To Kill a

Mockingbird
 Pre-Reading Activity
Next to each statement put a “1” if you strongly agree, a “2” if you somewhat agree,
a “3” if you somewhat disagree, and a “4” if you strongly disagree.
1. All men are created equal.
2. Girls should act like girls.
3. It’s okay to be different.
4. Nobody is all good or all bad.
5. Some words are so offensive they should never be stated or written.
6. Under our justice system, all citizens are treated equal by the court
system.
7. The old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will
never hurt me,” is true.
8. Speaking standards grammar proves that a person is smart.
9. No one is above the law.
10. Education is the great equalizer.
11. When the law should not succeed in punishing criminals, citizens should
do so.
 Pre-Reading Themes in To Kill a
Mockingbird

• Social Class
• Friendship
• Justice
• Race/Racism
• Childhood
• The Outcast
 Homework:
This afternoon stand on your front
porch (or lawn) and look at your
neighborhood. In a paragraph describe
what you see. What sounds do you
hear? What smell is in the air? What
people are out in the neighborhood?
Describe what you see.
Scout is a very accurate
reporter, but she doesn't
always understand what she
is reporting. Don't assume
she is right in her
assumptions.
 Chapter 1
• Told in flashback – “all started the summer Dill came” –
mystery, events will unravel the story
• Narrator as a child doesn’t seem to understand the
implications, we see the development of child—each
experience gives Scout a fuller understanding, innocence
– Almost duel narration adult Scout telling the story through the eyes of
a child
– She doesn’t always grasp the entire story
– The reader understands more than the child narrator
– Dill wanting to see Boo shows the children’s search for truth
• Background, emphasized that an event will happen to shatter
everything, seriousness of the issues raised modified by
child’s intelligence and wit
• Story really begins with meeting Dill
– Imaginative boy visiting his Aunt Rachel for the summer –
represents the outside world
– Tells stories because his own reality is unpleasant
– Develops a fascination towards Boo
• The first chapter emphasis family history and stories within
stories illustrate the rigid social ties that hold society together in
the little town of Maycomb, the inescapable link that tie an
individual to his or her family.
• The Radleys separate themselves from town, the town in turn
ostracizes them, and Boo becomes the scapegoat when things
are amiss – foreshadows the treatment of Tom Robinson
• Jem rushing into the Radley’s yard
– A space fundamentally disowned by the entire group
– Journey of one individual against the values of an
entire group
 Theme
• Courage: The truest challenge to anyone's
courage is the Radley place. Dill made a bet with
Jem that challenged Jem's courage. Rather than
look like a coward, Jem took the bet to touch the
Radley house although he was really scared to
do it. He couldn't allow Dill and Scout to think
him a coward because his courage was a source
of pride.
 Characters we meet
• Scout - narrator
• Jem
• Dill (Charles Baker Harris)
• Calpurnia – servant, raises the kids
• Atticus – attorney, father to Jem & Scout
• Miss Rachel – Dill’s aunt
• Boo Radley
 Questions
• What is noticeable about the Radleys’
behavior?
• Why are the town’s people afraid of the
Radleys?
 Chapter 2
• First day of school learns more outside school—treat
Walter with courtesy because he is a human being, treat
all guests with respect, learns Ewells are different
because they don’t live like humans
• Radley house central Scout runs past it 4 times a day
(mysterious)
• Scout is initially excited about school, but has a
disappointing first day
• Scout realizes how important reading is – “Until I feared
I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love
breathing.” (18) Can’t fully understand freedom until we
have to give them up – young people expect certain
freedoms & have a natural sense of freedom
• Reveals Maycomb’s culture
– Miss Caroline is foreign the ways of Maycomb – “looks like a
peppermint” contrasts with the kids who “had chopped cotton
and fed hogs from the time they were able to walk.”
– Certain amount of ignorance prevails in Maycomb – Miss
Caroline powerless to change behavior patterns
– Belong to familiar breeds which determine disposition or
temperament
• Jem gives Scout support , sometimes his advice is wrong
• Scout more mature than other students – interacting
with adults comfortably, serves as spokesperson for
class
 Theme
• Innocence: Scout tries to explain to her teacher that
she is embarrassing Walter Cunningham by offering
him something that he won't be able to pay back.
Scout realizes that because her teacher isn't a local,
she won't know that about the Cunninghams, but
Scout's explanation gets her into trouble. She wasn't
trying to be insulting, but Miss Caroline mistook her
frank and innocent explanation as condescension or
rudeness and punished her for it. Scout's perception
of the world and her classmates is not yet marred by
the social divisions that adults see.
 Chapter 3
• Walter comes for dinner
– Scout hears Atticus & Walter talking
and is amazed at the adult
conversation
– Atticus can relate to all kinds of people
• Scout must judge people by their
intentions rather than actions
• Ewells – the town looks past rules for them
since they will never change their ways
– Mr. Ewell hunting out of season – bend the law to
protect Ewell children
– Lowest rung on Maycomb social ladder
• Cunninghams are not ignorant & illiterate
because of lack of intelligence
– System keeps them from getting an education
– Self-perpetuating societal cycle holding farm
families back
 Theme
• Innocence: Scout really does insult Walter this time
as she questions the way he eats and makes him feel
self-conscious. She's not doing it intentionally – she's
just curious because she's never seen people who eat
that way. She's too young to understand the social
graces of Southern hospitality that dictate that you
always make people feel at home and welcome no
matter how unusual their habits may be.
 Lessons that Scout learns:
• Calpurnia's comments regarding the Walter
Cunningham incident.
• Atticus: "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." How does Scout show an
understanding of this regarding Miss Caroline?
 Questions
• Explain the theme “walking in someone else’s
shoes.”
• Why is compromise important?
• What lesson is Calpurnia trying to teach Scout about
Walter?
• How does Cal shows that she cares for Jem & Scout?
• Why are the Ewells allowed to live outside
the law?
 Compare - Contrast
Burris Ewell Walter
and Family Cunningham
and Family
Similar

