To Kill a
Mockingbird
By Harper Lee
Setting
 Maycomb, Alabama
(fictional city)
 1933-1935
 Although slavery has
long been abolished,
the Southerners in
Maycomb continue to
believe in white
supremacy.
Themes
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Racial Prejudice
Social Snobbery
Morality
Tolerance
Patience
Equality
The Need for Compassion
The Need for Conscience
Symbolism
 The Mockingbird: Symbolizes
Everything That is Good and Harmless
in This World
 The mockingbird only sings to please others
and therefore it is considered a sin to shoot a
mockingbird. They are considered harmless
creatures who give joy with their song.
 The mockingbird image or symbol appears
four times in the novel.
 Two characters in the novel symbolize the
mockingbird: Tom Robinson & Boo Radley.
Jean Louis Finch – “Scout”
 The story’s narrator
 Although now an
adult, Scout looks
back at her childhood
and tells of the
momentous events
and influential people
of those years.
 Scout is six when the
story begins.
 She is naturally
curious about life.
Scout’s Character Traits
 Tomboy
 Impulsive
 Emotional
 Warm & Friendly
 Sensitive
 Adorable
 Gains in Maturity throughout the Novel
Atticus Finch
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Father of Scout and Jem
A widower
An attorney by profession
Highly respected
Good citizen
Instills good values and morals in
his children.
His children call him “Atticus”
Honest
Typical southern gentleman
Brave
Courteous
Soft-spoken
Jem Finch
Scout’s older brother
Looks up to his father Atticus
Usually looks out for Scout
Typical older brother at times
Smart
Compassionate
Matures as the story
progresses
Calpurnia
 The Finch’s black
housekeeper
 Has watched the children
since their mother’s death
 Has been a positive
influence on the children.
Arthur “Boo” Radley
 An enigma
 An adult man, whose father has “sentenced”
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him to a lifetime confinement to their house
because of some mischief he got into when he
was a teenager.
Has a reputation of being a lunatic
Basically a harmless, well-meaning person
Sometimes childlike in behavior
Starving for love and affection
Saves Jem and Scout from certain danger
Tom Robinson
 A young, harmless,
innocent, hardworking
black man
 Has a crippled left hand
 Married with three
children. Works on a
farm belonging to Mr.
Link Deas, a white man
 Will be falsely accused
of raping a white girl,
Mayella Ewell
Dill
 A close friend of Jem
and Scout
 Usually lives in
Maycomb only during
the summer (stays
with a relative)
 Tells “big stories”
 Has been deprived of
love and affection
Two Poor White Families:
The Cunninghams
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Poor white family
Hard-working
Honest
Proud
Survive on very little
Always pay back their
debts – even if it is
with hickory nuts,
turnips, or holly.
The Ewells
Includes Bob Ewell the
father of Mayella Ewell (19)
Poor white trash
Dirty
Lazy
Good-for-nothing
Never done a day’s work
Foul-mouthed
Dishonest
Immoral
Ewells
 Mayella
 19 years old
 white, poor
 accuses Tom of rape
 oldest of a large family
 motherless
 uneducated
 Bob Ewell
 father of 8 children
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Heck Tate
 sheriff of Maycomb
 admires Atticus as being a better shot with
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a gun
was the first to arrive at the Ewells
did not call for a doctor
good citizen of Maycomb
respectable to most everyone
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The Black Community
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Simple
Honest
Clean
Hard-working
God fearing
Proud
Would never take
anything without paying it
back
 Respectful
 Had stronger character
than most of the whites
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Oppressed
Uneducated
Discriminated against
Talked about badly
Deserve better than what
is dished out to them by
society
The Caste System
 The four levels of people from the novel - or
how Jem says, “the people of Maycomb
society understood their place.”
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Finchs, towns people, white, educated
County folk, farmers, white, landowners
Poor white folk
Black community
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Language
 Sometimes the language of Scout will be that of her as a
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child; other times, she will be speaking in the voice of an
adult
Atticus uses formal speech
Calpurnia uses “white language” in the Finch house and
switches to “black jargon” when amidst blacks
The Ewells use foul words and obscenities
Jem, Scout, and Dill will use slang words, typical of their
age
Tom Robinson uses language typical of the southern
black such as “suh” for “sir” and “chillun” for “children”
Various derogatory terms for blacks will be used such as
“nigger,” “darky,” “Negroes,” and “colored folk” – Lee uses
such language to keep her novel naturally in sync with
common language of the times
Tone
 Somber
 Serious
 Humorous (at times)
Review for chapters 1-17
 TRUE or FALSE
 Miss Alexandra’s house burned down during the winter.
