To Kill a Mockingbird – Discussion Questions
Chapter 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Discuss the following:
The narration and narrator of the novel
The Finch family background
The town of Maycomb
Scout, her family, their cook
Charles Baker Harris
The Radley Place
The Radley family
Boo Radley
The Dare
Chapter 2
1. Share a little about the following characters:
Miss Caroline Fisher
Walter Cunningham
2. Share a little about Scout’s interpretation of the Maycomb educational system.
3. Lee uses a flashback in this chapter. Describe what a flashback is and what
purpose it serves in this chapter.
4. Scout gets into trouble with Miss Caroline three separate times on the first day of
school. What were they?
Chapter 3
1. We meet new characters or become more familiar with some we have already met
in this chapter. Give a brief account of each and our encounters with them in the
story.
Calpurnia
Little Chuck Little
Burris Ewell
Bob Ewell
Atticus
2. Discuss the scene when Walter comes home with Scout and Jem to dinner.
3. What is “southern hospitality” and how is it demonstrated in this chapter?
4. There are several quotes in the novel that are very meaningful and tend to
summarize some themes in the story. Find a couple of quotes in chapter 3 that are
indicative of some themes in the novel and briefly explain each.
5. Discuss Atticus’s handling of his children.
6. Discuss Atticus’s explanation of the law, of school, and of people to Scout on
pages 30-31.
Chapter 4
1. Find an example of personification on page 33.
2. Find a metaphor on page 33.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Find an example of hyperbole on page 33.
Find an example of anaphora on page 34.
Find an example of foreshadowing on page 36.
Superstition is a secondary theme and lends itself as the basis for some of the
humor in the novel. Discuss some of the superstitions that the children have.
7. Seasons and their symbolism are a theme in much of literature. What are the usual
themes for the seasons of the year? How are the seasons defined and described by
Scout? (song)
8. Find a good quote about summer.
9. There are examples of foreshadowing on pages 36 and 38. Find them.
10. We finally get to part of the plot in chapter 4. Discuss the children’s fascination
with the Radley place and Boo Radley himself.
Chapter 5
1. We meet another new character. Describe Miss Maudie.
2. Many authors use flashback to give us needed information regarding the story.
What information about Uncle Jack do we get from the flashback in this chapter?
3. What does it mean for a character to be static or dynamic? Major characters are
usually dynamic. In what ways is Scout already changing and what brings about
those changes?
4. Religion is another major theme in the novel. Maudie presents her view of
religion and its role in people’s lives. Find a couple of good quotes that
summarize her feelings and explain them. Would you say Miss Stephanie
Crawford or Miss Maudie is more “religious” and why?
5. What does Miss Maudie mean when she says, "Sometimes the Bible in the hand
of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of another"?
6. What does Maudie mean when she states, "There are just some kind of men who
are so busy worrying about the next world, they've never learned to live in this
one"?
7. How about the line, "Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public
streets"? What is Maudie saying about Atticus?
8. What, in your belief, defines a good person?
9. Respecting others’ differences is yet another theme addressed in this chapter.
What happens toward the end of the chapter that presents a teaching opportunity
for Atticus to instill this in the kids, and what lesson is he trying to teach them?
Chapter 6
1. Scout relates a story about Mr. Avery, their neighbor. What is it and what contest
ensues between Jem and Dill?
2. Jem and Dill have a plan in this chapter. What are they going to do? What time of
year is it? What reasons do they give as to why they wait until this particular
night?
3. Mr. Radley says he shot at whom? How does this tie in to some of the topics we
shared in class?
4. On page 54, Miss Stephanie is explaining what happened in the Radley yard.
What is the double entendre about her last line "…and the next time he won't aim
high, be it dog, nigger, or - Jem Finch!"?
5. How do the children explain the fact that Jem has no pants? What is significant
about the line, "Matches were dangerous, but cards were fatal"?
6. Why is it that Jem goes back for the pants? What is his real motivation?
7. What does Scout mean when she says on page 56, “It was then, I suppose, that
Jem and I first began to part company”?
Chapter 7
1. What does Jem tell Scout about the night that he went back to get his pants?
2. The knothole has become a source of various items of pleasure for Scout and Jem.
What are some things they have found so far? What is your theory on the things
they have found there?
