To kill a mockingbird door Harper Lee

To kill a Mockingbird 

Harper Lee 

Published in 1960

Worth 2 points 

One sentence summary: 

A widowed father takes care of his two children, who lose their innocence by seeing unfair treatment and being faced with a case of rape.

Summary:

This story spans over three years. It is about a family of three, consisting of the youngest, a girl named Jean Louise Finch, nicknamed Scout, her brother Jeremy Atticus Finch, nicknamed Jem and their father Atticus Finch. The mother has already died.

One summer, a boy named Dill stays with his family in the house next to theirs. They befriend the boy and they spend their time telling each other stories and acting them out. At some point they ran out and Dill proposed to instead try and make their mysterious come out.

A few houses ahead, there lived a man named Nathan Radley with his brother Arthur Radley, nicknamed Boo. Boo is very reclusive and rarely ever comes outside. Rumours about his appearance reached the children, making them curious. People knew him by name, but had never actually seen his face.

Dill triggers a series of acts committed by the three kids, trying to lure Boo out.

The father, Atticus, is a lawyer and accepts a case to defend a black man. The man, named Tom Robinson, is accused of raping a woman.

Suddenly, the kids are being treated horribly by the other citizens living in Maycomb, simply because of their father’s case. People and kids say terrible things to them, and the kids are having a hard time because of it, mostly because they try to defend themselves with their fists. Even Jem, the oldest and calmest one, loses his temper at a certain point. He destroys plants on the property of an old, sick woman in their neighbourhood. She asks him if he can read to her every day for a month, which he hates, but his father tells him to do it. When she dies, his father tells the kids this woman taught them an important lesson about courage; ‘I wanted you to see what 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 getting licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.’ He’s basically telling them that when you start something, knowing someone might get the better of you, but you won’t give up.

Atticus proved the black man was innocent, that it was the woman who made a move and that the wounds were from her father, because the man walked in on them.

Even with this perfect defence, Robinson is found guilty. He tries to escape prison, but gets shot by an officer and dies.

Mr. Ewell, the father of the ‘raped’ woman, wants revenge, for he thinks Atticus and other people involved with the case ruined his reputation. He tried breaking into the judge’s house, failing. Next he tried hurting Scout and Jem, but they get saved by Boo. Jem’s arm is broken and Ewell dies.

In the end, the children have grown from those experiences, making them a little more grown-up and less innocent.

Theme in one word

Development

The main characters

The entire book is written from Scout’s perspective. The story has a time-span of three years and begins when she is about six years old. She’s a tomboy and prefers to resolve problems with her fists. People tell her to act like a lady, but she keeps doing her own thing. At a certain point, their aunt comes to live with them to have some feminine influence on Scout.

Scout’s brother, Jem, is also important. He’s around 4 years older than his sister and is calmer than Scout. Near the end of the book, he becomes less confident and is more concerned about things. Even so, he doesn’t hesitate to defend his little sister, with no regards to his own safety.

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Their father, Atticus, has lost his wife. He is a lawyer. He doesn’t mind his children to play and have fun, but he doesn’t neglect them either. He makes them think about their actions and educates them well. He is a rather wise person.

Dill is a young boy and Scout and Jem’s summer friend. He visits his family there, who happen to be the Finch’s neighbours. Dill loves stories and plays and is fascinated by the Radley house, pressuring Scout and Jem to approach it and try to lure the mysterious inhabitant out.

Two minor characters

Boo Radley is a man who lives in the Finch’s neighbourhood. He is very reclusive and no one really knows what he looks like. People blame him for small crimes that have been happening in town. The children are also afraid of him, though he leaves them presents. Near the end of the book he saves the children from Mr. Ewell and carries the hurt Jem home. Finally Scout sees him as a person.

Mrs. Dubose was a sick woman, addicted to morphine. She told the children their father, Atticus, was ‘no better than the niggers and trash he works for’. Even though she was harsh, Atticus still called her a lady and told his children he respected her courage a lot. He told them she taught them an important lesson about courage.

Describe the place in detail

The story is set in the made-up “tired old town” of Maycomb, Alabama. The town isn’t especially lively. It’s rather small and most of the people have a line of ancestors who once lived there.