 Mrs. Dubose successfully withdrew from alcohol before
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she died.
Mr. Heck Tate shot Tim Johnson
Dill’s parents wanted Aunt Rachel to adopt him.
Scout beat up Francis for calling her day a “nigger-lover.”
Walter Cunningham did not have lunch money on the
first day of school.
Miss Caroline slapped Scout’s hands with a ruler.
Nathan Radley left gifts in the tree for Jem and Scout.
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Jem was told to kill all the mockingbird he wanted.
THE TRIAL
 Chapter 17 - Day 1 - Courtroom
Players
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Mr. Gilmer - Prosecuting attorney (Ewells)
Atticus - Defending attorney (Tom)
Judge Taylor
Heck Tate - sheriff - first to take the stand
Mayella Ewell - 19 year old, white female
Black community - sitting in balcony
Jury - white farmers (Cunninghams?)
Bert - the court reporter
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Seated behind the court players where white folk 21from
around the country
Testimony of Heck Tate and Bob Ewell
 Heck
 Called Nov. 21
 found Mayella lying on the floor in the middle of the front
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room, pretty well beat up.
washed her face and said she was alright
asked who beat her and she said Tom Robinson
asked her if he took advantage of her and she said yes
he did, so he arrested Tom and took him in.
Did not call a doctor
She was beaten around the head, bruises on her arms,
and a black eye on her right eye.
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She had finger marks on her throat.
Testimony of Bob Ewell
 Bob Ewell
 father of Mayella
 says he came home from the woods when he heard
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Mayella scream
when he got up to the window he say Tom having sexual
intercourse with Mayella
He ran in the room, but Tom ran out ahead of him.
Then he ran for Heck Tate
Did not run for a doctor because it would have cost $5
agreed her right eye was bunged up
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Wrote his name with his left hand
Mayella’s Testimony - Chapter 18
 Mayella
 saw Tom walk by her house, asked him to bust up a chiffarobe,
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she’s pay him a nickel
As she went in the house for the nickel, she said Tom run
behind her, got her around the neck, and hit her.
Said he “chunked me on the floor an’ choked me’n took
advantage of me.”
Then her Papa came in hollering’
Then Heck Tate was there
Didn’t like Atticus calling her ma’am or Miss Mayella
three years of school
has no friends her age
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says her dad has never beat her
Chapter 19 - Tom’s Testimony
 Reader’s Theater - Roles:
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Atticus
Judge Taylor
Mr. Gilmer
Tom Robinson
Jem, Scout, Dill, Rev. Sykes
Mayella Ewell
Mr. Ewell
Link Deas
Mr. Dolphus Raymond
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Ch. 20-Analyze Atticus’ Closing Remarks
RemaRemarks
 Paragraph 1- Who is Atticus speaking to? Why does he want to
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influence them? What adjectives describe Atticus as a speak?
Why does he fit these adjectives?
Paragraph 2 - Summarize each paragraph of his speech.
Identify the subject or main topic of each paragraph. How
does he reason that his topic sentence is true?
Paragraph 3 - Pick out specific words and phrases and explain
how Atticus uses them to make people feel an emotion such as
understanding, loyalty, justice, kindness, or honesty.
Paragraph 4 - Pick out words or phrases Atticus uses to make
people use logical thinking or common sense. Explain these
examples.
Paragraph 5 - Pick out specific words Atticus uses which make
his speech overall effective. Explain why this language
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worked.
The Verdict - Chapter 21
 After two hours the jury was polled.
 “guilty
 “I looked around. They were all standing.
All around us and in the balcony on the
opposite wall the Negroes were getting to
their feet. Reverend Syke’s voice was a
distant as Judge Taylor’s: ‘Miss Jean
Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’.’