Different
 Writing:
Scout says that she looked forward to
going to school more than she had
looked forward to anything in her life,
yet her first day at school is not very
enjoyable. Her experience might be
seen as an example of the old saying,
“Be careful what you wish for – you just
might get it.” In a paragraph explain
what you believe this statement means.
 Chapter 4
• School trying to teach “Good Citizenship” –
Atticus & Jem have learned this without the
school’s help
• Scout’s Moral Education comes from home
• Begin to find gifts in the tree – making contact
with Boo
• Invent a new game about the Radleys
– Atticus warns them to stop
– Scout relieved – she heard someone laughing inside
the Radley house
 Theme
• Benevolence: Boo is leaving gifts for Scout & Jem in the knothole of
a tree that leans over the sidewalk. He leaves gum and Indian-head
pennies because he's extending his friendship to them whether
they realize it or not. Jem is the first to figure out who is leaving the
gifts for them, but doesn't tell Scout. He's not sure whether or not
to trust Boo
• Courage: When Scout popped out of the tire, there was no time for
courage. She realized she was in the Radley yard and Jem was
screaming at her to get out of there. Although she was afraid, the
most disconcerting aspect of the event was that someone inside
the Radley house was laughing. When Jem accused her of turning
into a girl because she ran so fast that she forgot the tire, she didn't
tell him what she'd heard' although that would have more than
made up for her forgetful and hasty escape from the
Radley yard. She didn't even explain to Jem and Dill that that
was the reason she didn't want to play the morbid Boo
Radley game any more. She just let them go on thinking she
was a chicken.
 Questions
• Do you think education helps raise people to a
higher level of living? Explain your answer.
 Chapter 5
• As Jem & Dill become inseparable, Scout feels
left out
• Miss Maudie- older woman, open-minded &
fair, keeps their secrets, after the fire &
realization about Boo the focus turns to Tom
Robinson, Atticus—calm & steady rational
• Atticus thinks Boo deserves his privacy – wants
the kids to leave him alone
• Miss Maudie’s helps them see Boo as a victim
of his upbringing
 Theme
• Innocence: Dill asked Scout to marry her because she
was one of the only girls he knew not because he loved
her. They are too young to understand what marriage
means or why people marry, they pretend as a way to
feel grown up
• Innocence: Jem didn’t realize that without actually
saying that they were playing the Boo Radley game he
still admitted to his father that that’s what they were
doing. His father used a courtroom technique to make
his son confess, and it bothered Jem because he
hadn’t expected that from Atticus.
 Chapter 6
• Scout wants to fit in – doesn’t like being
treated like a scared little girl
• Jem loses his pants – sees Dill’s creativity in
making up the story of strip poker
• The children are able to see Boo with more
decency and compassion than the town folk
 Questions
• Courage: Curiosity finally got the better of Dill and Jem, and it created
in them the courage to sneak up to the Radley house to peer in the
windows until they got caught and had to run away.
• Courage: Curiosity wasn't the only thing that bred courage. Because
Jem didn't want to disappoint Atticus, he was forced to go back to the
Radley place to retrieve his pants so that he wouldn't have to explain
where he'd lost them. Although he knew it was dangerous and he
was scared to go, Jem went to the Radley place because the courage
to go there was easier to summon than the courage to face Atticus
and tell him that Jem had flat-out disobeyed him.
• Innocence: Although Atticus made threats to his children all the time,
he'd never whipped them. Jem didn't want to have to disappoint
Atticus by explaining that he'd deliberately disobeyed him, so he
went back for his pants despite the danger of it. He didn't
want to change the nature of his relationship with Atticus by
making him punish Jem.
 Chapter 7
• Boo trying to make friends leaves gifts, pants
Jem recognizes the overtures but Scout doesn’t
• Jem excited about school, Scout still bored
• Boo a presence even though he is never seen –
childlike nature
• Jem cries when the hole is filled – mourning his
own passage from childhood
– Stands on the porch – transition into the house
– Not just the loss of a friend (Boo)
 Theme
• Innocence: Jem realized that it was Boo leaving little gifts for them in
the knothole of the oak tree, and he was crushed when Nathan
Radley cemented up their only line of communication. Nathan said
he did it because the tree was dying, but it was obvious to Jem that
he did it just to keep them from communicating with Boo, it made
him sad.
• Benevolence: Boo Radley found Jem's pants all tangled in the fence
and mended them for him and left them folded across the fence. This
act of kindness frightened Jem because he felt that anyone who
would know to leave his pants there for him like that must actually
know him pretty well, and he was scared of what that might mean.
He worried about this incident for a week before he told Scout about
it and even she was spooked by it.
• Benevolence: Boo kept leaving little trinkets and surprises in the
knothole for Jem & Scout to find. Just when they were going to thank
him, Nathan took away their line of communication. The things
that Boo left for the children won them over, and Jem, more
than Scout, was pretty certain who their benefactor was.
 Writing:
Instead of showing Scout his emotions,
Jem remains on the porch lost in
thought. When he comes in the house,
Scout can see he has been crying. Fear,
disappointment, anger, and sadness are
feelings everyone experiences. Write a
paragraph explaining how to deal with
these strong emotions.
 Chapter 8
• Mr. Avery says that the seasons change when
children are disobedient
• Mrs. Radley dies, Atticus does not see Boo at