3. Another quote about the seasons is found on page 59. What is it? How is it
significant to the symbolic references that normally accompany the four seasons?
4. What happens to the knothole? What is the reason Mr. Radley gives for what he
does? How does Jem use Atticus’s own lawyer trick to get an answer?
Chapter 8
1. There are several extraordinary things that happen in Maycomb in this chapter.
What are they? How are they all related?
2. The quote, “It ain’t time to worry yet,” is spoken a couple of times again in this
chapter. Who says it and why?
3. What causes Jem to completely empty his conscience out to Atticus, telling him
everything about the pants, the knothole, the games, everything?
Chapter 9
1. Scout gets into two fights in this chapter. With whom does she fight and for what
reason?
2. Who is Atticus defending and what are his reasons for defending him?
3. Find an idiom on page 75.
4. Another good quote is spoken by Atticus on page 75. See if you can determine
which quote ties in Hamlet’s advice to Polonius that we read at the beginning of
the novel. Write down the quote and explain it.
5. What is ad hominem and how might it relate to Atticus’s reminder to Scout, “This
time we’re not fighting the Yankees, we’re fighting our friends”?
6. We get to meet Uncle Jack for the first time. Briefly describe him. How is he
different from Atticus? What are Scout's feelings about Uncle Jack? Describe
Aunt Alexandra? What is she like? How does Scout feel about her?
7. Describe Francis? How is he very different from Scout and Jem?
8. What is it that Francis says that angers Scout so much?
9. Discipline is addressed at length in this chapter. Both Aunt Alexandra and Uncle
Jack’s forms of discipline are juxtaposed next to the way Atticus handles
discipline. Compare and contrast the various forms of discipline and expectations
that the adults have in this chapter particularly when it concerns Scout and Jem.
10. Uncle Jack makes a couple of mistakes with Scout when it comes to disciplining
her in this chapter. What are they and how might he have handled the situations
differently? Why doesn't Scout want Uncle Jack to tell Atticus why she and
Francis were fighting?
11. Find the allusion on page 88.
12. Briefly explain the conversation between Atticus and Uncle Jack at the end of the
chapter. What is Atticus saying, all the time knowing that Scout is around the
corner listening? What is it that he wants her to hear?
13. Compare Atticus as a parent to Aunt Alexandra and Uncle Jack. Is he a better
parent? Why or why not?
Chapter 10
1. Within a small group, discuss your fathers. At what are they really good? What
things can’t they do so well? What are some things for which you are proud of
them?
2. What was Jem and Scout’s attitude towards Atticus at the beginning of this
chapter? How and why does it change? Which things are important for a father to
be able to do?
3. Chapter 10 also includes the quote about mockingbirds. What is the quote and
who said it? Explain why this idea may be an important theme to the novel.
4. Maudie comes up with another of her explanations to the kids about Atticus at the
end of the chapter. What is it she says about Atticus that helps them understand
why Atticus never told them about one of his hidden talents?
Chapter 11
1. In this chapter we meet another new character, Mrs. Dubose. Describe Mrs.
Dubose as the children see her.
2. Time and seasons are such an important aspect of the novel. How much time has
already passed since the beginning of the novel?
3. Scout relates the story to us, “In later years, I sometimes wondered exactly what
made Jem do it, what made him break the bonds of ‘You just be a gentleman,
son.’ At the time, however, I thought the only explanation for what he did was
that for a few minutes he simply went mad.” Explain the events leading up to this
quote and the disaster that occurred because of them.
4. On page 103, Scout says about Atticus when he came home, “His voice was like
the winter wind.” What did she mean and why?
5. Another famous quote comes from Atticus on page 104 when he talks about how
we conduct ourselves. Write it down and explain why it is so important.
6. What do Jem and Scout have to do every day after school? Why, what is the
purpose?
7. What was the real problem with Mrs. Dubose? What did she want to accomplish
before she died?
8. Atticus gives a great definition of courage in this chapter? What is it and who
does he think represents it? Do you agree or disagree? What is your definition of
courage?
