place, Atticus knows that he was not going to win. Atticus tells her that
he lost the case a hundred years before it even began. The entrenched racism of the entire country (not just the
South) ensures that no African American would get a fair trial, one that would disregard the color of his or her skin.
The possibility of a Black person gaining the victory over a white person is completely unacceptable in the eyes of
the community, regardless of the personal regard they may feel for the Black man, or the contempt they may feel for
the white.
It is with this understanding that Atticus accepts the case of defending Tom Robinson, a Black man, for the rape of a
white girl. He knows that he is not going to win, but he also knows that he is obligated to try to win. By doing so, he
gains a victory beyond the confines of the courtroom.
Atticus Finch, as an attorney and state legislator, has a deep regard for the rule of law, especially in its purpose to
defend the weak against the unjust. He is more than able to use the law to the advantage of his clients, the
realization of which caused the community to re-elect him year after year as their representative in the Alabama
Congress.
Yet Atticus holds true to something even higher that state law, and that is moral law. Beyond the rules on the books,
there is a foundation of justice that prevails over any other consideration. It might go against governmental dictates,
it might even go against societal mores, but it did prevail. It is for this moral law that Atticus Finch fights the case of
Tom Robinson. It is for this, knowing that he would not gain the legal victory, that Atticus knows he will attain moral
victory. He fights because he knows the victory is in the fighting itself, not the eventual legal outcome.
By fighting this cause, Atticus’s purpose is to demonstrate to the court and to the community at large that Tom is a
human being, with equal rights and equal protection under the law. Atticus wants to show the people the obvious
bias in their racism, in forcing them to take sides with a white person whom they despise against a Black person
whom they respect. While this lesson may have been lost on the white community at large, it is evident to the Black
community. It is for this reason that they stand for Atticus as he walks out of the courtroom; out of respect for
“fighting the good fight,” for gaining the moral victory, the community accepts Atticus as their standard-bearer, as one
86
who would lead the way to a better world. Despite the legal loss, the Black community could see rays of hope that
someday, somehow, they would finally achieve equality.
Quotes: Essential Passage by Character:

Scout Finch
Atticus sat down in the swing and crossed his legs. His fingers wandered to his watchpocket; he said
that was the only way he could think. He waited in amiable silence, and I sought to reinforce my
position: “You never went to school and you do all right, so I’ll just stay home too. You can teach me
like Granddaddy taught you and Uncle Jack.”
“No I can’t,” said Atticus. “I have to make a living. Besides, they’d put me in jail if I kept you at home—
dose of magnesia for you tonight and school tomorrow.”
“I’m feeling all right, really.”
“Thought so. Now what’s the matter?"
Bit by bit, I told him the day’s misfortunes. “—and she said you taught me all wrong, so we can’t ever
read anymore, ever. Please don’t sent me back, please sir.”
Atticus stood up and walked to the end of the porch. When he completed his examination of the wisteria
vine he strolled back to me.
“First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of
folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—“
“Sir?”
“—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Atticus and I had learned many things today, and Miss Caroline had learned several things herself. She
had learned not to hand something to a Cunningham, for one thing, but if Walter and I had put
ourselves in her shoes we’d have seen it was an honest mistake on her part. We could not expect her
to learn all Maycomb’s ways in one day, and we could not hold her responsible when she knew no
better.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 3, pp. 29-30 (Harper Perennial: New York)
Summary
Scout’s first day of school was an event she had long anticipated with excitement. However, it was not quite what
she had expected. Her teacher, Miss Caroline, is a brand-new arrival in Maycomb from the northern part of the state,
where people are “different.” Bringing new methods such as the Dewey system (based on a child’s natural self-
discovery), which Jem calls the “Dewey Decimal System” (confusing it with the library classification system), Miss
Caroline is an unknown quantity.
At the beginning of the day, Miss Caroline discovers that Scout already knows how to read. After some questioning,
she gets the mistaken impression that she was taught to read by her father. Scout, however, insists that she has not
been taught by Atticus; in fact, she cannot remember exactly how she learned to read. She just learned. As the
conversation devolves into an argument, Miss Caroline stubbornly insists that Scout tell her father to stop teaching
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her to read, as it is disrupting the methods Scout is learning at school.
All in all, Scout’s first day was one long series of misunderstandings. Miss Caroline does not understand that the
Ewell children only show up on the first day to get their names on the role, and then they do not show up again for
the rest of the year. When Miss Caroline attempts to give Walter Cunningham a quarter to buy a lunch since he has
not brought one to school, Scout tries to explain to her that Cunninghams do not accept charity. At lunch, Scout has
a run-in with Calpurnia concerning her treating of Walter as her guest.
That evening, as she is sitting with Atticus, her father invites her to come and read with him. At first, Scout declines,
saying that she does not feel well. She announces that she will probably not be able to go back to school ever again.
This signals to Atticus that something is up. Eventually Scout confesses that it is not illness but dissatisfaction with
how the day went.
Atticus tells Scout that she must learn to walk in other people’s shoes. He tells her that she must try to see things
from the other person’s point of view. He describes how things might look from Miss Caroline’s viewpoint. She is
new to the community, unfamiliar with how things are done, but knowing only what she has learned about teaching
in college. She has not become privy to all the understandings of the different community members, like the Ewells
and Cunninghams. Thus Scout should give her a measure of grace, helping her to understand the town of Maycomb
and the social makeup of the individuals that live there.
Analysis
This passage presents the lesson the starts Scout on the path of growing up. As a first grader, Scout is naturally
self-absorbed, concerned only with her own point of view and not really able to understand that not everyone sees
the same things or thinks the same things as she does.
Having known all the people of Maycomb all her life, Scout does not quite know how to deal with a newcomer like
Miss Caroline. Scout naturally thinks that Miss Caroline, as a teacher of the children of the community, should know
all about them already. While she is willing to teach her teacher, she cannot see how having to submit to the
correction of one of her students would not sit well with Miss Caroline. Scout resents her teacher for not truly
understanding her intentions. While Miss Caroline cannot seem to see things from Scout’s point of view, which
upsets Scout, Scout herself does the same thing. This establishes the basis of the conflict that Scout will experience
during her first few days of school.
In the matter with Calpurnia, Scout cannot see why the maid always seems to favor Jem over her. As Atticus points
out, Jem does not cause the problems that Scout does, yet Scout cannot understand why Calpurnia does not see
inside her heart and understand her need to be treated the same way. Her insistence that Calpurnia be fired is met
with a strong refusal on the part of Atticus. Calpurnia has been with the family since a couple of years after Jem was
born. As a member of the family, Calpurnia has the right to correct Scout, and Scout will have to come to some place
where she can understand things from Calpurnia’s point of view.
In her encounter with Mrs. Dubose, Scout sees beyond the appearances of the woman as just some crabby old
neighbor. By accompanying Jem on his “punishment” of reading to Mrs. Dubose, Scout understands the true source
of her neighbor's “crabbiness”—a valiant effort to overcome the morphine addiction that has masked her pain yet
held her captive. Through Atticus’s revelation of Mrs. Dubose's pain, Scout begins to see her as a woman who is
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suffering now so that she can die with no regrets, no bondage, and with all the dignity of a noble character.
Throughout the novel Scout has difficulties understanding the points of view of the white community, especially
during the trial of Tom Robinson. She cannot understand the fear and hatred that is rooted in the hearts of the
people, when she herself knows and accepts the Black community on as close to terms of equality as possible
during that time and in that place. This is one instance in which she cannot, or will not, see things through their eyes.
In the end, it is placing herself in the shoes of Boo Radley, the "boogey man” of her childhood, that most pushes her
along the path to maturity. Rather than seeing him as a hidden menace, Scout periodically gets hints that Boo is a
true human being, one who provides her and Jem with gifts, who gives her a warm blanket in the night, and who
rescues her and Jem from the hands of Bob Ewell. It is in this final event that Scout at last sees past appearances
and circumstances to see people as Atticus does—people who have lives, hopes, fears, and dignity.
Quotes: Essential Passage by Theme: Loss