the house
• Conclusion of the search for Boo Radley
• Blanket foreshadows rescue later in the book
 Theme
• Innocence: When Atticus suggested they return the blanket to the
Radley house, Jem poured out all the secrets they'd been keeping
about their contact with Boo Radley and how Nathan found ways
to prevent it. Jem didn't want to return the blanket because he
didn't want to get Boo into trouble since he'd never done anything
but help them out although he'd had plenty of opportunity to hurt
them. Jem realizes that Boo is a friend in a way and he wants to
protect him, so he was willing to expose all his secrets to Atticus in
order to protect Boo.
• Benevolence: While Scout and Jem stood watching Miss Maudie's
house burn down, they were shivering in the cold air. What Scout
didn't notice, until Atticus called it to her attention, was that
someone had given her a brown blanket without her realizing it.
Boo Radley had sneaked up behind her and covered her shoulders
with the blanket while she and Jem were so absorbed in
watching the fire.
 Questions
• Why doesn’t anyone help Boo?
• Maycomb is a small, isolated town. Scout’s
world is even smaller – limited to her
neighborhood. In what other ways is Scout’s
world isolated?
 Chapter 9
• Beginning of the trial plotline – Atticus will defend Tom
Robinson
• If he didn’t take the case, he wouldn’t be able to “hold
up my head in town,” represent the town in the state
legislature or tell the kids what to do
• Atticus knows he will not win the case – “simply because
we were licked a hundred years before we started is no
reason for us not to try to win.”
• The town will still be their friends
• Aunt Alexandra is a constant reminder that everything
Scout does is “wrong”
• Uncle Jack never listens to her side of the story
 Theme
• Innocence: Scout hears her classmates saying terrible
things about Atticus because he's defending a black
man, but she doesn't see the wrong in what her father is
doing. Atticus explains to her that it's not really a bad
thing, but some people see it that way. Scout is too
young to understand prejudice/injustice. Atticus tries to
preserve this innocence by raising her to believe that
there is nothing wrong with defending a black man.
It's his duty, so it should be hers as well
 Questions
• Evaluate Atticus’s reasons for defending Tom
Robinson. What does it tell you about his
character?
• What things has Scout learned about life by
chapter 9?
• How does Francis’s being truthful effect Scout in
her thinking of Dill?
• What things has Scout learned about life by
chapter 9?
 Writing:
Atticus tells Uncle Jack that adults
should answer children’s questions
honestly. Honesty is usually thought to
be a positive characteristic. Write a
paragraph explaining the role of
honesty in relationships between
people.
 Chapter 10
• Given air rifles—“sin to kill a mockingbird”
• Scout thinks Atticus can’t “do” anything –
physical activities
• Scout dealing with the negative attitudes at
school
• Atticus tells them it is a sin to kill a
mockingbird – Miss Maudie tells them that
mockingbirds don’t hurt anything, only sing
for pleasure
• Rabid dog
– Unifies the neighborhood against common enemy
– Atticus reluctant to kill dog – unfair advantage
– Scout & Jem surprised at father’s skill
– Atticus protecting the town
• Man shouldn’t take advantage of knowledge &
weapons – those with power must be careful
not to abuse it
• Gun places man above animal – racism puts
one group ahead of another
 Theme
• Courage: Atticus showed his children that he was a
courageous man when he stepped into the street to face
down a rabid dog. Although he didn't consider the act
particularly courageous and was completely uninterested in
proving anything to his children, Jem and Scout were proud of,
and impressed by, his courage in such a precarious situation.
But shooting something wasn't really Atticus' idea of courage.
He viewed courage on a more intellectual level, as a moral
thing, not as something that can be proved with a weapon.
• Innocence: It's a sin to kill a mockingbird because they are
innocent birds who only live to make music for us to enjoy.
That's what Atticus and Miss Maudie told Scout after she
and Jem got their air rifles for Christmas. It's a sin to willfully
destroy innocence, and a mockingbird embodies
innocence.
 Questions
• What does Jem learn about Atticus other than
he is a “good shot.” How does this change his
opinion of Atticus?
• What is Atticus’s relationship to the rest of
Maycomb? What is his role in the community?
 Writing:
Atticus tries to show his children what is
right and what is wrong, all parents
have the responsibility of guiding their
children. Craft a paragraph explaining
ways a parent can guide a child.
 Chapter 11
• Courage- doing something when you know you’ll lose,
courage in facing the rabid dog
• Mrs. Dubose- courage “know you’re licked before you
begin and see it through”
• Jem loses his temper and destroys Mrs. Dubose
camellias – out of character for Jem
• Atticus says that an old woman can’t be held responsible
for what she says
• Each day the children read a little longer – until
she tells them not to come back
• Mrs. Dubose manages to end her morphine
addiction – true courage
– Fought her addiction even though she was going
to die
– Atticus – “the bravest woman I ever knew.”
– Died beholden to no one
– Courage is more than men with guns – Courage is
the fight for one’s personal goals
– Heroism is in the fight itself
• Atticus knows he will lose the court case
• He still fights until the end
• Scout must learn to calm her responses
• Jem needs to learn to find useful ways to
express his feelings rather than suppressing
them
• The towns people are ignorant & racist, but they
have personal strengths that give hope that they
will be better
 Themes
• Courage: Scout wasn't really sure what got into Jem
to make him so bold as to destroy Mrs. Dubose's
camellias when it was a well-known rumor that she