Chapter 12
1. At the beginning of chapter 12, how old are Jem and Scout?
2. Describe the relationship between Jem and Scout in this chapter.
3. How is this summer different from summers past?
4. Describe some things that happen when Scout and Jem visit Calpurnia’s church.
5. What are some things that may be unusual?
6. What is the reaction of the people to Jem and Scout?
7. Describe the sermon.
8. Describe the offering/collection.
9. What is “linin”?
10. How is Calpurnia different when with her own people?
11. Who is waiting for them when they return home?
12. What is Cal’s reasoning for being/speaking differently when she is with her?
Chapter 13
1. Why does Aunt Alexandra come?
2. Describe Aunt Alexandra. How does she fit in at Maycomb? What are her
priorities?
3. Describe the caste system in Maycomb. How is Maycomb like any small town?
4. What information is given to us about the Finch family? Cousin Joshua?
5. What does Aunt Alexandra try to get Atticus to do?
6. Describe the events that unfold when Atticus makes his only real “slip” in the
novel – his discussion with Jem and Scout in the bedroom.
7. What does Scout mean when she says, “I know now what he was trying to do, but
Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work”?
Chapter 14
1. Scout gets a lesson from Atticus about obeying those in authority. What does
Atticus tell Scout about authority and whom does she have to obey?
2. Aunt Alexandra and Atticus get into an argument concerning Calpurnia. What
does Atticus say about Cal?
3. Dill returns to Maycomb. What is it that Jem does that causes Scout to feel like he
has broken the last remaining code of their childhood?
4. What does Dill tell Scout is the real reason he ran off? How does Scout feel about
that? What really is family and what really is love?
5. Scout makes the connection to Boo Radley? What does Dill say is the reason Boo
has never run away?
Chapter 15
1. This is an important chapter in the novel. Scout says, “We had a week of peace
together. After that, little it seemed. A nightmare was upon us.” This quote is a
foreshadowing of some terrible things to come. Before reading the remainder of
the novel, make some conjectures or guesses as to what you think is going to
happen.
2. It is the evening before the trial. Who comes to visit the Finch house and why?
3. Describe the scene down at the courthouse. What is Atticus doing? Who comes
driving up? What do they want? Why are the kids there? What happens during
this scene and how is it resolved? Who else is there watching over Atticus?
4. Find a Bible verse from Isaiah that symbolizes what happens at the courthouse?
Chapter 16
1. What change does Scout see in the way Atticus communicates with Aunt
Alexandra?
2. Why does Atticus say the mob at the jailhouse broke up the night before?
3. We get to meet Mr. Dolphus Raymond. Describe him. What does he do? With
whom does he associate and why? What do we learn about his history? What
happened to him years earlier? What about his children?
4. Describe Judge Taylor, the man who will be presiding over the Tom Robinson
trial. Will he be a good judge do you think? Why or why not?
Chapter 17
1. Who is the first person to take the stand to testify?
2. About what does Atticus spend much of his time asking Sheriff Tate?
3. Where do the Ewells live and what does this say about their social position in
Maycomb County?
4. How does Mr. Ewell react when he first takes the stand, and how does Judge
Taylor react to him?
5. What is Mr. Ewell's version of what happened to his daughter?
6. Why did Atticus ask Bob Ewell to write his name?
Chapter 18
1. What is Mayella's version of what happened?
2. Why did Mayella think that Atticus was mocking her?
3. What was Atticus's strategy in questioning Mayella?
4. What was wrong with Tom Robinson's arm?
5. What question was the key to Tom's defense?
6. How does Tom's being Black change how he is viewed?
Chapter 19
1. What did Mayella do to get the other children out of the house?
2. What did Tom's running away from the Ewell's house suggest? Was there
anything else he could have done?
3. Why did Dill begin to cry?
4. Of what was Tom really guilty?
Chapter 20
1. Why does Dolphus Raymond drink Coca-Cola only to pretend it is liquor?
2. How does Dolphus Raymond explain Dill's crying?
3. Dolphus Raymond told Scout and Dill that what makes children cry is the “simple
hell people give each other.” What did he mean by that remark? Find as many
examples from the novel that you can that would support his comment.
4. How is Atticus's closing statement also an attack of racism?
Chapter 21
1. What did Calpurnia's note say?
2. Why was Jem so certain that Tom Robinson would be acquitted?
3. What does Rev. Sykes say about his experiences in court?
Chapter 22
1. What does Atticus mean when he says, "…it seems that only children weep"?
2. Why do the Blacks from Maycomb bring food to Atticus the day after the trial
and how does Atticus react? What event in our own community might bring a
similar response by our neighbors? In what way might this be a foreshadowing?