of Innocence
When he gave us our air-rifles Atticus wouldn’t teach us to shoot. Uncle Jack instructed us in the
rudiments thereof; he said Atticus wasn’t interested in guns. Atticus said to Jem one day, “I’d rather you
shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you
can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
That’s the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie
about it.
“Your father is right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They
don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out
for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Summary
Jem and Scout lament that Atticus is old, as far as fathers in Maycomb go. Plus, he does not do anything that the
other children’s fathers do. He does not have an interesting job, for instance; he only sits in an office all day. He
does not play football or any sports. He wears glasses and does not seem to participate in any of the “fun”
entertainments in the community. Their Uncle Jack, however, is different. For Christmas, Uncle Jack (Atticus’s
younger brother) had given Jem and Scout air rifles, a present that Atticus looks at with some trepidation. He allows
the children to keep them, yet he himself would have nothing to do with them and refused to teach Jem and Scout to
shoot. It is left to Uncle Jack to show them the basic skills of shooting. Bowing to the inevitable, however, Atticus
merely tells the children, Jem especially, that he would rather they shoot at tin cans in the back yard. However,
knowing that they will also shoot at birds, he urges them to shoot at blue jays but not at mockingbirds, since it is “a
sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Because it was unusual for Atticus to talk about “sin,” Scout asks their neighbor, Miss Maudie, about it. Miss Maudie
is in total agreement with Atticus.
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Analysis
In this passage, the phrase used as the title of the novel is introduced. The peaceful innocence of the mockingbirds
becomes a major symbol that occurs throughout the novel for many of the characters, and it is used to explore the
ways in which each character faces the ugliness of the world.
One of the “mockingbirds” is Dill. Trying to escape from the conflict of his parents’ broken marriage, Dill has come to
Maycomb and befriended Jem and Scout. Through the succession of three summers, Dill enlivens the play of the
children with his wild imagination. Dill has used this imagination as a refuge, a haven from the life he left behind.
Telling Jem and Scout a succession of impossible lies about his missing father, Dill has created for himself a
“livable” world. His friendship, a relationship that has been denied him by his parents, brings joy to Jem and Scout.
However, Dill has to face the ugliness that exists in the world. When his mother remarries, he faces the fact that the
two adults are so wrapped up in themselves that they have no time left over for him. So he runs away to Maycomb to
be among people who love and appreciate him. Yet even there, he faces the ugliness of racism, as he observes the
trial of Tom Robinson. Literally made sick to his stomach, Dill’s efforts to see the world in the glow of his imagination
is damaged. Even he cannot make a marvelous story out of this horror.
Tom Robinson himself is another “mockingbird.” Innocent of the crime for which he is tried, he has to face the evil of
hatred simply because of the color of his skin. His noble life has brought joy to those with whom he has come into
contact. Even with Mayella Ewell, he has tried to “sing his heart out” by helping her, something which her family
cannot seem to do. Yet in his “singing” he is killed, crushed by the racism that is entrenched in the community. With
his death, Dill, Jem, and Scout come face to face with the sin that has killed this mockingbird.
Finally, Boo Radley exemplifies the mockingbird motif. Hidden in the shadows throughout the novel, he comes into
the light, or rather half-light, only at the end. In his quiet way, through the gifts left in the tree and the blanket around
Scout’s shoulders the night of the fire that destroys Miss Maudie’s house, Boo has been singing his song to the
children that so fascinate him. Despite the horror stories that they tell about Boo, Jem and Scout come to know the
true nature, the true goodness of Mr. Arthur Radley at last.
In the many times that Atticus has caught the three children playing “Boo Radley,” Jem, Scout, and Dill have in a
way been trying to kill that mockingbird. In fact, they denied that the mockingbird existed, or even could exist. In a
way that echoes the racism of the white community toward the Black community, especially toward Tom Robinson,
the children have built up a view of Boo based solely on a preconceived notion that is completely wrong. Yet from
that notion they have developed a pattern of behavior that seeks to destroy the true nature of Boo by pretending that
it could not possibly exist.
When the sheriff, Heck Tate, comes to question Scout at the Finch home after the attack by Bob Ewell, he
encounters Boo hidden once again in the shadows. However, Scout, seeing at last the true nobility and innocence of
Arthur Radley, brings him out of the shadows and into the light. She stops trying “to kill the mockingbird.” Sheriff Tate
himself goes even further. Atticus believes that it was Jem who stuck the knife into Bob Ewell, killing him.
Disregarding Tate’s denials that it was not Jem, he cannot see the direction in which the sheriff is going. Eventually it
becomes clear that it was not Jem but Boo who killed the attacker.
It is through Sheriff Tate that Boo’s identification with the mockingbird of the title becomes most clear. The sheltered
innocence of Boo’s life would be threatened should he be brought to trial for the death of Bob Ewell, even though he
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would most likely be acquitted as a hero. It is the hero worship that would “kill” the mockingbird, Tate believes. The
people, especially the women, would bother him continually with food and praise for such a brave act. Such attention
would ultimately destroy who Boo is, his innocence, and his quiet love for the children of Atticus Finch.
Quotes: Essential Passage by Theme:

Racism
I was playing in it with the spoon. “I thought Mr. Cunningham was a friend of ours. You told me a long
time ago he was.”
“He still is.”
“But last night he wanted to hurt you.”
Atticus placed his fork beside his knife and pushed his plate aside. “Mr. Cunningham is basically a good
man,” he said, “he just has his blind spots along with the rest of us.”
Jem spoke. “Don’t call that a blind spot. He’da killed you last night when he first went there.”
“He might have hurt me a little,” Atticus conceded, “but son, you’ll understand folks a little better when
you’re older. A mob’s always made up of people, no matter what. Mr. Cunningham was part of a mob
last night, but he was still a man. Every mob in every little Southern town is always made up of people
you know—doesn’t say much for them, does it?”
“I’ll say not,” said Jem.
“So it took an eight-year-old child to bring ’em to their senses, didn’t it?” said Atticus. “That proves
something—that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they’re still human. Hmp,
maybe we need a police force of children…you children last night made Walter Cunningham stand in
my shoes for a minute. That was enough.”
Summary
Tom Robinson, arrested for the rape of Mayella Ewell, is incarcerated in Maycomb’s small but serviceable jail, which
is located next to the offices where the town’s newspaper is published. In the days leading up to the trial, the white
community is becoming more and more agitated. One night, a group of white men plan to meet at the jail. Atticus,
hearing about the meeting, drives (uncharacteristically, since he usually walks everywhere) to the jail to stand guard.
Jem and Scout of course cannot bear to be left behind, so after they are supposed to be in bed they sneak
downtown and spy on the goings-on at the jail.
As the children approach the jail, they see a line of cars moving slowly toward the building where Tom Robinson is
being held. Seeing Atticus sitting in a chair outside of the jail, Jem and Scout hide out of site and watch the
proceedings.
The men command Atticus to move away from the prison door so that they can lynch Tom Robinson. When Atticus
points out that Sheriff Tate is around somewhere, the men laugh and inform him that Tate is out in the woods on a
“snipe hunt,” a misleading task that leads someone away from where a specific activity will be held. In other words,
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the men made sure that Tate was nowhere near the jail when they came to lynch Tom.
At the moment of greatest tension between Atticus and the men, the children approach the jail and move into the
light. Atticus commands them strongly to go back home, but they refuse. One man seizes Jem by the collarbone, but
Scout comes to his rescue and kicks his attacker in the leg. While Atticus still insists that the children go home, and
Jem still refuses to leave, Scout looks out at the crowd of men. To her they seem like a faceless mass, until she
spies a familiar face.
“Hey, Mr. Cunningham,” she says, seeing the father of a classmate, and a man who had come to Atticus for legal
assistance, despite the fact that he had no money. Cunningham, not believing that he should accept anyone’s
charity, paid instead in goods such as firewood, nuts, and potatoes. Atticus had accepted these willingly, in order to
save Cunningham’s dignity. Now, as one of the mob intent on attacking him, Cunningham is dragged into the light by
Scout’s recognition.
Forgetting the purpose of the crowd, Scout addresses Cunningham as an individual, reminding him who she is and
her relationship with his son. When she gets little response from Cunningham, she begins to mention the legal
assistance that Atticus gave him. Without a word of condemnation, Scout carried on a friendly conversation with her
father’s would-be attacker.
Mr. Cunningham, at last responding to Scout, then leads the men off into the night.
Later, Scout asks Atticus why Mr. Cunningham would do such a thing, since Atticus had been nice to him at a time of
difficulty. Scout is confused that someone whom Atticus had told her was a friend turned out to be anything but.
Atticus responds that Mr. Cunningham is indeed their friend, but he has his “blind spots.” Jem has difficulty
understanding how the desire to kill his father could be called a “blind spot.”
Atticus then explains that Mr. Cunningham was acting as a part of a mob. A mob is a senseless but living thing that
acts as one unit. But that night, Mr. Cunningham was removed from the mob and became an individual human being
by Scout. In treating him as an individual, Scout effectively reminded him that he was indeed a person, a father, and
an honorable man.
Analysis
The theme of racism is prevalent throughout the plot from beginning to end, as is to be suspected in a tale set in
1930s Alabama. By telling it through the eyes of a child, Lee is able to present racism in its starkest, most honest
terms, which is amazing since she wrote at the beginning of the Civil Rights era. As the reader looks at the
community from Scout’s point of view, the nature of this drastic flaw in American history is given a unique
perspective.
Scout has difficulty understanding the changed nature of Mr. Cunningham, someone who had always been nice to
the Finch family, and indeed had benefited from Atticus’s mercy and understanding. She cannot see what could
possibly justify such a radical change in Mr. Cunningham’s character.
As Atticus points out to her, Mr. Cunningham was acting as part of a mob. A mob is not human and thus cannot have
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the logic or understanding that an individual can. A mob ceases to think in terms of the human; the mob of the white
community abandoned its individuality to look down on the Black community.
In the same way, the Black community is guilty of reverse discrimination. When Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to
visit the Black church, they are faced with a demand to know why Calpurnia has brought white children to a Black
church: “They have their place, and we have ours.” Both communities kept a strict segregation in place. However,
Calpurnia, knowing the children as individuals, looks beyond race and expects others in this Christian community to
do the same. The mob that meets at the jail to lynch Tom Robinson also ceases to function as an individual to
another individual. While Tom has always been held in high regard by the white community, his crime against a
white person goes against the normal tragedy of rape. It is not so much the rape that bothers them as it is the
crossing of the racial barrier. Likewise, Bob Ewell attacks his daughter for being attracted to a Black man.
As Atticus tries to make Scout and Jem understand how racism can make a man change his very character, he
points out that the acceptance of a person’s individual identity, as Scout did in the case of Mr. Cunningham, can, if
not break, at least bend a person’s prejudice. Common humanity, placed squarely before the racist mob, has the
power to soften a hardened heart and ensure the dignity inherent in every human soul.
Short-Answer Quizzes
Short-Answer Quizzes: Chapter 1