was armed with a Confederate pistol at all times.
Although Jem was familiar with the rumor, his rage
pushed him beyond caring that he might be hurt or
get into trouble because Mrs. Dubose had bad-
mouthed Atticus, and Jem just couldn't take it. His
fury made him bold enough to wreak havoc in
her yard with little regard for the consequences.
 Themes
• Courage: Atticus uses Mrs. Dubose as an example of
true courage to show Jem that courage isn't a man with
a gun, but someone who fights for what's right whether
he or she wins or not.
• Benevolence: Atticus goes out of his way to be polite
and kind to Mr. Dubose because he knows that she is
suffering. Although she is mean to his children and says
horrible things about him, he chooses to be kind to her
and tells them to do the same because he knows
she's in pain. He teaches them acceptance and
compassion rather than vengeance.
 Questions
• What is Atticus’s idea of courage?
• How is Mrs. Dubose a winner?
• Atticus tells Jem that courage is “when you
know you’re licked before you begin but you
begin anyway and see it through no matter
what.” How is Atticus also referring to his own
situation?
 Chapter 12
• New insight into Calpurnia – lives in two
worlds
• Jem is growing up – lives in two worlds
• Church sacrifices to help the Robinsons
– Poor in material riches, displays a richness in
human dignity
– Give the Finch children a warm reception in
spite of racism of town
• Similarity in church services – socially
segregated, but with common faith
• Reverend points out the moral failings of
members – the black community is judged by
the actions of a few, important to have a good
image
 Characters
• Jem: because his attitude is changing
• Calpurnia: she lives two different lives
• Tom: we learn what he did. The church is
giving him money
• Aunt Alexandra: she moves in with the family.
She wants the kids to mature and become
proper
• Atticus: he hasn't been around lately
 Setting
• Calpurnia's church: brick hard clay, cemetery,
broken bottles, southern town limits,
advertisements, poor (no hymn books),
friendly, uneducated (can't read)
 Theme
• Race: Lula was mad at Cal for bringing white
kids to the black church
 Chapter 13
• Aunt Alexandra contrasts with Atticus, Alexandra – family; Atticus
– individual
• Family blood more important than ideas, under cold exterior is
strong sense of propriety & justice
• Aunt Alexandra old-fashioned & proper – refers to people by their
family history
– Character traits are passed from one generation to another
– Town is so closely related that behavior is predictable &
repetitive
– People not judged as individuals – stereotype of the
entire clan
• Aunt Alexandra has an idea of how Finch
women should behave, based on family
tradition, she tries to impose that on Scout,
who will be held up to a stereotype & not
allowed to be herself – “live up to your name”
 Themes
• Social Class: They talk about the Ewells being
poor and their manners
• Family: Aunt Alexandra comes to visit and
Scout doesn't want her there because they do
not get along.
 Questions
• What reasons does Aunt Alexandra have for
coming to Maycomb?
• Why is Aunt Alexandria disappointed with Scout?
• What is Aunt Alexandra preoccupied with?
• Is there a caste system in Maycomb?
• Why don’t the children hate blacks, like
others in the community?
Why does Atticus defend Tom Robinson?
 Chapter 14
• Dill runs away from home & hides under Scout’s
bed
– Jem tells Atticus – “broke the remaining code of our
childhood” – movement into adulthood
– Scout realizes how lucky she is to have a family that
loves her – she has much to be grateful for
– Maycomb feels like home to him
• Scout wonders why Boo doesn’t run away
• Dill doesn’t think Boo has anywhere to run to
 Theme
• Innocence: Scout, in all her youthful naïveté,
believes that Atticus and Cal need her around
to run the house and make decisions. In her
mind her role is greatly exaggerated, and Dill
has experienced the painful realization that
he's not needed as much as he thought he was.
He's reached a point of awakening
that Scout has yet to reach, but he's no happier
for the knowledge he's gained.
 Chapter 15
• Atticus goes to the jail to prevent Tom from
being lynched
• “Old Sarum bunch” comes to lynch Tom
– Scout humanizes the situation
– Mentions Walter to his father – “he’s a good boy”
– Her innocence to the situation contrasts with the
intended violence
– Reminds them of the human bonds that the
town has
• Atticus reveals his flaw: he tends to be overly
optimistic or unrealistically hopeful at times
– He assures Jem that the men won’t hurt him
– He doesn’t take a gun to defend himself
– Atticus has high morals – will not lower himself to violent
means, even in self-defense
• Kids sense change-tension in Atticus, man against
mob—noble & courageous
• Mob mentality
– Lose the feeling of responsibility for their actions
– Don’t act like separate individuals – forget
they are human beings
 Themes
• Courage: Atticus went to the jailhouse to protect Tom
Robinson from the mob he knew was coming for him.
Although he was alone against several men, Atticus
held his ground until his children showed up. Only
then did Atticus seem truly afraid because they were
in danger. He'd expected to get roughed up a little in
the struggle to protect Tom Robinson, but he never
imagined that his children would be in the
way. That's when his courage failed him, but
Scout's complete innocence saved them all.
• Innocence: Scout had no idea that the men gathered around her
father were intending to harm him. She disarmed them with her
youth and innocence in the way that she talked to Mr. Cunningham
as a friend because she knew he'd done business with her father
and she knew his son from school. The way she tried to strike up a
friendly conversation with him must have reminded him that they
were neighbors and friends, and that protected Atticus and Tom