3. What did Miss Maudie mean when she said, "There are some men in this world
who are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father's one of them"?
4. Miss Maudie says that Maycomb is at least making some progress when it comes
to discrimination. What examples does she use?
5. How does Jem use a metaphor of a cocoon to describe himself?
6. What does Dill want to be when he grows up? What is mixed up about his
viewpoint and how does he reconcile the contradiction?
7. What happens at the very end of the chapter concerning Bob Ewell? Do you think
this is a foreshadowing or just an empty threat?
Chapter 23
1. How does Atticus take the threat that Bob Ewell makes?
2. If Tom is found guilty on appeal, what will his punishment be and why?
3. Atticus says, "It's all adding up and someday we're going to have to pay the bill
for it." To what is he referring?
4. Atticus tries to explain jurors and juries to Jem. What are some points he makes
about who can sit on juries, who can't, which people don't want to, and why?
5. What do we find out about one of the jury members in Tom's trial?
6. At the end of the chapter, what discussion do Jem and Scout have about people?
What is significant about their view points, keeping their ages in mind? What
conclusion does Jem draw about Boo?
Chapter 24
1. What are some popular opinions among the women's missionary circle
concerning Blacks and others? What kinds of prejudices do you see from the
women in the missionary circle? How is Lee's treatment of the women's
missionary circle a kind of prejudice in and of itself?
2. Irony plays an important role in the novel. What kinds of irony do you see in this
chapter, particularly concerning the women's missionary circle?
3. Hypocrisy is another theme in the novel, and the ladies in the Missionary Circle
address it. What do they say about it? To whom are they referring? What is ironic
about their conversation?
4. What kind of off-hand remark does one of the ladies make about Atticus
defending Tom Robinson and what is the point she is trying to make?
5. Why does Aunt Alexandra thank Miss Maudie "with her eyes"?
6. What is ironic about the ladies of the missionary circle and their beliefs about
helping people, especially in other countries?
7. Atticus comes home early with some news. What has happened?
8. How does Miss Maudie's speech about Atticus help us understand the people of
Maycomb a little better? What does she say about the town?
9. What is the significance of Miss Maudie helping Alexandra and Scout “get
themselves together” to go back out to the living room and serve the ladies?
10. What do you think, if anything, has Scout learned in this chapter?
Chapter 25
1. Harper Lee again makes use of the flashback in this chapter. What event triggers
the flashback, what is the flashback, and why is it important that we get the
information offered to us in this flashback?
2. Mr. Underwood’s editorial compared Tom Robinson’s death to the senseless
slaughter of a songbird. Discuss the significance of his comparison and the title of
the novel. Find other examples of the “Mockingbird” motif in the novel and
discuss their similarities and differences.
3. Upon Tom Robinson’s death, Bob Ewell remarks, “That’s one down and two to
go.” What is the significance of his statement?
Chapter 26
1. How have Scout’s feelings about Boo Radley changed, and what events have
given her new insight into how she and Jem treated him?
2. On page 242 Scout imagines a scenario in which she sees Boo Radley. What is
this scenario like? How might this scenario give us a foreshadowing as to what is
to come in the near future. Speculate on how that might happen.
3. Scout finds out that Atticus knew a lot more than she imagined about their lives.
What incident in particular does Scout find out that Atticus knew all about?
4. Find a simile that is also a kind of foreshadowing on page 243. What tone does
this simile evoke and how might it be a foreshadowing?
5. Irony is another literary device that authors use in their writing. Scout's teacher
Miss Gates has them share a current event in class. What current event does Cecil
Jacobs share with the class? Why is this event germane to one of the themes in the
novel? What is ironic about what Miss Gates tells the class and what Scout
remembers about Miss Gates one day at the trial?
6. Why do you think Jem gets so upset when Scout asks him about what Miss Gates
said at the trial?
Chapter 27
1. Changes in the normal occurrences of life in the novel are often symbolic that
there is going to be trouble. What are some things that happen in this chapter that
might foreshadow trouble coming in the near future? Discuss some of these
changes in the novel and how they seemingly bring about disastrous
consequences. Discuss weather patterns, changes in the Halloween customs, etc.
