To Kill A Mockingbird (study Guide)

He was the father of his son, Jem, and his daughter, Jean Louise (Scout). He worked as a lawyer. He is Scouts father and is one of the most well known people in Maycomb. He is a lawyer and in the first years of practice studied Economics. He also supported and helped get his brother through Medical school. He was born in Maycomb and was related to almost everyone in Maycomb.

Atticus' daughter. She is currently nine (9) years old, and is Jem's sister. In addition, To Kill a Mockingbird is told in her point of view. Also, She has earned the nickname "Scout". She is six years old when the story starts. Her mother died when she was about 2 years old at the time.

He is currently thirteen years old at the time. He is Atticus' son, and Scout's brother. In addition,He likes to play football. Broke his arm- start of story and end of story. His full name is Jeremy and he is four years older than his sister Scout.

This is the town that the Finch's live in up to this point in the story. It is located in the state of Alabama.It is the name of the town (and also the county) where the story takes place

She is a Black cook that works for the Finch's. She is very educated, and she taught Scout how to read and write in cursive. In addition to being a cook, She was also somewhat of a nanny, and Jem and Scout always had to listen to her. all bones, nearsighted squinted and had hands were as wide as a bed. She had been with the family from the time Jem was born.

He is Rachel Haverford's Nephew. Up to this point, he is currently six years old, going on seven. he can read and he currently lives in the state of Mississippi. Furthermore, he has earned the nickname "Dill", and his mother works as a photographer. has no father. plays with them in summertime.

The Radley Place was where the Radley family had lived. The house appears very dark and weird. The family consists of Mr. and Mrs. Radley, and their son, Arthur. Arthur has earned the nickname "Boo". In addition, the Radley's live across from the Finch's house, and they live differently than other neighbors. It was around the corner from Scouts house. It was ars were closed on Sunday. has a big oak tree out front.it is a curio low house with a deep front porch and green shutters and had darkened to the dark gray yard around it. Their shuttesity to the children because the Radleys are so different from other folks they know.

She is a gossipy neighbor who made rumors about the Radley's. is the neighborhood scolder who is ready to talk about anyone and anywhere. She says she knows everything.is a gossipy neighbor who knows everybody's business and everyone's family history.

Arthur Radley was kept in his house (The Radley Place) at all times. After he stabbed his father with scissors, Arthur was not seen again for fifteen years, since he was kept under house-arrest for most of that time. In addition to getting in trouble with the law, Arthur was also punished by his father, Mr. Radley. As a result, Arthur Radley has earned the nickname "Boo", as stated earlier. saves jem in the end. is the Radley son that never comes out. He was once found in the wrong crowd of friends and was sent to industrial school. After he came back he was not allowed outside because his father did not want him making trouble. is a mystery to the children; he never leaves his house

She is Scout's first grade teacher. Miss Fisher was twenty-one years old at the time, and she is from Northern Alabama. Apparently, Miss Caroline Fisher is upset with Scout since she is smarter that Miss. Fisher's class.

Walter is a part of the Cunningham's, a very poor family in Maycomb, Alabama. The Cunningham's eat anything they find, and are not considered "company" by Scout. never took anything they couldn't pay back.

Burris is a child that is also poor. He is rarely clean, and he only shows up for school on the first day. In addition, if Ewell doesn't get what he wants, he will get angry. Furthermore, he owns a pet rat. He is also in Scouts class and has cootie in his hair. He does not know how to spell his own name, because the cootie, Miss Caroline sends him home with a remedy to wash his hair with kerosene. He leaves and tells the teacher he is not coming back.

dill dared jem to touch the radley house because most people are afraid to even knock on the door.

Scouts first "crime" at school was that the teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, said Atticus must have taught Scout before she entered first grade ant thats bad. She was literate.

Calpurnia's fault was she taught Scout how to write in cursive, Scout is annoyed about this because she gets in trouble with Miss. Caroline Fisher. Miss. Caroline told Scout to tell her father to stop teaching her.

Scout rubbed Walters nose in the dirt because Scout got in trouble with Miss. Carolina for explaining Walters way of life. Scout stood up for Walter in class and tried to explain the Cunningham ways to Miss Caroline. For her explanations, Scout got in more trouble with Miss Caroline, so she took out her revenge on Walter.