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Harper Lee
 She was born in 1926 in Monroeville,
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Alabama (the fictional “Maycomb,
Alabama”)
Her father “Amasa” was a lawyer
whom she deeply admired
Her mother’s maiden name was
“Finch”
Her own childhood mirrors that of the
character “Scout”
In 1960 she published her only novel
– “To Kill a Mockingbird”
It received the Pulitzer Prize for
Literature in 1961
Since 1960, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
has never been out of print
At age 81, she is alive and resides in
New York
She rarely makes public appearances
or gives interviews
Life During the 1930s
 Race Relations
 Nine black teenagers are
falsely charged with raping two
white women in Scottsboro,
Alabama; eight are convicted
and sentenced to death
 The U.S. Supreme Court
reverses their convictions
because their constitutional
rights had been violated
 The teens are tried for a
second time, and are again
found guilty
 The Supreme Court reverses
the convictions again
 Eventually, four of the
defendants are freed; the other
five serve prison terms
 The last Scottsboro defendant
was paroled in 1950
 It was virtually impossible for a
black to receive a fair trial
Life During the 1930s
 The Great Depression sweeps
the nation – Many families do not
even have money for basic needs
such as food, clothing, and
shelter.
 The per capita income for
families in Alabama (and
Oklahoma) is $125 - $250 a year
 Many southern blacks pick cotton
for a living
 Franklin D. Roosevelt is
President
Life During the 1930s
 Hitler is Chancellor of Germany
 He believes that Jews, African Americans,
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and other races are inferior to AngloSaxons.
In 1936, Jesse Owens, a black American
athlete, traveled to Germany to
participate in the Summer Olympics.
Owens’ biggest competitor in the long
jump was a German named Luz Long.
Despite racial tensions, the two became
good friends.
Jesse Owens won the gold medal and
Long won the silver.
Long was later killed during World War II,
and Jesse Owens traveled back to
Germany to pay his respects when the
war was over.
Legal Segregation in Alabama,
1923-1940
 No white female nurses in
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hospitals that treat black men
Separate passenger cars for
whites and blacks
Separate waiting rooms for
whites and blacks
Separation of white and black
convicts
Separate schools
No interracial marriages
Segregated water fountains
Segregated theatres
Morphine: A Southern Lady’s Drug
 1930s Typical
Morphine Addict:
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White female
Middle-aged or older
Widowed
Homebound
Lives in the south
Property owner
Began using morphine
for medical reasons
(pain relief)
 In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the Finch
children will become acquainted
with a morphine addict named Mrs.
Dubose. Although only a fictitious
character, she personifies the
American morphine addict of the
late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries.
Review - To Kill a Mockingbird Test
1. Character information - 3 details for Atticus, Jem, Scout,
Calpurnia, Heck Tate, Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell, and Boo Radley
2. Caste system’s four levels
3. True or false questions for part I of book
4. Trial questions - Heck Tate, Mayella, Bob, and Tom’s
testimony points. Key points surrounding the trial.
5. Story elements: setting, themes, POV, conflicts, rising action,
falling action, climax, resolution.
6. Short answer response - 1)Trace Bob and Scout’s relationship
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and 2) Jem’s changes
 Jem’s psychological profile:
 Influenced by Atticus, his lessons, his job, his role
model as a father, his family history, community
respect from all people
 Jem changes the way he sees his father
1. At first he thought his father old and boring
2. After the rabid dog, he thought his dad had secrets.
He found out his dad was admired by others. Jem felt
interested in his father now.
3. The trial made Jem realize his father’s courage.
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 Jem’s Psychological Profile
 Influenced by Calpurnia - that you can make
something of yourself even if society doesn’t
want you to
 Jem changes his view of black people.
1. First he understands the caste system as a
given.
2. After his visit to Cal’s church, Jem sees that
this system forces people to behave in strange
ways.
3.
Eventually Jem understands how difficult it is
to change the caste system.
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 Jem’s Psychological Profile
 Influenced by Community people that it is
okay to be prejudice, set in your ways, and
judgmental.
 Jem changes his view of his town and their
traditions.
1. Jem was proud of his town.
2. Jem soon learned that people could be
difficult to deal with.
3. After the trial, Jem grew disappointed in
his town.
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 Jem’s Psychological Profile
 Influenced by Scout and Dill and Atticus to see
things from other people’s point of view, to
trust, and find love
 Jem was able to change his feelings about
Boo and other people.
1. At first Jem thought Boo was a phantom
only to find out he was a innocent victim.
2. Jem learned to see Mrs. Dubose differently
3. Jem began to see Mr. Raymond Dolphus
as his own person.
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 Jem’s Psychological Profile
 Influenced by Miss Maudie that you don’t have
to go along with what everyone else does.
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