Robinson from being harmed by the mob of men from Old Sarum
that night.
• Benevolence: Atticus stayed at the jailhouse to protect Tom
Robinson from the mob from Old Sarum. Although he wasn't really
obligated by law to do that for his client, he put himself in harm's
way. Atticus knew that there was a danger that something
would happen to Tom, and he planned to do everything he
could to make sure that Tom had a chance to tell the truth
in court.
 Questions
• How and why do Scout’s remarks deflate the
emerging conflict?
 Chapter 16
• Happy with seat in “colored’ section—
prejudice taught
• Finch children are welcomed, even honored,
among the black community
 Theme
• One of the themes running throughout the
book has to do with the world of children
opposing the world of the adult. How do we
see the two clash-particularly from a sense of
understanding/not understanding what is
going on
 Questions
• How do the town’s people treat the town?
• What is significant about where Jem, Scout
and Dill sit during the trial?
• What attitudes toward “colored” people are
shown in the chapters?
• Author Lee exhibits a real concern for the life
of even the minor characters in the story. Who
are some of the characters that stand out in
these chapters?
 Chapter 17
• Heck Tate’s Testimony
– Ewell claimed Tom raped Mayella
– No doctor was called
– Beaten on the right side of her face
• Bob Ewell’s testimony
– The only thing that separates him form black is skin color
– Arrogant & crude – ridiculous behavior
– Claims he saw Tom Raping Mayella
– Shows he is high class by writing his name – shows he
is left-handed
– Confident that he will get away with perjury
 Chapter 18
• Mayella Ewell’s testimony
– Afraid of Atticus – no one has ever been polite to her
• Mayella is unaccustomed to people treating her with respect
• Life is full of misery & deprivation
• Thinks Atticus is mocking her with “Miss Mayella”
– Asked Tom to chop the chiffarobe
– Mayella is 19 & very lonely
– She went to school a few years, but now has to take care of her siblings
– Bob drinks too much
– Atticus questions her
• Why didn’t the kids hear you screaming?
• Where were they?
• Why didn’t they come & help?
• Didn’t her father beat her?
– Mayella has some good in her – plants flowers
– Motivated by cowardice – accuses Tom rather than take her own guilt
 Questions
• Why is Mayella afraid?
 Chapter 19
• Tom Robinson’s testimony
– Tom’s left arm is 12 inches shorter – hurt in a cotton
gin accident – Tom cannot use his left arm
– Tom passes by the Ewell house & often helps with
odd jobs – helps her because no one else will
– Everything seemed quiet – too quiet
– Mayella grabbed him & kissed him – Tom tries to
escape – runs away in fear when Mr. Ewell arrives
• Tom’s worst fault is feeling sorry for a white woman
• Scout thinks how lonely Mayella must be – she
is so poor that whites won’t associate with her
& blacks avoid her because she is white
• Dill’s physical illness – sensitivity to injustice
(Dill has felt prejudice)
– Extremely sensitive to the ugliness of
prejudice & evil
– Exit from courthouse mirrors his tendency
toward escapism
 Tom’s Truthfulness
• Tom’s left arm is crippled. He could not possibly have tried to
choke Mayella with two hands, or beaten her on the right side of
her face.
• You have learned earlier from Heck Tate that Bob Ewell never
called a doctor for his daughter. There is no proof that she was
ever raped at all.
• Bob Ewell and Mayella’s stories contradict each other about what
was going on at the moment Bob arrived. Bob says he saw the
rape. Mayella says her father had to ask, “Who did this?”
• Both of the Ewells acted as if they weren’t telling the truth. Bob
Ewell was surly and aggressive; Mayella was frightened of Atticus
because she knew he could see through her lies.
 Themes
• Innocence: Dill cries after seeing the condescension with which Mr.
Gilmer questioned Tom because he was a Negro. Dill believed that it
was unfair to treat anyone that way, Negro or not. Dill was still too
young to realize that it was commonplace for Negroes to be treated
so disrespectfully. Mr. Raymond predicted that in a few years he
might notice the injustice, but he would be so accustomed to it that
he wouldn’t cry over it any more.
• Benevolence: Tom Robinson helped Mayella Ewell with odd chores
because he felt bad that no one in her family would help her. He
thought that she seemed to try harder than the
other members of her family, and so he didn’t mind going
out of his way to lend a hand when she needed it. He was
just being kind and polite.
 Questions
• Why does the crowd become angry during Tom’s
testimony?
• Readers must often “read between the lines” of literature
and find what is really being implied. What important
implications do you find in Tom’s testimony in what really
happened?
• What does it add to our understanding of Bob and
Mayella Ewell?
• What do you think actually happened viewing all
the testimony?
 Chapter 20
• Dolphus Raymond – High enough social standing to act in
unorthodox ways
– Married a black woman
– Has mixed children – Jem says they are the saddest, neither
whites nor blacks will have anything to do with them (ch16)
– Town thinks he drinks liquor out of a paper bag – really Coke
– People need an excuse for his behavior – easier to handle if
they have a reason for it
• Atticus’s summation
– No medical evidence against Tom
– Mayella “broke the time-honored code of our society” by
attempting to seduce a black man
– Mayella trying to rid herself of her own guilt
– The case is based on the assumption that “all black men
lie”
– Appeals to the jury’s sense of dignity – “In the name of
God believe it.”
• Mayella a victim of cruelty, but brings cruelty upon Tom – a
way of protecting herself
 Understanding the Facts
Facts that this Facts that this
Name of person What they said person has in person does not What we think
testifying (list facts here): common with have in common the truth is:
others: with others:

Heck Tate

Bob Ewell

Mayella Ewell

Tom Robinson
 Writing:
Atticus references Thomas Jefferson in
his closing arguments telling the jury
that “all men are created equal.” At
times, though, equality may appear to
be a complex issue. Write a paragraph
exploring Jefferson’s belief that all
humans are equal.
 Chapter 21
• Aunt Alexandra is concerned that the children, especially
Scout, heard the testimony – not proper for children
• The jury convicts Tom
– Scout knows when they walk in – they won’t look at Tom
– The jury is polled
– At each “guilty” Jem flinches
• Jem’s trust in the people of Maycomb has been betrayed
• All the blacks in the balcony stand to honor Atticus
• Atticus is not only teaching the children moral
lessons, but the town as well
 Questions
• In the first section we saw Jem growing up. How is the trial an
important awakening on Jem's part to what the world is really like?
• Here we see how Atticus tries to protect his children from the ugly
realities of adult life. Atticus did not want his children to be in
court, but they manage to see most of the trial. Do you think that
it was good or bad for them to be there? Discuss whether you
think it right for young people to be able to witness criminal trials.
• Scout is beginning to understand he father’s advice of “getting
inside their skin.” But understanding the motives of others does
not make things less confusing. If the prosecutting attorney is not
entirely to blame
 Trial Point of View
• Very often, different people view the same event in different ways. If your
team had just won a state championship, you would probably describe the
game differently than someone would from the losing team. Two drivers
involved in an auto accident would have different perspectives about what
had caused the accident.
• How people see an event and what they think about it is called point of view.
• Writing Topic: Select the role of someone who was involved with or
someone who observed Tom Robinson's trial. Write an account of the trial
from that person's point of view.
• - - - a member of the black community sitting in the balcony
- - - a member of the jury who believed that Tom was innocent but was afraid to go against
the other members of the jury
- - - a newspaper reporter from New York who was covering the trial
- - - Judge Taylor in his later years writing his memoirs
- - - Atticus writing in his journal
- - - Other Characters: Miss Maudie Atkinson, Reverend Sykes, Aunt Alexandra
Make sure that what you write is consistent with the character whose point
of view you have assumed.
 Chapter 22
• Jem is angry with the verdict
• The black community brings food to the
Finches
• Miss Maudie points out that others also helped
– Atticus does the unpleasant jobs because no one
else will
– “We’re making a step, it’s just a baby step,
but it’s a step.”
• Dill wants to be a clown – wants to make
people laugh
– Escapism – get away from reality
– Wants to define himself in a separate reality
• Bob Ewell threatens Atticus
 Themes
• Benevolence: Miss Maudie tried to explain to Jem that the
people of Maycomb weren't as heartless and cruel as he
thought although they'd let him down by convicting Tom
Robinson despite the evidence in his favor. Maudie pointed out
to him all the subtle ways that people had helped Tom out, one
of them being that Judge Taylor had appointed Atticus to defend
him because no one else could do it as well. Although many of
the townspeople were ignorant, prejudiced people, there were
some like herself & Atticus who believed in kindness and
Christian principles. Despite her explanation, Jem is
heartbroken over the case & wary of the townspeople
he once considered the best in the world
 Questions
• What is Atticus’s reply when Jem asks, “how
could they do it?”
• What does Atticus mean when he says, “…
seems only the children weep.”
• How does his talk with Miss Maudie change
how he feels about the people of Maycomb?
• How does Miss Maudie explain what has
happened and how one's Christianity is shown?
 Chapter 23
• Atticus too good to understand how far Ewell will go to get
revenge
– Ewell has been discredited & needs to lash out at someone
– Atticus would rather have him insult Atticus rather than the
Ewell children
– Lacks the understanding of evil in some people
• Atticus tells Jem that any white man that would cheat a black
man is trash
• Jury took hours instead of minutes to convict – Cunningham held
out that long
• Jem – Boo stays inside because he wants to
• Four kinds of “folks” in Maycomb – Each group
looks down on the group below them
– “Ordinary” people like the Finches
– Farmers like the Cunninghams
– The people by the dump like the Ewells
– Black people
• Aunt Alexandra doesn’t think Scout should
socialize with Walter Cunningham – Scout
doesn’t understand what makes to Finches better
 Theme
• Courage: Atticus was unaffected by Bob
Ewell's threat because he didn't believe the
man would make good on it. He refused to
fight or arm himself against Ewell although
Jem and Scout requested it. He believed that
once Ewell had threatened him in public, he'd
satisfied his vengeance. Unfortunately Atticus
was wrong.
 Questions
• Chapter 23 is important in defining Jem's new
perception of the legal system and the class
system of his world. Note how Scout perceives
the same worlds. What changes are evident in
the children's views?
• Discuss the author’s descriptions of Maycomb.
What is the town’s role in the novel?
 Characterization
Conclusion Supporting Details
Atticus believes
in using words,
not violence , to
solve problems.

Jem loves Scout.