2. What is the play that the community is presenting for Halloween? What is Scout’s
role? Though we don’t know this yet, Scout’s costume will play a part in the
exciting climax of the novel. What is her costume like? Theorize how this
costume might be important.
3. At the end of the chapter, Scout makes the following remark about Jem taking her
to the Halloween pageant, “Thus began our longest journey together.” What does
she mean by this remark? You will need to consider this from the perspective of
having read to the end of the novel.
Chapter 28
1. Discuss the setting at the beginning of this chapter. What is the tone and how does
the setting factor into that tone?
2. What are some things Jem and Scout remember as they travel to the pageant?
How might these things foreshadow events to come?
3. While nothing major happens at the pageant, Lee spends some time there. What
might be her purpose for including all of the events of the pageant that she does?
4. Discuss the events of Jem and Scout’s journey home from the pageant. What
happens? What are some things that add to the confusion? What role does Scout’s
costume play? Who is all involved?
5. What has happened to Jem? Refer back to the very first line of the novel. How
have we traveled back to the beginning? Who else is hurt and who is dead?
6. Now knowing what happened, why did Scout say at the beginning of this chapter,
"Thus, began our longest journey together"?
Chapter 29
1. Where does this scene take place? Who is all present? Whom do we meet for the
first time in the novel?
2. “His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with my
sudden tears.” Whom is Scout talking about? How does she know who he is?
Chapter 30
1. There is much confusion again as to what happened out there in the dark. Discuss
what each of the following characters believes happened – Atticus, Sheriff Tate,
Scout, you. Discuss what Atticus wants to do and why. Discuss what Sheriff Tate
wants to do and why.
2. Play the role of police detective. What are some key pieces of evidence that reveal
what really happened on the way home from the pageant.
3. What decision is reached by the characters and why? Do you think this decision is
right or moral? Why or why not?
4. How does Scout’s response to everyone’s decision show that she truly
understands the title of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
Chapter 31
1. "Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in
between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and
chain, a pair of good-luck pennies and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
never put back into that tree what we took out of it; we had given him nothing,
and it made me sad." Scout thinks about this after she drops Boo off at his house.
Is she correct in her remorse?
Scout reflects back on all the incidences of the past three years in a kind of stream
of consciousness daydream from the Radley steps. To whom is the pronoun "he"
and "his" referring? What is significant about the fact that Boo had been watching
them all this time?
What significance do the items that Boo leaves for the children have? What
insight do they give us about Boo?
How is the real Boo Radley different from the way you first imagined him,
especially given the descriptions and images we have of him at the beginning of
the novel?
“You never really understand a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around
in them,” is Atticus’s famous saying. Describe that final journey that Scout takes
with her neighbor. How does that journey, that position of standing on her
neighbor’s steps, change everything for Scout? What is symbolic about Scout
standing on the Radley porch looking out over her neighborhood?
How does the story The Gray Ghost that Atticus is reading at the end of the novel
symbolize Boo Radley?
End of book questions
1. Discuss all of the Mockingbird figures in the novel. Which do you think best
represents that true meaning and theme of the novel?
2. Discuss the many different kinds of prejudice found in the novel? Which is most
predominate in Scout's world? Which is most predominate in our world today?
3. Discuss the author's portrayal of the black community and the characters of
Calpurnia and Tom Robinson. Are they realistic or idealized?
4. Discuss Atticus's parenting style. What is his relationship to his children like?
How does he seek to instill conscience in them?
5. What is Atticus's relationship to the rest of Maycomb? What is his role in the
community? Do you think it changes throughout the course of the novel?
6. Harper Lee uses language and grammar that mirrors how the characters actually
speak. Why is this technique helpful in understanding the characters? Would the
story have the same impact if Lee had used proper grammar throughout the
novel?
7. Identify the different plots in the novel. How many are there? What is the main
plot and what are the subplots?
8. Identify what the various main characters in the novel represent.
9. The novel is said to be a bildungsroman - that is a growing up or maturing
experience for one or more of the characters in the novel - a coming of age. For
what characters is the novel a bildungsroman and why?
10. There are many themes in the novel: education, bravery and cowardice, prejudice,
injustice, man's inhumanity to man, compassion, love for neighbor, love for
enemies, and the mockingbird motif. Discuss each of these themes and which you
think is most important in the novel.