Questions and Answers
Study Questions
1. Describe Calpurnia as Scout depicts her in Chapter 1.
2. What does Dill dare Jem to do?
3. What events led to Arthur’s being shut into the house?
4. Pretend you are writing a description of Maycomb for a travel magazine of the 1930s. Describe the town in detail.
5. The townspeople of Maycomb have some fears and superstitions about the Radley Place. Describe these fears
and superstitions.
6. Whose idea was it to make Boo come out of the house?
7. How important is bravery to Jem?
8. Mr. Connor is described as “Maycomb’s ancient beadle.” What is a beadle?
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9. What goal do the children plan to achieve before the end of the summer?
10. Describe some of the customs of the town of Maycomb.
Answers
1. Calpurnia has been the cook for the Finch family since Jem was born. Scout describes Calpurnia as all angles
and bones, nearsighted, and owning a wide, hard hand which she used to discipline Scout. Scout says Calpurnia is
“always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem . . . and calling me home
when I wasn’t ready to come.”
2. Dill dares Jem to touch the Radley house.
3. Arthur and some other boys formed a group which was the nearest thing that Maycomb had ever had to a gang.
They hung around the barbershop, rode the bus on Sundays to go to the movies, attended dances at the “gambling
hell,” and experimented with whiskey.
4. Maycomb is a small Southern town where the residents all know one another. The citizens are primarily law-
abiding people. The class system is in effect and there is segregation evidenced by the statement that the sheriff
hadn’t the heart to put Arthur in “jail alongside Negroes.”
5. The people of Maycomb say that Arthur goes out at night after the town is asleep. Many people fear the Radley
Place and cross the street to avoid it. Any lost ball in the Radley’s yard remains there.
6. It was Dill’s idea to make Boo come out of his house.
7. Scout says that Jem always takes a dare. Bravery is of great importance to him. It is because of his need to be
brave that Jem runs into the Radley yard and slaps the house.
8. A beadle is a crier or officer of the court. Mr. Connor is evidently a bailiff of the court.
9. Before the end of the summer the children run out of ideas for play. Dill gives them the idea to make Boo Radley
come out of his house.
10. On Sundays the people of Maycomb go visiting; the ladies wear their Sunday best for this event. The Radleys do
not participate, however; they keep their shades drawn to discourage visitors. The pace on Sundays in Maycomb is
slow; the citizens scorn activities like picture shows on Sundays. When serious illness comes to a family, sawhorses
are put up to cut down on traffic and noise. Straw is put in the street to cut down the noise of those who must use the
street. The primary social events in the town are church-related activities.

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Study Questions
1. Who is Scout’s first grade teacher?
2. What is the Dewey Decimal System?
3. What events lead to the conflict between Scout and Miss Caroline?
4. Why is Mrs. Blount, the sixth-grade teacher, angry with Miss Caroline?
5. How does Scout learn to read?
6. The students in the class show some prejudice against Miss Caroline when she tells the class she is from
Winston County, Alabama. Explain this prejudice.
7. How does Miss Caroline contradict herself about the use of imagination?
8. How does Miss Caroline contradict herself in her views on teaching reading?
9. How does Scout learn to write?
10. Describe the Cunningham family.
Answers
1. Miss Caroline is Scout’s first-grade teacher.
2. The Dewey Decimal System is a way of arranging library books and materials. It is not a way to teach reading, as
Jem mistakenly explains.
3. Scout finds disfavor with Miss Caroline, first of all, when she reads aloud from The Mobile Register and from My
First Reader. Later, when Scout tries to explain the Cunningham philosophy, she angers Miss Caroline even more.
4. Miss Blount says the sixth grade cannot concentrate on their study of the pyramids because of the noise in the
first-grade class. She is angry with Miss Caroline Fisher for allowing—and possibly contributing to—the chaos.
5. Scout learns to read by climbing into Atticus’s lap and watching his finger move underneath the print of whatever
he might be reading.
6. Miss Caroline is from North Alabama, from Winston County. On January 11, 1861, when Alabama seceded from
the Union, Winston County did not condone this action; it seceded from Alabama. The rest of the state was still
angry with Winston County 70 years later. In addition, the rest of the state believed that the county “was full of Liquor
Interests, Big Mules, steel companies, Republicans, professors, and other persons of no background.”
7. Miss Caroline reads a very imaginative story to the students about chocolate malted mice and cats with clothes.
The farm children are not at all impressed with the story. Later when Scout is telling about a change in her family
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name, Miss Caroline will not listen. Miss Caroline admonishes Scout; “Let’s not let our imaginations run away with
us, dear. . . .”
8. Miss Caroline says that Atticus “does not know how to teach”; yet Scout is reading well—even the stock-market
quotations. She tells Scout that “It’s best to begin reading with a fresh mind.” Scout, however, is not a beginning
reader but a good one. Miss Caroline advocates the Language Experience Approach which uses sight words on
cards; she does not advocate the phonics method which uses the alphabet and has the students sound out words.
Scout seems to know the letters and is reading by that method, but Miss Caroline wants to change her way of
reading.
9. Scout learns to write at the kitchen table with Calpurnia setting her a writing task. Calpurnia would write the
alphabet across the top of a tablet and then copy a Bible chapter beneath. Scout’s task would be to copy the material
satisfactorily. A reward of a bread, butter, and sugar sandwich would be doled out if Calpurnia considered the task
well-done.
10. The Cunningham family is a poor family. They are so poor that Scout believes that Walter “had probably never
seen three quarters together at the same time in his life.” Despite the lack of material possessions, the Cunninghams
have a reputation to uphold. They never take anything they cannot pay back. They even refuse church baskets and
scrip stamps. The family does not have much, but they get along with what they have. When they use Atticus’
services, they pay him back with stovewood, hickory nuts, smilax, holly, and turnip greens. The Cunninghams have
pride in their land and go hungry to keep it and to vote as they please.