Scout is kind-
hearted

Tom Robinson
was an innocent
man.
 Chapter 24
• Miss Maudie a comforting presence
• Ladies club—talk of saving African tribes while
criticizing American blacks
– Miss Maudie disagrees with the other ladies – only
one with a conscience
– Aunt Alexandra plays peacemaker
– Raise money for Africans, but ignore blacks suffering
in their own community
– Refuse to believe they are Christians
• Scout appreciates effort in being a lady, Aunt
Alexandra conceals feelings
– Retains composure after hearing about Tom
Robinson
– Element of challenge involved with being a lady
– Starts to see the benefits of being a lady while
interacting with others
• Tom Robinson shot while trying to escape
 Questions
• Look at the topic of the Missionary Circle's
meeting. How is the hypocrisy of the women
illustrated? One thing which angered people of
Monroeville the most was this chapter. What
about this chapter would get this reaction?
• Scout is an accurate reporter for us, but she
doesn't understand the subtext of what she is
seeing. What battle is going on between Mrs.
Grace Merriweather and Miss Maudie?
 Chapter 25
• Maycomb reacts to the news as “typical” behavior
– Not surprised Tom ran away – seen as dishonorable
– Used to justify feelings of superiority
• Black community devastated by Tom’s death
• Scout sees that the individual must choose to be
moral – cannot be forced
• Tom lost courage & determination to live
– He did not have hope that he would be released
– Did not think an appeal would be successful –
had experienced too many injustices in life
 Questions
• Why was Tom’s demise regarded as “typical”
• What does this tell you about racism,
prejudice and social class in Maycomb at the
time?
• Why do you think that children, such as Jem
and Scout, could see so clearly the errors of
the town, but the adults overlooked all the
racism, prejudice, and injustice?
 Chapter 26
• Scout has lost her fear of the Radley house
– Boo has been transformed into a potential friend
– Scout wants to show him that not all people are bad
• In class, Scout doesn’t understand condemning Germans for the
persecution of the Jews
– Blacks are being persecuted in the south
– Implication that blacks don’t contribute to society – unlike the
Jews
– Jews deserve sympathy because they are white – blacks
treated like second class citizens
– US a democracy, but not all inclusive
• Influenced by family
– Scout & Jem have no prejudice
– Other kids are taught hatred – treat Scout & Jem with cool
distance
 Theme
• Innocence: Scout doesn't understand the
hypocrisy her teacher displays in hating Hitler
for his prejudice against Jews, yet she hates
blacks just as much. The inconsistency bothers
Scout and her realization of this double
standard among people is the beginning of her
awakening to the hypocrisy of most people.
 Questions
• What hypocrisy does Miss Gates exhibit? How
could the plight of the Jews be compared to
the plight of the blacks of the 1930's South?
• What is Calpurnia’s role in the Finch family?
 Writing:
Scout and Jem grow up among the
situations described in the novel. In
a paragraph, explain how Jem and
Scout have grown up and how their
attitudes have been effected by the
trial of Tom Robinson and the
events surrounding it.
 Chapter 27
• Bob Ewell causing problems for others
– Has a WPA job for brief time
– Judge Taylor sees a prowler at his house
– Helen Robinson walks out of her way to avoid the
Ewells
– Shown to be cowardly & evil
• “Thus began our longest journey together” –
not just a physical journey, a journey to
understanding
 Chapter 28
• The story comes full circle
• Scout & Jem walk home after the Halloween
pageant & hear footsteps behind them
• The kids are attacked by Bob
• First appearance of Boo – becomes the
children’s savior against the real evil
 Chapter 29
• Boo – “feathery” hair, pale
• Boo has become a real person – progression
from monster to human
 Theme
• Benevolence: Boo Radley came out of his house
for the first time in many years because Jem and
Scout were in danger. He rescued them from Bob
Ewell and put himself in danger not only of being
harmed, but also of being exposed to the
townspeople. He left his refuge to save the
children without a thought to his own personal
safety, because after watching the children
for years he had grown fond of them.
 Chapter 30
• Atticus assumes Jem killed Ewell – there must be
an investigation, Jem treated like everyone else
• Sheriff Tate assures him that Ewell fell on his knife
– Trying to protect Boo
– Wants Atticus to accept the situation, even if it’s not
perfectly just according to the law – “let the dead bury
the dead.”
– It would be a sin to make a shy man like Boo the object
of public adoration
– Ewell is punished for Tom Robinson’s death
• Scout – “It would be like killing a mockingbird.”
 Theme
• Courage: Heck Tate finally stepped out of the shadows and did the
right thing. He hadn't been able to do it in the Tom Robinson case,
but this time he refused to lay down and let an injustice occur.
Although he had to lie to protect Boo Radley, he knew that keeping
his role in Bob Ewell's death a secret was the right thing to do, and
he did it.
• Benevolence: Heck Tate and Scout both realize the importance of
keeping Boo's part in Bob Ewell's death a secret because they want
to protect him. Boo did a courageous and kind thing for the children.
The sheriff and Scout return the favor by doctoring the story of
Ewell's death to protect Boo from being exposed to the
neighborhood. To them, dragging Boo into the limelight
would be just as great a sin as killing a mockingbird.
 Questions
• Why does the sheriff want to cover up Boo
Radley's part in the fight?
 Chapter 31
• Scout matures where Radley house is not important
• Boo Radley been this mysterious person, finally
makes an appearance as hero—Boo as the
Mockingbird
• Scout never sees Boo again, but imagines him
watching over “his” children
• Has seen the evil in the world but upholds
her faith in humankind & can face the world
with courage
• Scout’s development as a Southern Lady – leads
Boo home
– Interacts in a grownup fashion
– Resists the childish urges when she sees Boo
– Able to act as a guide for others
• On the Radley porch Scout can now see from a
different perspective
– Sees things from Boo’s perspective – protects his
privacy
– Sees herself, Jem & Dill through new eyes
 Questions
• While standing on the Radley front porch,
what does Scout realize?
• From Atticus’s last line in the book, what can
you determine to be his attitude toward
people in general?
 Plot Chart
Plot #1 - The Mystery of Boo Radley Emerging Themes

Plot #2 - Jem Grows Up

Plot #3 - The Trial

 Writing:
It has been said that all that is
necessary for evil to triumph is for
good men (and women) to do
nothing. Write a paragraph
reflecting on this idea.
 Homework:
This afternoon stand somewhere in your
neighborhood other than your front porch
(or lawn) and look at your neighborhood.
In a paragraph describe what you see.
What sounds do you hear? What smell is
in the air? What people are out in the
neighborhood? Describe what you see.
Look at your neighborhood from a
different perspective.
 Follow-Up
How did your neighborhood
seem different when viewing it
from a different perspective?
 Setting
Place Physical Setting Historical Setting Social Setting
The Finches’
Home