When Scout says "He aint company, Cal, hes just a Cunningham" she means that since Walter was poor and didn't have as much as the Finch's, Scout did not view the Cunningham's as normal people. Therefore, Scout viewed Walter as poor and not company in her home and that he was not a guest and that Walter was nobody. that Finches were better than Cunninghams, and for that reason she didn't have to treat Walter as company. Calpurnia told Scout that she should treat anyone who came to visit her home as "company" and show him every courtesy to respect anyone who came in the house regardless of who comes to the home they are company. Calpurnia told Scout to eat in the kitchen, and then she smacked Scout in the face.

Miss Caroline's first mistake was to offer Walter Cunningham money; the Cunninghams don't take anything they can't pay back. Her second mistake was trying to tell Burris Ewell to go home and wash out his "cooties." Burris got angry and threatened Miss Caroline Fisher. He was also screaming at her as well. After that, Burris walked out of the school.

Ewells didnt have to go to school because they were members of their own society, and the townspeople of Maycomb let them bypass certain state and government laws. the father did not care if they went or not as long as they worked in the fields. And the whole family broke rules.If the truant officer enforced the laws for the Ewells, Mr. Ewell would probably be jailed. Without their father, wretched as he was, the children would be worse off than if they simply did not go to school. Because the Ewell children's home life was so unusual, the authorities bent the rules for them.

Scout and Jem find two sticks of chewing gum wrapped in tinfoil. and two Indian head pennies

Mrs. Dubose is an old lady who lives down the street. She berates the children as they walk past her house. Everyone agreed she was the meanest old woman who had ever lived. Jem wouldn't go near her house without Atticus with him.

When it was her turn to ride in the tire, he gave her an extra-hard shove. She ended up in the Radleys' front yard.

Jem, Dill and Scout reenacted the few facts and many peculiar stories they had heard about the Radleys. The Boo Radley game was similar to a skit. further into the game, scout quit.

Miss Maudie is another neighbor, about the age of Atticus. She is open-minded and enjoys the children's company. lady influence for scout. loved to plant.

She thinks they have a right to do whatever they want to do as long as they are not bothering anyone else, and she believes they have a right to their privacy. Miss Maudie thinks of the Radley's as very religious people, since Mr. Radley is a foot-washing Baptist.

They want to invite him out to play with them; they think he might enjoy that. Atticus tells the boys to leave Arthur Radley alone, that if he wanted to be outside, he would. Atticus also tells them that the proper way to extend the invitation would be at the Radley front door instead of putting a note on a fishing pole and sticking that through the window. they want Boo to come out so Dill and Jem can ask him a few questions. In return, Dill and Jem would give him ice cream.

Jem, Scout and Dill went to look into the Radley house. When they were discovered, they ran. Jem got caught on the fence, and in an effort to free himself, he took off his pants and left them on the fence. When he went back for them, they were mended and folded, sitting on the fence.

They found a ball of twine, two figures (resembling themselves) carved from soap, and a broken watch, a full pack of gum, a spelling bee trophy.

Mr. Nathan Radley cemented the hole closed. When Jem and Scout asked Mr. Radley why he filled up the knothole, he said the tree was sick. However, Atticus looked at the tree and it looked healthy, according to Atticus.

Cecil Jacobs was a boy at Scout's school who first made her aware that Atticus was defending a black man.

Scout and Francis got into a fight because Francis was fussing with Scout about Atticus's defending a black man. Scout couldn't stand all the things Francis was calling Atticus, so she hit him square in the mouth. She didn't really understand what Francis said, but she knew it wasn't complimentary.

Uncle Jack broke up the fight between Scout and Francis. He automatically took Francis' side. Since Francis was injured, he looked like the wronged party. Scout just gave in to Uncle Jack and said she did what he said she did. Later, she points out to Jack that he didn't even give her a chance to explain, that Atticus always listens to both sides before he decides which person is guilty. Secondly, when Scout asks Uncle Jack a question, he gives her a non-answer. Atticus later explains to Jack that such answers only confuse kids. The truth is always best

Atticus shoots a mad dog. They are shocked because until this day, they think of Atticus as having no real talents or anything to be proud of. He never touched a gun, to their knowledge, and he did not believe in fighting. Thus, they are very surprised to find out about "One-Shot Finch."

