Book Report To Kill a Mockingbird
By Eva Sijtsma
Business data
Title: To kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Year of publication: 1960
Point of view/perspective
‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is written from the first person. You are reading everything through the eyes of the main character.
Quote one: ‘Our mother died when I was two, so I never felt her absence. She was a Graham from Montgomery; Atticus met her when he was first elected to the state legislature. He was middle-aged then, she was fifteen years his junior. Jem was the product of their first year of marriage; four years later I was born, and two years later our mother died from a sudden heart attack.’ [1]
Genre
Southern Gothic, the book includes deeply flawed, disturbing or eccentric characters. Boo Radley is a disturbing character.
Quote: ‘According to neighbourhood legend, when the younger Radley boy was in his teens he became acquainted with some of the Cunninghams from Old Sarum, an enormous and confusing tribe domiciled in the northern part of the county, and they formed the nearest thing to a gang ever seen in Maycomb.’[2]
To kill a mockingbird is also a Bildungsroman in other words a Coming-of-age novel. The story focuses on the psychological and moral growth of Jean Louise Finch.
Quote: ‘He guided me to the bed and sat me down. He lifted my legs and put me under the cover. “An’ they chased hem ‘n’ never could catch him’ cause they didn’t know what he looked like, an’ Atticus, when they finally saw him, why he hadn’t done any of those things…. Atticus, he was real nice…..”’ [3]
In this quote, you can see that Scout learned a really important lesson, do not judge a book by its cover. Everyone is scared of Boo Radley, but when he made his entrance he seemed to be a really nice person.
When and where
The story takes place in 1933. The Civil War of 1860 is still close by, but the civil rights movement is already a little speck on the horizon. Maycomb is going nowhere fast; most people do not know what is happening elsewhere and they do not care.
Quote: ‘A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. 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. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.’[4]
The story is set in Maycomb, Alabama.
Quote: ‘When my father was admitted to the bar, he returned to Maycomb and began his practice. Maycomb, some twenty miles east of Finch’s landing, was the county seat of Maycomb County. Atticus’s office in the courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, a spittoon, a checkerboard and an unsullied Code of Alabama.’ [5]
Title explanation
The word ‘Mockingbird’ stands for innocence. By replacing ‘Mockingbird’ for ‘innocence’ would make ‘To Kill Innocence’. That’s what the book is about. In the beginning/middle of the book, a black man (Tom Robinson) is convicted for raping a white woman, but the man is innocent. Later, he gets killed while trying to escape prison.
Alternative title: Defending the innocent
Main characters
Jean Louise Finch (known as Scout)
- Smart
- Alert
- Observer
- Quickly starts a fight
- Big mouth
- Boyish
- Tomboy
- Sees the good in people
- Strong relationship with her brother
- Not scared easily
Quote one: ‘We stared at him until he spoke: “Hey.” “Hey yourself,” said Jem pleasantly. “I’m Charles Baker Harris,” He said. “I can read.” “So what?” I said. “I just thought you’d like to know I can read. You got anything needs readin’ I can do it….” “How old are you,” asked Jem, “four-and-a-half?” “Goin’ on seven.” “Shoot no wonder, then,” said Jem, jerking his thumb at me. “Scout yonder’s been readin’ ever since she was born, and she ain’t even started to school yet. You look right punny for goin’ on seven.” ’[6]
Quote two: ‘Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop. “You’re bigger’n he is,” he said. “He’s as old as you, nearly,” I said. “He made me start off on the wrong foot.”’[7]
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