The Radley’s
House

The School

Finches
Landing
Downtown

The
Robinson’s
House
Metaphor
Analysis
• Mockingbird: The mockingbird represents innocence. Like
hunters who kill mockingbirds for sport, people kill
innocence, or other people who are innocent, without
thinking about what they are doing. Atticus stands firm in
his defense of innocence and urges his children not to
shoot mockingbirds both literally and figuratively. The
mockingbird motif arises four times during To Kill a
Mockingbird. First, when Atticus gives Jem and Scout air
guns for Christmas and instructs them not to kill
mockingbirds. Second, when B.B. Underwood writes about
Tom Robinson's death in his column. Third, a mockingbird
sings right before Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout. Finally,
Scout agrees with Atticus that prosecuting Boo for Ewell's
murder would be like killing a mockingbird.
• Boo Radley: Boo Radley represents fear. Small town folks
fear that if they act eccentric and fail to adhere to social
rules they too will end up like Boo, isolated and remembered
as a grotesque monster. It is this fear that supports the
social status quo and keeps individuals from standing up for
that which they believe. Until people can understand and
accept Boo, as Scout eventually does, they will always be
stuck in a world filled with fear, lies, & ignorance
• Guns : Guns represent false strength. According to Atticus,
guns do not prove manhood or bravery. Manhood and
bravery come from a man's ability to persevere and fight
using his wits, his heart, and his character. Neighbors use
and venerate guns to the detriment of developing their own
personal strength.
 Motifs
Motifs are recurring
structures, contrasts, or
literary devices that can help
to develop and inform the
text’s major themes.
• Gothic Details – The forces of good and evil in To Kill a
Mockingbird seem larger than the small Southern town in which
the story takes place. Lee adds drama and atmosphere to her story
by including a number of Gothic details in the setting and the plot.
In literature, the term Gothic refers to a style of fiction first
popularized in eighteenth-century England, featuring supernatural
occurrences, gloomy and haunted settings, full moons, and so on.
Among the Gothic elements in To Kill a Mockingbird are the
unnatural snowfall, the fire that destroys Miss Maudie’s house, the
children’s superstitions about Boo Radley, the mad dog that
Atticus shoots, and the ominous night of the Halloween party on
which Bob Ewell attacks the children. These elements, out of place
in the normally quiet, predictable Maycomb, create tension in the
novel and serve to foreshadow the troublesome events of the trial
and its aftermath.
• Small-Town Life – Counterbalancing the Gothic motif of the
story is the motif of old-fashioned, small-town values,
which manifest themselves throughout the novel. As if to
contrast with all of the suspense and moral grandeur of the
book, Lee emphasizes the slow-paced, good-natured feel of
life in Maycomb. She often deliberately juxtaposes small-
town values and Gothic images in order to examine more
closely the forces of good and evil. The horror of the fire,
for instance, is mitigated by the comforting scene of the
people of Maycomb banding together to save Miss
Maudie’s possessions. In contrast, Bob Ewell’s cowardly
attack on the defenseless Scout, who is dressed like a giant
ham for the school pageant, shows him to be unredeemably
evil.
 Symbols
Symbols are objects,
characters, figures, or
colors used to represent
abstract ideas or
concepts.
• Mockingbirds - The title of To Kill a Mockingbird has very little literal
connection to the plot, but it carries a great deal of symbolic weight in the
book. In this story of innocents destroyed by evil, the “mockingbird” comes
to represent the idea of innocence. Thus, to kill a mockingbird is to destroy
innocence. Throughout the book, a number of characters (Jem, Tom
Robinson, Dill, Boo Radley, Mr. Raymond) can be identified as mockingbirds
—innocents who have been injured or destroyed through contact with evil.
This connection between the novel’s title and its main theme is made explicit
several times in the novel: after Tom Robinson is shot, Mr. Underwood
compares his death to “the senseless slaughter of songbirds,” and at the end
of the book Scout thinks that hurting Boo Radley would be like “shootin’ a
mockingbird.” Most important, Miss Maudie explains to Scout:
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but . . . sing their hearts out for us. That’s
why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That Jem and Scout’s last name is Finch
(another type of small bird) indicates that they are particularly vulnerable in
the racist world of Maycomb, which often
treats the fragile innocence of childhood harshly.
• Boo Radley -As the novel progresses, the children’s changing
attitude toward Boo Radley is an important measurement of their
development from innocence toward a grown-up moral
perspective. At the beginning of the book, Boo is merely a source
of childhood superstition. As he leaves Jem and Scout presents
and mends Jem’s pants, he gradually becomes increasingly and
intriguingly real to them. At the end of the novel, he becomes fully
human to Scout, illustrating that she has developed into a
sympathetic and understanding individual. Boo, an intelligent child
ruined by a cruel father, is one of the book’s most important
mockingbirds; he is also an important symbol of the good that
exists within people. Despite the pain that Boo has suffered, the
purity of his heart rules his interaction with the children. In saving
Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell, Boo proves the ultimate
symbol of good.
• Homes -Throughout the book, the location of people and events inside or
outside of houses speaks toward the themes of the book. In general, those
who are usually seen and described as being willfully inside the house:
Mrs. Dubose and Aunt Alexandra in particular, are often more corrupted by
the prejudices of society. The children run outside constantly, and Dill in
particular has no house of his own, except one far away which is never
described in detail within the book, making him extremely free. Miss
Maudie stays outside a great deal, as does the sheriff, Heck Tate; both are
on the side of all that is good. Those who are forced to stay inside are
victims of society's influence, especially Boo Radley and Tom, who both live
within their respective forms of jail for much of the book. Atticus is an
exception: the presence of his office gives him a different kind of house to
live in, one that is tied into the fabric of society and yet is also outside of it.
His daily outside walks back and forth show him to be part of the "outside"
world of free thinkers, and also link his professional "home" to his
real home, which is emphasized especially by the fact that his
morals are the same whether at work or at home.
 Final
Questions
• In Scout's account of her childhood, her father Atticus reigns
supreme. How would you characterize his abilities as a single
parent? How would you describe his treatment of Calpurnia
and Tom Robinson vis a vis his treatment of his white neighbors
and colleagues? How would you typify his views on race and
class in the larger context of his community and his peers?
• The title of Lee's book is alluded to when Atticus gives his
children air rifles and tells them that they can shoot all the
bluejays they want, but "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." At the
end of the novel, Scout likens the "sin" of naming Boo as Bob
Ewell's killer to "shootin' a mockingbird." Do
you think that Boo is the only innocent, or
mockingbird, in this novel?
• Scout ages two years-from six to eight-over the course of Lee's
novel, which is narrated from her perspective as an adult. Did you
find the account her narrator provides believable? Were there
incidents or observations in the book that seemed unusually
"knowing" for such a young child? What event or episode in
Scout's story do you feel truly captures her personality?
• One of the chief criticisms of To Kill a Mockingbird is that the two
central storylines -- Scout, Jem, and Dill's fascination with Boo
Radley and the trial between Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson --
are not sufficiently connected in the novel. Do you think that Lee
is successful in incorporating these
different stories? Were you surprised at the way in
which these story lines were resolved? Why or
why not?
• By the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, the book's first
sentence: "When he was thirteen, my brother Jem got
his arm badly broken at the elbow," has been explained
and resolved. What did you think of the events that
followed the Halloween pageant? Did you think that Bob
Ewell was capable of injuring Scout or Jem? How did you
feel about Boo Radley's last-minute intervention?
• What elements of this book did you find especially
memorable, humorous, or inspiring? Are there individual
characters whose beliefs, acts, or motives especially
impressed or surprised you? Did any events in this
book cause you to reconsider your childhood
memories or experiences in a new light?
• What did Jem, Scout, and Dill learn over the
course of the story? Would you consider Atticus
Finch a hero? Why or why not? In what way did
Boo Radley defy stereotyped expectations? How
likely is a repeat of the events of this novel in
our modern social and legislative climate? Has a
similar injustice happened in recent history?
How may average citizens work to prevent
further incidents of judicial injustice?