He took Scout's birthday baton and, waving it madly, cut the tops off of all of Mrs. Dubose's camellia bushes.

He had to repair the damage as well as he could, and he had to read to Mrs. Dubose each afternoon after school for a month.

He learned that people aren't always what they seem, that one can't understand someone else until one has all the facts, and, most importantly, that there is a different kind of courage than physical courage.

Miss Maudie left fires going (for warmth) and her house burned down. As always, she put her most optimistic foot forward and seemed not to mind too much.

Jem is growing up. He is trying to make sense of things he sees, trying to be like Atticus, and trying to put behind him childish games and youthful pranks. Consequently, he is moody sometimes and occasionally seems to lord his authority over Scout. She resents his new "airs."

Lula was the woman at Calpurnia's church who made Scout and Jem feel unwelcome. Zeebo, Cal's son, makes them feel welcome garbage collector and reads hymns for people to repeat as does Reverend Sykes, the preacher at Calpurnia's church.

Scout learns that Cal leads a double life. She talks and acts like her black friends and neighbors when she is with them, and she talks and acts more like white people when she is with them. Scout thinks this is interesting and asks to visit Cal at her home one day.

Aunt Alexandra was waiting for them. She had come to stay and "help out" while Atticus would be busy with the Robinson trial. She was too be scouts role model

Alexandra knew all the proper social things to say and do, and she knew a great deal of the history of the local families. She joined some clubs and entertained at her home, and generally did fit right into the town's society. However, Alexandra didn't understand or agree with the values by which Atticus was raising his children. Therefore, she did not understand the children's behavior. Because their value systems were different, they were more often than not at odds.

Atticus makes the children obey Alexandra, but he lets them know that their relationship with him will always be the same as it was. He tries to appease Alexandra when he can, but on the major issues, he puts his foot down.

Jem and Scout seem to grow apart, but they don't really. They fuss more often than they had, mostly because Scout resents Jem's telling her what to do. Actually, though, they are still very close and join forces when their pride is at stake.

Dill had everything a boy could want, except his parents didn't spend any time with him. He didn't feel like they needed him.

They wanted to make sure Atticus and Tom Robinson would be all right.

Cunningham's mob wanted to get to Tom Robinson to inflict their own justice upon him. If that meant they had to beat up Atticus, they were willing to do that.

Scout, Jem and Dill arrived on the scene. Scout came forward, and, while making her entrance and looking at the crowd, she noticed Mr. Cunningham. She identified him and began speaking to him on a personal basis, saying she was in his son's class and that he had come to lunch. She also reminded him that Atticus had done some legal work for him. All of these things were said in an innocent conversation to Mr. Cunningham. It made Cunningham (and others, I suspect), realize that they were individuals, neighbors, and that they really didn't want to hurt Atticus or anyone else.

Mr. Dolphus Raymond was a white man who married a black woman and lived with the black community. Jem has heard a story that Mr. Raymond is always drunk. (However, we learn later that this is just an act.)

Tom Robinson supposedly raped Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewell's daughter. Mr. Gilmer is the prosecuting attorney. Judge Taylor will be the judge during Tom's trial.

Bruises on her right side indicate that a left-handed person inflicted the wounds.

Mayella said she asked Tom to come into the yard to break up a chiffarobe. When she went into the house to get him a nickel, he had followed her in and then he grabbed her around the neck and hit her. He "chunked [her] on the floor an' choked [her] 'n took advantage of [her]." Her father came in and was standing over her, and then she fainted.

Mayella asked Tom to come fix the hinges on the door in the house. Mayella had saved enough nickels to send all of the kids out for ice cream so she and Tom would be alone. She asked Tom to climb up on a chair to get a box, and as he stood there, she grabbed him around the legs. When he hopped down off the chair, she jumped on him. She kissed him on the side of the face. Tom wanted out and had to push Mayella away from the door. She was not hurt. He ran away before Mr. Ewell could catch him.

. Tom's left arm had been rendered useless in an accident. He could not have bruised Mayella's right side and he more than probably would not have physically been able to force himself on a strong, violently resisting young woman.