Study Questions
1. Describe Burris Ewell.
2. Little Chuck Little tells the teacher that Mr. Ewell is “right contentious.” What does this mean?
3. What events lead to Burris’s leaving school before the day is over?
4. Why does Atticus say that Scout is not to mention the compromise they made when she goes to school?
5. What is a cootie?
6. Why does Walter think he almost died the first year in school?
7. Why does Atticus say Scout should ignore Jem in the tree house?
8. When Walter gets near the Finch house, Scout says he “had forgotten he was a Cunningham.” What does she
mean?
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9. What does it mean to “climb into his skin and walk around in it?”
10. Tell what a compromise is and give an example.
Answers
1. Burris was the filthiest human Scout had ever seen. His neck was dark grey and his nails were black into the
quick. He was rude to the teacher and said that she could not make him do anything he did not want to do.
2. He meant that Mr. Ewell was quarrelsome.
3. First, Miss Caroline saw a “cootie” on him. Then she dismissed him for the rest of the day to go home and wash
his hair in lye soap and kerosene; she also reminded him—in front of the class—to bathe before coming back to
school. After he tells her he will not be back, she asks him to sit down. Burris refuses and is confronted by Chuck.
Miss Caroline tells him to go home or she will get the principal. Burris reminds her impolitely that she cannot make
him do anything. He waits until he is sure she is crying, and then he shuffles off home. Burris always quits school the
first day.
4. Atticus says at first that the learned authorities would receive their activities with “considerable disapprobation,” or
disapproval. He translates it to mean that he does not want Miss Caroline after him.
5. A cootie is another name for a head or body louse.
6. Walter thinks he almost died from eating poisoned pecans.
7. He tells her one should ignore some things. This is a type of behavior modification.
8. Walter has quickly forgotten that the Cunninghams do not accept that which they cannot repay. He is eager to eat!
9. Atticus is merely trying to get Scout to put herself in someone else’s position.
10. A compromise is an agreement reached by two parties; often some concessions must be made by one or both of
the parties. An example from To Kill a Mockingbird is when Atticus and Scout decide to continue to read each night if
Scout will go to school.

Study Questions
1. What is the first present Scout finds in the tree?
2. When Dill says that he helped engineer the train, Jem says, “In a pig’s ear you did, Dill.” What does this mean?
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3. Why has “Calpurnia’s tyranny, unfairness, and meddling . . . faded to gentle grumblings of general disapproval,”
according to Scout?
4. What does Jem call Miss Caroline’s teaching methods?
5. What is the second present found in the tree?
6. Who is the “meanest old woman that ever lived”?
7. When Atticus asks the children if their game pertains to the Radleys, Jem says “No sir.” Atticus merely responds,
“I hope it doesn't.” Why does he stop the conversation at that point?
8. How do cowardice and bravery figure into Scout’s taking part in the dramas about the Radley family?
9. What is the meaning of the following: “Dill was a villain’s villain . . .”?
10. What is a Hot Steam?
Answers
1. Scout finds chewing gum in the tree first.
2. The idiomatic expression “In a pig’s ear” means “impossible.”
3. Scout’s attitude—rather than Calpurnia’s behavior—may be the reason for the statement. Scout is spending less
time with Calpurnia; possibly they miss each other. Scout is also growing and maturing; this is probably a principal
reason for their improved relationship. Scout herself admits that she “went to much trouble, sometimes, not to
provoke her.”
4. He calls it the Dewey Decimal System.
5. Indian-head pennies are the second gifts found in the tree.
6. Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose is the “meanest old woman that ever lived.”
7. Atticus may have been following his own lesson: ignore the behavior and it will go away. Atticus did not usually
forbid the children to do anything. Rather he posed things in such a way that they could make their own decision.
8. Scout is at first frightened to participate in the dramas. Jem and Dill accuse her of being afraid. After the incident
with Atticus, Scout is hesitant about playing again. Jem accuses her of “being a girl.”
9. The statement “Dill was a villain’s villain” means that Dill is good in the role; he can play a villain to the degree that
even a real villain would be pleased with the performance.
10. A Hot Steam can be detected if one is walking along a lonesome road at night and comes to a hot place. The Hot
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Steam is actually someone who cannot get into heaven and just stays in lonely places. If a person walks through the
Hot Steam, the person will become Hot Steam after death and perhaps even suck the breath from people.

Study Questions
1. When Scout begins to drift away from the boys, with whom does she spend much time?
2. Why does Miss Maudie hate her house?
3. Why do the children have faith in Miss Maudie?
4. How do the children try to send the message to Boo?
5. What does Miss Maudie mean when she says Atticus is the same in his house as he is on the public streets?
6. What does Uncle Jack yell at Miss Maudie each Christmas?
7. Atticus uses something like a threat when he finds the children trying to get a note to Boo Radley. What is the
threat?
8. Uncle Jack Finch says the “best defense to her [Miss Maudie] was spirited offense.” What does he mean by that?
9. What does Miss Maudie mean when she says that the things told about Arthur Radley are “three-fourths colored
folks and one-fourth Stephanie Crawford”?
10. What gesture of friendship cements Miss Maudie’s and Scout’s relationship?
Answers
1. Scout begins to spend time with Miss Maudie Atkinson.
2. She considers time spent indoors time wasted. She prefers to spend as much time as possible working in her
garden.
3. She has never told on them; she has always been honest with them; she does not pry.
4. The children try to send a message by tying it on a fishing line.
5. She means that Atticus is a man of integrity; the face he presents in public does not differ from the face he
presents at home.
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6. He yells for Miss Maudie to come out and marry him.
7. He threatens Jem with the possibility that Jem may not become a lawyer.
8. Jack means that he would tease Miss Maudie before she could tease him.
9. She means that most of the things told about Arthur are superstition and gossip.
10. Miss Maudie pushes out her false teeth for Scout to see.

Study Questions
1. What is Mr. Avery’s claim to fame?
2. What is the children’s new plan in Chapter 6?
3. Where do the children sleep in the summer?
4. What are some of the nicknames that Jem gives Scout?
5. Why do the children spit on the gate?
6. How do you know that Jem respects his father?
7. What does Jem lose when he goes to the Radley Place?
8. What false story does Dill tell about the missing pants?
9. What promise/understanding exists between Scout and Dill?
10. How does Atticus take care of the poker problem?
Answers
1. He can urinate “ten feet” into the yard.
2. The children develop a plan to look in on Arthur Radley.
3. The children often sleep on the porch in the summer.
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4. Jem calls Scout “Angel May” and “Little Three-Eyes.”
5. The children spit on the hinge to prevent it from squeaking.
6. The reader knows that Jem respects his father when he braves the Radley Place at night to retrieve his pants.
Atticus has never spanked him, and Jem prefers to keep it that way.
7. Jem loses his pants when he goes to the Radley Place.
8. Dill says that the pants were lost in a game of strip poker.
9. They are engaged.
10. He tells the children to settle it themselves.

Study Questions
1. What secret does Jem share with Scout?
2. Describe the typical seasons in South Alabama.
3. What is the difference between carving and whittling?
4. What was unusual about Jem’s pants when he retrieved them from the fence?
5. What does Mr. Avery do with the stick of stovewood each week?
6. Why doesn’t Miss Maudie chew gum?
7. What do the children leave in the knothole in the tree?
8. What does Mr. Nathan Radley do to the tree where the gifts are placed?
9. Atticus says the tree is healthy. Mr. Nathan Radley says it is sick. When Atticus is told that Nathan had said the
tree was sick, what does Atticus say?
10. How does Jem respond to the tree being plugged with cement?
Answers
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1. He says that when he returned for his pants, he found them patched and folded on the fence.
2. There is little change in the seasons. Winters are more like autumn than in other parts of the country.
3. Carving is to shape by cutting; whittling is just cutting without trying to make a shape.
4. When Jem retrieved the pants, they had been mended and folded.
5. Mr. Avery whittles the stick of stovewood down to a toothpick.
6. Miss Maudie does not chew gum because it stuck (cleaved) to her palate (the roof of her mouth).
7. Scout and Jem leave a thank-you note in the knothole in the tree.
8. Mr. Nathan fills the hole with cement.
9. He says that Nathan probably knows more about trees than he does.
10. Jem tells Scout not to cry, questions Mr. Nathan, goes to Atticus, and finally cries himself.