Dill and Scout learn that people aren't always as they appear to be. They learn that Mr. Raymond lives as he does because that's simply what he wants to do. Since people could never accept that, he gives them a "reason to latch onto" so they can accept his behavior. (One might note that Boo Radley does as he pleases, but gives people no reason to latch onto, and people make up their own reasons, no matter how ridiculous.)

He said there was no medical evidence to suggest that Mayella had been raped, that the only evidence was the questionable testimony of two witnesses. He painted a picture of Mayella as a victim of poverty and ignorance, a lonely young woman who tempted and kissed a Negro and then had to get rid of him, the evidence, of her crime against society's unspoken laws. He tried to remind the jury of Thomas Jefferson's words that "all men are created equal," and that their job as a jury was to give a fair trial to the defendant.

The jury found Tom Robinson guilty.

Jem cried because he was shocked at the injustice of the jury, people from his own town, which he had always considered above such prejudice.

The black community had left all kinds of food for Atticus and his family as a gesture of their thanks for his defending Tom Robinson.

Maudie had two little cakes for Scout and Dill, but Jem got a slice from the big cake. This was Maudie's symbolic way of saying she accepted Jem as a young man instead of a boy.

Bob Ewell wanted to fight with Atticus. Atticus just said he was too old to fight, and he walked away. Bob Ewell threatened to get even.

He rationally understands that Ewell is upset, and he allows Mr. Ewell the right to be upset. However, he does not believe that Bob Ewell would actually do any terrible physical harm to anyone.

Alexandra thinks the Cunninghams are trash because they don't have the "background" of the Finches.

The world is starting to look mighty complicated to Jem. The jury decision, all the talk about social class and the problem of what exactly "background" means, and Mr. Raymond's false drinking problem are all weighing on his mind, and he's trying to get things all sorted out with nice, neat definitions. He is learning that things in the real world just aren't easy to sort-out and understand.

As a member of the missionary circle, she is very concerned about the personal welfare of many Africans, but in her own back yard, Mrs. Merriweather is as prejudiced as she can be.

Tom was shot when he tried to escape from prison.

Alexandra is given a more rounded personality in this section. We see clearly for the first time that she loves and is concerned for her brother. We see her take the news of Tom's death with great difficulty, yet she gathers herself together and carries on with her guests. She seems a bit more human and a bit more noble than she has been painted prior to this.

He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children.

She daydreamed that Boo would be sitting in the swing and they would chat as if they had chatted every day for all their lives. She wanted him to be "normal" like everyone else on the street.

n class, Miss Gates said, "That's the difference between America and Germany. We are a democracy and Germany is a dictatorship. . . . We don't believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced." What does this tell us about Miss Gates? Scout heard Miss Gates at the courthouse saying that "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." Miss Gates is either a hypocrite or has not stopped to recognize that she is just as prejudiced as Hitler was, although for a different group of people.

Someone (Bob Ewell, we assume) was breaking into the judge's house when the judge and his dog frightened him away.

Helen Robinson walked the long way around to work to avoid the Ewell house because they "chunked at her" when she used the public road. Mr. Link Deas escorted Helen on the public road and threatened the Ewells. After that she had no trouble.

She was to be a ham. Her ham costume would later save her life.

Scout was embarrassed because she fell asleep, came on stage late during the pageant and ruined Mrs. Merriweather's program.

Someone attacked them. Scout got tangled in her costume, someone knocked out Jem, there was a struggle and then Scout saw someone carrying Jem home.

Arthur (Boo) Radley saved Jem and Scout and he killed Bob Ewell.

Heck figured out that Arthur had killed Bob Ewell, and he saw no sense in dragging the "hero" through a nasty, public ordeal. He thought it would be better to "let the dead bury the dead."

Scout now understands that Arthur Radley is a real person, not a freak. She wants him, in his public appearance, to look "normal" so that Miss Stephanie and (through Miss Stephanie's gossip) the rest of the town will begin to think of him as a real person, too.

All through the book, she (and Jem and Dill) have been, at various times, taking Atticus' advice and putting themselves in someone else's shoes, looking at things from someone else's perspective. Each time they do this, they learn something new. It is appropriate that near the conclusion of the novel, Scout takes the most difficult stance of looking through the world from Arthur Radley's perspective.