Study Questions
1. Who dies in Chapter 8?
2. What is the Rosetta Stone? Why does Scout think Mr. Avery gets his information from it?
3. Why do Jem and Scout feel guilty when Mr. Avery tells them that children who disobey parents, smoke cigarettes,
and make war on each other can cause a change in the seasons?
4. Jem and Scout do not have enough snow to build a snow figure. What else do they use?
5. What does Scout ask Atticus after he returns from the Radley Place after Mrs. Radley died?
6. Jem is able to make a snow person without enough snow to build one. What is Atticus’s first reaction? His second
reaction?
7. How is Miss Maudie able to take an interest in Jem and Scout when her house has just burned?
8. Before the children begin the snowman, what do they borrow from Miss Maudie?
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9. Why does Jem not want Scout to walk in the snow or to eat it?
10. Why does Atticus take the children out of the house at 1:00 A.M.?
Answers
1. Mrs. Radley dies in Chapter 8.
2. The Rosetta Stone is a tablet of black basalt found in 1799 at Rosetta, Egypt. Because it has inscriptions in Greek
and in ancient Egyptian characters, it is a key to deciphering the ancient Egyptian writing. Scout thinks Mr. Avery
gets his outdated information from this stone.
3. Jem and Scout feel guilty because they were not perfect children and had at times disobeyed Atticus. Dill had
rolled cigarettes at an earlier point in the book, so there is a possibility that Jem had smoked. The children had
waged their own wars against others during the past year.
4. Scout and Jem combined the snow with mud from their own backyard.
5. When Atticus returns from the Radley Place, Scout asks if he had seen Arthur Radley.
6. Atticus praises Jem for the snow figure, but when he sees that it looks like Mr. Avery, he makes the children
disguise it.
7. Miss Maudie is able to take an interest in Jem and Scout after her house burns because she values them more
than her material possessions.
8. Before the children begin their snow person they borrow snow from Miss Maudie.
9. Jem does not want Scout to walk in the snow or eat it because he considers that a waste of the snow.
10. Miss Maudie’s house is on fire and Atticus thinks the children would be safer outside than in the house. He is
afraid the fire might spread to their home.

Study Questions
1. Atticus is to defend a member of Calpurnia’s church. What is this person’s name?
2. What does Scout mean when she says “I was worrying another bone”?
3. Why does Atticus take a case which is causing so much dissension in the neighborhood?
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4. How does Aunt Alexandra make Scout unhappy at meal time?
5. Who is Rose Aylmer?
6. Proponents of behavior modification believe that a way to reduce an undesired behavior is to ignore it. Can you
think of an undesired behavior in Scout that Atticus sought to extinguish through ignoring it?
7. What is “Maycomb’s usual disease” that Atticus hopes that Scout and Jem will not contract?
8. Why does Jack say that he will never marry?
9. Compare and contrast the Christmas gifts that Jem receives and the gifts that Francis receives.
10. How does Jack punish Scout for fighting with Francis?
Answers
1. Tom Robinson is the member of Calpurnia’s church whom Atticus has agreed to defend.
2. Scout is concerned with something else.
3. He is asked to take the case, but more importantly, he would be ashamed not to do so. He has respect for himself
and others.
4. Aunt Alexandra makes Scout unhappy by making her eat at the small table instead of at the big table with Jem
and the adults.
5. Uncle Jack’s cat has the name Rose Aylmer.
6. Atticus tries to eliminate Scout’s “cussing” by ignoring it. In fact he tells Jack not to pay any attention to her either.
7. Maycomb’s usual disease is prejudice.
8. He plans never to marry so he will never have children. Scout has been a trial to him over the holidays.
9. Jem receives a chemistry set and an air rifle. Both are things to play with. Francis receives clothes. He also
receives one thing to “play with”—a red book bag to carry his school work in. Francis’s gifts are more practical than
Jem’s.
10. Jack spanks Scout.

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Study Questions
1. What action of Atticus’s makes him unpopular with the community?
2. What is a Jew’s Harp?
3. Why does Scout wish her father was “a devil from hell”?
4. Who does Calpurnia warn about the rabid dog?
5. What nickname did Atticus have at one time?
6. Who is Zeebo?
7. What does Atticus break when he went to face the dog?
8. Was it really “a policy of cowardice” that Scout follows when she agrees not to fight anymore about Atticus?
9. Why is Calpurnia supposed to go to the back door at the Radley Place?
10. Why is Miss Maudie upset when Scout talks about Atticus being old?
Answers
1. Defending Tom Robinson against the accusation of rape is unpopular with the community.
2. A Jew’s Harp is a musical instrument played inside the mouth, against the teeth.
3. Scout wants her father to be a devil from hell so she can brag about him to others.
4. Calpurnia warns the Radleys about the rapid dog.
5. He was called One-Shot Finch or Ol’ One-Shot.
6. Zeebo is the driver of the garbage trucks.
7. Atticus breaks his glasses.
8. It is not a cowardly act, as it takes more strength to obey her resolution than to give in to anger.
9. At the time there were social rules that people usually followed. A visitor who was “beneath” the person being
visited would use the back door.
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10. Miss Maudie is upset because she and Atticus are about the same age.

Study Questions
1. Why do Jem and Scout hate Mrs. Dubose at first?
2. What does apoplectic mean?
3. What is Atticus’s advice to Jem when Mrs. Dubose angers him?
4. Atticus has a special way of greeting Mrs. Dubose which pleases her. Describe the greeting.
5. What things does Atticus require Jem to do to make amends for his rage?
6. What does Atticus say is the one thing that “doesn’t abide by majority rule”?
7. Why do you think Atticus brings Scout two yellow pencils and Jem a football magazine after their first session with
Mrs. Dubose?
8. Why is Mrs. Dubose lengthening the sessions each time?
9. What is Mrs. Dubose battling?
10. What does Mrs. Dubose give Jem before she dies?
Answers
1. They hate Mrs. Dubose at first because she speaks rudely to them and criticizes Atticus and their family.
2. An apoplectic person is one who is likely to have a seizure or a hemorrhage.
3. He encourages Jem to take it easy and reminds Jem that Mrs. Dubose is old and ill. He tells Jem to be a
gentleman.
4. He always says “Good evening, Mrs. Dubose. You look like a picture this evening.” (He does not say a picture of
what!)
5. He requires Jem to visit with Mrs. Dubose and to read to her each day and work in her yard as she requests.
6. Atticus says that one’s conscience does not abide by majority rule.
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7. He probably brings the gifts to thank them for the visit.
8. She is lengthening the time between her medicines.
9. Mrs. Dubose is battling morphine addiction.
10. Mrs. Dubose gives Jem a single white camellia.

Study Questions
1. What change does Calpurnia make in the way she addresses 12-year-old Jem?
2. What does Calpurnia permit Scout to do that she had not permitted before?
3. What does the political cartoon of Atticus chained to a desk and wearing short pants mean to Jem?
4. Why should one not tell all one knows—according to Calpurnia?
5. Why are hymnals not used in the First Purchase A.M.E. Zion Church?
6. How is Zeebo related to Calpurnia?
7. Scout says she is confronted with the Impurity of Women doctrine in the First Purchase Church. What is the
doctrine?
8. How does Calpurnia say that people can be changed?
9. Calpurnia says that “Colored folks don’t show their ages so fast.” What does Jem decide is the reason for this?
10. How is Tom’s wife Helen treated after Tom’s accusation?
Answers
1. Calpurnia begins to call him “Mister Jem.”
2. Calpurnia allows Scout to come into the kitchen to visit.
3. Jem explained that it means that Atticus spends his time doing things that other people would not want to.
4. Calpurnia says one should not tell all one knows, firstly because it is not ladylike and secondly because folks don’t
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like to be around those who know more than they do.
5. Hymnals are not used in the First Purchase A.M.E. Zion Church primarily because most members cannot read.
6. Zeebo, the driver of the garbage truck, is Calpurnia’s son.
7. This doctrine, according to Scout, says that women are worse than men.
8. Calpurnia says that folks are not going to change because she is “talkin’ right, they’ve got to want to learn
themselves, and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their
language.”
9. Jem says “colored folks” age less quickly because they do not read.
10. Tom’s wife is shunned by white society after the accusation. She cannot find work.

Study Questions
1. Why does Alexandra come to live with the Finch family?
2. What does the word amanuensis mean?
3. How does Maycomb receive Alexandra?
4. What does it mean when Scout says that Cousin Joshua “went round the bend”?
5. What is Atticus’ remedy for stomach problems?
6. What is Maycomb’s primary reason for being?
7. Why does Maycomb always remain about the same size?
8. What message does Alexandra ask Atticus to bring to the children?
9. What does Scout mean when she says that Alexandra has a preoccupation with heredity?
10. What does Scout mean when she says that Alexandra thinks that everybody in Maycomb had a streak?
Answers
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1. Alexandra stays with the Finch family in order to give a feminine influence to Scout.
2. The word amanuensis means stenographer.
3. Maycomb welcomes Alexandra and includes her in its social life.
4. Scout means that Cousin Joshua had a nervous breakdown.
5. He takes some soda.
6. Government is Maycomb’s primary reason for being.
7. It grows inward. Because new people settled there so rarely the families intermarry.
8. Atticus asks the children to live up to their name, as per Alexandra’s instructions. She asks that they try to behave
like a little lady and a little gentleman.
9. Scout cannot understand why Alexandra is so concerned with a person’s ancestry.
10. According to Alexandra, every family in town has some kind of habit such as drinking, fighting, or gambling.

Study Questions
1. What does Scout find under her bed?
2. What does Atticus mean when he says, "rape to riot to runaways"?
3. Why does Dill run away?
4. What does Scout think is under her bed at first?
5. What is Scout’s response to Aunt Alexandra when she tells Scout that she cannot visit Calpurnia?
6. What does Scout mean by “he bore with fortitude her Wait Till I Get You Home. . . .”
7. When Scout asked Atticus if she could go to Calpurnia’s, what was Alexandra’s reaction?
8. Whom does Atticus tell Scout to mind?
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9. Why does Scout seem to be a very innocent child?
10. Why does Jem ask Scout not to antagonize Aunt Alexandra?
Answers
1. Scout finds Dill under her bed.
2. In one night Atticus had dealt with Scout’s questions about the word rape, had broken up a fight between Scout
and Jem, and had dealt with the runaway Dill.
3. Dill says that he believes his parents get along better without him. He says that they expect him to behave like a
boy.
4. Scout thinks at first that a snake is under her bed.
5. Scout says that she did not ask Aunt Alexandra.
6. This is a reference to the various “speeches” Dill’s Aunt Rachel gives when she finds Dill has run away.
7. Alexandra immediately says that Scout cannot go.
8. Atticus says Scout has to mind Calpurnia, Alexandra, and him.
9. Scout seems to be especially innocent when she and Dill lie in bed discussing where babies come from. She also
seems innocent because she does not know the word rape.
10. Jem does not want Scout to antagonize Alexandra because Atticus has a lot on his mind thinking of the
upcoming trial.

Study Questions
1. What are the only two reasons grown men stand outside in the yard, according to Scout?
2. What is meant by a “change of venue”?
3. Who is the mockingbird in this chapter? Why?
4. Who does Scout recognize in the mob at the jail?
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5. Contrast the way Atticus rises from his chair at the jail and the way that he normally rises from a chair.
6. What breaks the tension when the mob comes to the house?
7. Where is Tom during the time that Atticus faces the mob downtown?
8. What does Calpurnia mean when she says Jem has the “look-arounds”?
9. What attitude do most of the people in Maycomb have toward walking?
10. What is Atticus’s loaded question?
Answers
1. Grown men stand outside for death and politics.
2. A change of venue is a change in the place where the jury is selected and the trial is held or where the events
occur.
3. Tom is the mockingbird. Atticus could also be considered a mockingbird since he is endangered and he has done
nothing to harm anyone. Since the reader is developing sympathy for Arthur, he might be a mockingbird also.
4. Scout recognizes Mr. Cunningham.
5. Atticus normally rises from a chair very quickly, but at the jail he moves like an old man.
6. Jem shouts that the phone is ringing in order to break the tension.
7. Tom is in the Maycomb jail.
8. It means that he is curious.
9. People only walk if they have a place to go.
10. Atticus’ loaded question is “Do you really think so?”

Study Questions
1. Who presides over Tom’s trial?
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2. What does the word elucidate mean?
3. What makes one a Mennonite, according to Jem?
4. What does Atticus say is the result of naming people after Confederate generals?
5. What does Atticus say had brought the mob to its senses?
6. What is the Idlers’ Club?
7. With whom do the children sit in court?
8. What two things keep Mr. Raymond from being trash?
9. What do the foot-washers say to Miss Maudie?
10. Why does Aunt Alexandra criticize Atticus?
Answers
1. Judge Taylor presides over Tom Robinson’s trial.
2. Elucidate means to explain or to clarify.
3. Mennonites don’t use buttons, they live deep in the woods, trade across the river, rarely come to Maycomb, and
have blue eyes. The men do not shave after they marry.
4. Atticus says the naming made them steady drinkers.
5. Atticus says an eight-year-old brought the mob to its senses.
6. The Idlers’ Club is a group of retired men who frequent the court and the courthouse.
7. The children sit with Reverend Sykes.
8. Mr. Raymond is from an old family and owns land.
9. The foot-washers yell “He that cometh in vanity departeth in darkness.”
10. Aunt Alexandra criticizes Atticus for talking about Mr. Underwood’s racist feelings in front of Calpurnia.

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Study Questions
1. What is the name of the solicitor?
2. What does the word ambidextrous mean?
3. Why does Reverend Sykes ask Jem to take Dill and Scout home from the trial?
4. Where do the Ewells live?
5. Why does Scout get to stay during the explicit testimonies?
6. Where do Scout and Jem sit during the trial?
7. What does Scout mean when she says that Jem is counting his chickens?
8. Why is it important that Mr. Ewell signs his name with his left hand?
9. What excuse does Jem use for not taking Scout home?
10. What does it mean when Scout says the Ewells live as guests of the county?
Answers
1. The solicitor is Mr. Gilmer.
2. Ambidextrous means able to use both hands.
3. Reverend Sykes asks Jem to take Scout home because of the explicit details of the rape given during the trial.
4. They live “behind the town garbage dump in what had been a Negro cabin.”
5. Scout stays because Jem tells Reverend Sykes that she does not understand.
6. The children sit in the balcony during the trial.
7. It means Jem was counting on Atticus’s winning too soon.
8. It is significant that Mr. Ewell uses his left hand to write his name because it shows that he is left-handed. His
daughter had bruises on the right side of her face which meant a left-handed person had hit her.
9. Jem says that Scout did not understand what was being said.
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10. Scout means that the Ewells are on public welfare.

Study Questions
1. What is Mayella’s full name?
2. What are lavations?
3. How can Jem tell which characters do not wash regularly?
4. Why does Judge Taylor not hold Mayella in contempt of court?
5. Why is Tom’s left arm crippled?
6. Whom does Mayella say she is afraid of?
7. What is a chiffarobe?
8. What question does Atticus ask Mayella that makes her furious?
9. What does the word tollable mean?
10. How many witnesses does Atticus say he still has to call when Mayella had finished?
Answers
1. Mayella’s full name is Mayella Violet Ewell.
2. Lavations are washings.
3. Jem says that those who do not wash regularly have a scalded look as if their bodies have been deprived of a
protective layer of dirt.
4. She is poor and ignorant.
5. He has caught his left arm in a cotton gin and has torn the muscles loose from the bones.
6. Mayella says she is afraid of Atticus.
7. A chiffarobe is an old dresser full of drawers on one side.
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8. Atticus asks Mayella if her father had attacked her.
9. The word should read tolerable, which means passable.
10. Atticus says he has one witness to call.

Study Questions
1. Why is Dill crying?
2. How old is Tom?
3. What is Link Deas’ opinion of Tom?
4. What does Judge Taylor say to Deas when he speaks in favor of Tom?
5. What does Tom say that Mr. Ewell saw through the window?
6. Why does Scout take Dill from the courtroom?
7. What does Scout say is a sure sign of guilt?
8. What does Scout mean when she says Maycomb gives the Ewells “the back of its hand”?
9. Why was Tom afraid to push Mayella out of the way?
10. When Tom was approached by Mayella, he did something which Scout says was a sure sign of guilt. What was
it?
Answers
1. Dill is crying because of the way that Gilmer treated Tom.
2. Tom is 25.
3. Link says that Tom had worked for him for eight years and he had not had “a speck o’trouble outa him.”
4. The judge throws Deas out of the courtroom.
5. He sees Mayella grab Tom and kiss him. Tom was trying to get away.
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6. Scout took Dill from the courtroom because he began to cry.
7. Scout says that running is a sure sign of guilt.
8. Scout means that Maycomb gave the Ewells a slap. They gave the Ewells gifts but not in love.
9. Tom “would not have dared strike a white woman under any circumstances and expect to live long. . . .”
10. Tom ran, which Scout considers a sign of guilt.

Study Questions
1. What does Dolphus Raymond give Dill to settle his stomach?
2. What is unusual about Atticus’s clothing during his final summation?
3. What does Atticus argue are some of the reasons that Tom should not be convicted?
4. How does Atticus end his summation?
5. What does Atticus do in court that the children never saw him do even at home?
6. What feeling do both Tom and Atticus have for Mayella?
7. What does Atticus say is a great leveler?
8. Why does Mr. Raymond share this secret with the children?
9. Why does Mr. Raymond pretend to drink?
10. Does Atticus say that kissing Tom was a crime?
Answers
1. Mr. Raymond gives Dill Coca-Cola to settle his stomach.
2. Atticus’s clothing is unusual during final summation because he removes his coat, unbuttons his vest and collar,
and loosens his tie. Scout had never seen him do this before in private or in public.
3. Atticus says the state has not produced any medical evidence that the crime that Tom was charged with ever took
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place.
4. Atticus ends his summation with the words, “In the name of God, believe him.”
5. Atticus removes his coat, unbuttons his vest and collar, and loosens his tie.
6. Atticus pities her; Tom feels sorry for her. These emotions are the same.
7. Atticus says the courts were a great leveler.
8. Raymond says he could share his secret with the children because they would understand.
9. Since people could “never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live,” Raymond pretends
to drink to give them a reason for his life-style.
10. Atticus describes Mayella’s kissing Tom as a violation of a social code but not as a crime.

Study Questions
1. Who walks down the middle aisle carrying a note to Atticus?
2. Why does Reverend Sykes ask Scout to stand when her father passes?
3. How does Reverend Sykes address Scout?
4. What things are strange about the courtroom during the wait for a jury decision?
5. Scout compares the atmosphere in the courthouse before the jury returns to another time and place. What is the
time and place?
6. Why is Reverend Sykes not sure that the jury would decide in favor of Tom Robinson?
7. Why does Reverend Sykes’s voice seem distant after the decision even though he is standing next to Scout?
8. What does Calpurnia’s note say?
9. Why does Atticus walk down the middle aisle?
10. How can you tell when a jury has convicted a defendent?
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Answers
1. Calpurnia walks down the aisle carrying a note to Atticus.
2. The whole balcony stands as a sign of respect to Atticus.
3. The Reverend Sykes addresses Scout as “Miss Jean Louise.”
4. The courtroom is very quiet. Occasionally a baby will cry out or a child might leave, but the adults sit or stand as
still as if they were in church.
5. Scout likens the waiting to the time the rabid dog was near.
6. He is not confident because he has never seen “a jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man.”
7. His voice seems distant or detached because he wants to separate himself from what had happened. He is
thinking of other things now.
8. Calpurnia’s note says that the children have been missing since noon.
9. Atticus probably walks down the middle aisle to show he is not ashamed of his actions. This walk is an indication
of his bravery.
10. When a jury has convicted a defendant, they will not look at the defendant when they return to the courtroom.

Study Questions
1. What does Aunt Alexandra call Atticus?
2. What does Jem mean when he says “It ain’t right”?
3. What does Dill plan to do with his life?
4. Miss Maudie normally gives the children a small cake each. What does she do this time?
5. What special thing do the people do to show their appreciation to Atticus the next morning?
6. What does Mr. Ewell say and do to Atticus?
7. Does Miss Maudie think that it is an accident that Atticus was appointed by the judge to defend Tom Robinson?
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8. What kind of person does Miss Maudie say that Atticus is?
9. Why does it say that Dill makes rabbit-bites?
10. What is Aunt Alexandra’s response to the children’s going to court?
Answers
1. Aunt Alexandra calls Atticus “Brother.”
2. Jem means that it is not right that Tom was convicted.
3. Dill says that he plans to be a clown who laughs at people. He does not think he can change the way things are
and, he prefers to laugh, not cry.
4. She gives Jem a slice from the big cake.
5. They bring him all kinds of food.
6. Mr. Ewell spits in Atticus’s face and says he will get even.
7. Miss Maudie says that the judge purposely chose Atticus to defend Tom. Usually the judge would have selected a
new, beginning lawyer for this type of case.
8. Miss Maudie says that Atticus is a person who does the unpleasant work for others.
9. It means that Dill eats with his front teeth.
10. Aunt Alexandra says that the children should not have been there wallowing in the trial.

Study Questions
1. What is Atticus’s response when the children ask him to borrow a gun?
2. What is a hung jury?
3. The jury contained white males from outside Maycomb. What are some missing groups?
4. What humorous remark does Atticus make when Ewell spits in his face?
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5. Scout believes that Aunt Alexandra wants to help her choose something. What is this?
6. Do you think Tom could get a fair trial with a jury of white males from outside Maycomb? Why?
7. What is Atticus’ response when he was asked if he is afraid to fight?
8. Atticus says that one type of person is trash. Who was this?
9. Why could Miss Maudie not serve on a jury?
10. What does Aunt Alexandra call Walter Cunningham that angers Scout?
Answers
1. He responds “Nonsense.”
2. A hung jury is one that cannot reach an agreement.
3. The Maycomb jury includes no woman, no “black man,” and no Maycomb resident.
4. He says that he wished Bob Ewell did not chew tobacco
5. Aunt Alexandra seems to want to choose Scout’s friends.
6. No, because they are not his peers.
7. Atticus says he is not afraid but too old to fight.
8. Trash is a white person who cheats a “black man.”
9. Miss Maudie cannot serve because she is a woman.
10. Aunt Alexandra calls Walter trash.

Study Questions
1. Where does the women’s missionary circle hold its meeting?
2. Where are Dill and Jem?
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3. During what month does the chapter take place?
4. Why is Scout not allowed to go with Dill and Jem?
5. What special group are the women studying?
6. Who is conducting the study?
7. Mrs. Merriweather tries to make Scout look bad in front of the others. She says Scout might want to be a lawyer
since she has “already commenced going to court.” What does Scout say she wants to be when she grows up?
8. What bad news does Atticus bring home?
9. Mrs. Merriweather keeps saying there is someone the ladies needed to forgive. Who is it?
10. Who does Atticus take with him to Mrs. Robinson’s?
Answers
1. The women’s missionary group meets in the Finch home.
2. Dill and Jem are swimming at Barker’s Eddy.
3. The chapter takes place in late August.
4. Scout cannot go with the boys since they are swimming naked.
5. The women are studying the Mrunas.
6. Mrs. Merriweather is conducting the study.
7. Scout says she wants to grow up to be a lady.
8. The bad news is that Tom had attempted escape and had been killed by guards.
9. She thought the women should forgive Mrs. Robinson.
10. Atticus takes Calpurnia with him.

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Study Questions
1. What does Jem order Scout not to kill?
2. Why do Jem and Dill go with Atticus to the Robinson Place?
3. What condition does Atticus make for the two boys to go?
4. What game are the children playing at the Robinson Place?
5. What tender gesture does Atticus make while waiting for Helen?
6. What is Helen’s reaction to seeing Atticus’s face?
7. What does Mr. Underwood do to confront society?
8. To what does Mr. Underwood compare Tom Robinson?
9. What does Mr. Ewell say when he hears of Tom’s death?
10. Why does Scout not tell Atticus what Mr. Ewell said?
Answers
1. Jem orders Scout not to kill a roly-poly bug.
2. Dill and Jem are on their way back from swimming when they meet Atticus and flag him down to get a ride. He
picks them up, but tells them that he is not going straight home.
3. He tells the boys that they must stay in the car.
4. The children at the Robinson Place are playing marbles.
5. Atticus helps one of Tom’s little girls down the steps.
6. Helen Robinson faints after seeing Atticus’s face.
7. Mr. Underwood writes an editorial to confront society.
8. Mr. Underwood compares Tom to a songbird.
9. Mr. Ewell says, “One down and two to go” when he hears of Tom’s death.
10. Jem says he would never speak to Scout again if she told. He says Mr. Ewell was hot air.
122
Study Questions
1. What grade is Jem in in this chapter?
2. What grade is Scout in in this chapter?
3. How does Scout feel about the Radley Place now?
4. What newspaper does Miss Gates dislike?
5. What term does Miss Gates say means equal rights for everyone?
6. When does Scout see Atticus scowl?
7. Why is Jem trying to gain weight? How?
8. How does Scout define democracy?
9. What had Scout heard Miss Gates say on the courthouse steps?
10. Why does Atticus say that Jem would not talk about the courthouse?
Answers
1. Jem is in the seventh grade in this chapter.
2. Scout is in the third grade in this chapter.
3. Scout still thinks the Radley Place is gloomy, but she is not terrified of it.
4. Miss Gates dislikes The Grit Paper.
5. Miss Gates says democracy means equal rights for everyone.
6. Scout sees Atticus scowl when Hitler is mentioned on the radio.
7. Jem is trying to gain weight by eating bananas and milk. He needs to gain 25 pounds in two years to play football.
8. Democracy is defined as “Equal rights for all, special privileges for none.”
9. Scout had heard Miss Gates say derogatory things about black people on the courthouse steps. She said things
123
about teaching “'em a lesson, and how they were getting way above themselves, and the next thing they will think
they can marry us.'”
10. Atticus says that Jem is trying to forget, but that actually he is storing the information until he can sort things out.

Study Questions
1. What does Mrs. Jones say Mr. Ewell said when he lost his job?
2. When does Judge Taylor hear a strange noise?
3. Why does Helen walk a mile out of her way to get to work?
4. Who defends Helen against Mr. Ewell?
5. What noise did Judge Taylor hear?
6. During what month does this chapter take place?
7. What is Scout’s costume for the pageant?
8. What are the nicknames for the Barber sisters?
9. What trick is played on the Barber sisters?
10. Who escorts Scout to the pageant?
Answers
1. Mr. Ewell says that Atticus got his job.
2. Judge Taylor hears a strange sound on Sunday night.
3. Helen walks a mile out of her way to avoid the Ewell Place.
4. Mr. Link Deas tells Mr. Ewell to leave Helen alone.
5. Someone cut Judge Taylor’s screen causing the noise.
6. This chapter takes place in October.
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7. Scout is a ham for the pageant.
8. The children call the Barbers Tutti and Frutti.
9. The furniture from downstairs was put in the cellar while they slept.
10. Jem escorts Scout to the pageant.

Study Questions
1. What is the weather like on Halloween night?
2. Who frightens the children on the way to the auditorium?
3. What is Cecil Jacob’s costume for the pageant?
4. How much money does Scout have and how many things can she do with it?
5. Why does Scout miss her cue in the pageant?
6. Why are the children among the last ones to leave the auditorium?
7. Why does Scout wear her costume home?
8. Why can Jem see Scout in the dark?
9. How many people scuffle under the tree?
10. Who does Sheriff Tate find has been killed in the scuffle?
Answers
1. The weather is warm and the sky cloudy and dark.
2. Cecil Jacobs frightens the children on the way to the pageant.
3. Cecil Jacobs is a cow in the pageant.
4. Scout has 30¢ so she can do six things at the Halloween celebration.
125
5. Scout misses her cue because she is asleep.
6. Scout does not want to leave until most people are gone because she is embarrassed by her performance and
does not want to talk about it.
7. Scout wants to wear her costume because she can hide her mortification under it.
8. Jem can see Scout because the fat streaks in the costume are painted with shiny paint.
9. Four people scuffle under the tree.
10. The sheriff finds Mr. Ewell has been killed in the struggle.

Study Questions
1. What is Atticus’s one sign of inner turmoil?
2. Why does Mr. Tate say it is all right that Alexandra had not heeded her feeling?
3. Why does Atticus want Scout to raise her head when she talks?
4. Why don’t the children go back for Scout’s shoes?
5. What does Scout call out to Cecil Jacobs?
6. Why do Atticus and Alexandra not hear the sounds outside?
7. Why does Mr. Tate say Mr. Ewell acted the way that he did?
8. How does Scout know that she is under the tree?
9. Who brings Jem into the house?
10. What does Scout say to the man who rescued Jem and her?
Answers
1. The strong line of his jaw melts a little.
2. He says if we heeded all our feelings, we would be like cats chasing our tails.
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3. He wants Scout to raise her head so Mr. Tate can hear.
4. The children don’t go back because they see the lights go off.
5. She calls out that Cecil is a big, fat hen.
6. They were listening to their radios.
7. Mr. Tate says that Mr. Ewell acted the way he did because he was mean.
8. Scout knows she is under the tree because the sand feels cool.
9. Boo Radley brings Jem to the house.
10. Scout says, “Hey, Boo.”

Study Questions
1. What is in the doctor’s package?
2. Why do they take Boo on the front porch?
3. In what order do they go out on the front porch?
4. What does the sheriff say had happened to Mr. Ewell?
5. What does Atticus say had happened to Mr. Ewell?
6. What comparison does Scout make with Boo?
7. For what does Atticus thank Boo?
8. How does Scout try to cheer Atticus up after Mr. Tate leaves?
9. What kind of knife was used to kill Mr. Ewell?
10. Where does the sheriff say he had gotten the switchblade?
Answers
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1. The doctor carries medical supplies.
2. They take Boo to the front porch because they think he will be more comfortable in the dark.
3. Mr. Tate, then Atticus, then Scout and Boo together.
4. The sheriff says Mr. Ewell had fallen on his knife.
5. Atticus thinks Jem killed him in self-defense.
6. Scout compares Boo to a mockingbird.
7. Atticus thanks Boo for his children.
8. Scout tries to cheer Atticus with hugs and kisses.
9. A kitchen knife was used to kill Mr. Ewell.
10. The sheriff says he had gotten the switchblade from a drunk.

Study Questions
1. Why does Boo go inside the Finch house again?
2. What book is Atticus reading?
3. Why does Scout walk with Arthur to his home?
4. Why does she ask Boo to take her arm?
5. Why does Scout go to sleep before the story is over?
6. Why does the doctor put a tent over Jem?
7. Why is Atticus reading the book?
8. What does Atticus say most people are like when you finally see them?
9. What makes you think Atticus does not believe Scout when she says she is not afraid?
128
10. What makes Scout sad in thinking back on all the gifts Boo had given them?
Answers
1. Boo Radley goes inside the Finch house again to see Jem.
2. Atticus reads The Gray Ghost.
3. Scout walks with Arthur to his home because he asked her to do so.
4. She asks Boo to take her arm so if Miss Stephanie looks from her window, she will see a gentleman escorting a
lady.
5. The room is warm, the rain is soft, Atticus’s knee is snug, and the voice is deep so Scout goes to sleep.
6. The tent is to protect Jem’s arm from the cover.
7. Atticus reads the book because he has never read it.
8. Atticus says most people are nice when you finally see them.
9. When Atticus raises his eyebrows, the reader knows he does not believe Scout.
10. Scout is sad because she remembers that they had given Boo nothing.
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To Kill a Mockingbird Study

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD STUDY GUIDE 1

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 1 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 2 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 3 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 4 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 5 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 6 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 7 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 8 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 9 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 10 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 11 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 12 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 13 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 14 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 15 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 16 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 17 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 18 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 19 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 20 Summary

One example of this would be Atticus's pen "winking" in the light.

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 21 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 22 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 23 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 24 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 25 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 26 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 27 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 28 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 29 Summary

Chapter Summaries: Chapter 31 Summary

JEREMY ATTICUS “JEM” FINCH

ARTHUR “BOO” RADLEY

JOHN HALE “JACK” FINCH

CHARLES BAKER “DILL” HARRIS

MISS MAUDIE ATKINSON

ROBERT (BOB) EWELL

WALTER CUNNINGHAM SR.

MRS. HENRY LAFAYETTE DUBOSE

MR. DOLPHUS RAYMOND

MR. BRAXTON BRAGG UNDERWOOD

Characters: Scout Finch

"Naw, Jem, I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.”

Characters: Jem Finch

Characters: Atticus Finch

Characters: Boo Radley

Key Ideas and Commentary: Form and

Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Places

Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Literary

Style, Form, and Literary Elements: Setting

Historical and Social Context: Context

Historical and Social Context: Historical

THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND RACE RELATIONS

Historical and Social Context: Compare and

Connections and Further Reading: Related

Connections and Further Reading: Related

Connections and Further Reading: Media

Connections and Further Reading: For

Bibliography: Bibliography and Further