To Kill a Mockingbird
Cast of Major Characters
The Finch Household
Scout (Jean Louise Finch)
Age: 5
Gender: Female
Scout is a tomboy who loves to read and to play with her brother, Jem, and their nextdoor neighbor, Dill. She is the narrator of the story, although she tells it from a grownup’s perspective.
Jem (Jeremy Atticus Finch)
Age: 10
Gender: Male
Jem is Scout’s brother. He loves to read and to play with Scout and their next-doorneighbor, Dill. He wants to be a lawyer when he grows up.
Atticus Finch
Age: Late forties
Gender: Male
Atticus is the father of Jem and Scout. His wife died when the children were very young,
so he is raising them alone. Atticus is a trial lawyer. He treats his children with respect,
and he is always honest with them.
Aunt Alexandra
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Female
Aunt Alexandra is Atticus’s sister. She believes strongly in the value of family and
tradition. Her views on propriety (and on appropriate female behavior) often cause
trouble for Scout.
Calpurnia
Age: Late middle age
Gender: Female
Calpurnia is paid to be the cook and housekeeper in the Finch household. She keeps an
eye on Jem and Scout, and although she is often harsh with them, she loves them very
much. Calpurnia has her own family with whom she lives; however, she spends her days
with the Finches, and she acts as a mother-figure to Scout and Jem.
In the Neighborhood
Boo Radley (Arthur Radley)
Age: Thirties
Gender: Male
Boo Radley is known by Scout, Jem and Dill as a “malevolent phantom” who lives in the
Radley house. According to legend, he is forced to stay inside by his brother, Mr. Nathan
Radley. As the story progresses, we start to learn more about who Boo really is.
Mr. Radley (Nathan Radley)
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Male
Mr. Radley is the son of the older Mr. Radley, who dies before the story begins. Nobody
knows what Mr. Nathan Radley does for a living. According to neighborhood legend, he
forces his brother, Boo, to stay inside.
Miss Rachel
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Female
Miss Rachel is Dill’s aunt. She lives next door to Jem, Scout, and Atticus.
Miss Stephanie Crawford
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Female
Miss Stephanie Crawford is the “town scold,” according to Scout. In other words, she
loves to gossip, and she tells lots of stories – including stories about Boo Radley – which
may or may not be true.
Miss Maudie Atkinson
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Female
Miss Maudie, a widow, is Jem and Scout’s neighbor. She is a kind woman who spends
most of her time in her garden. She is always honest with the children, and she’s not
afraid to speak her mind on important issues.
Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose
Age: Very old
Gender: Female
Mrs. Dubose is a mean, racist woman who lives a few houses down the street from the
Finches. Despite her bad temper, however, Atticus believes she is a very courageous
woman due to her determined fight against her addiction to morphine.
At School
Miss Caroline
Age: 21 (estimated)
Gender: Female
Miss Caroline is Scout’s teacher. She is young and inexperienced, and she doesn’t yet
understand the ways of Maycomb.
Walter Cunningham
Age: 8 (estimated)
Gender: Male
Walter is a student in Scout’s first-grade class. He is one of the Cunninghams, a very
poor but very proud family. His family can’t afford to give him a lunch to bring to school,
and Scout gets in trouble with the teacher when she attempts to explain this.
Burris Ewell
Age: 8 or 9
Gender: Male
Burris Ewell is “one of the Ewells,” as Scout says. He arrives to the first day of school
covered in dirt and lice, and he leaves halfway through the day after making Miss
Caroline cry. The rest of the year, he stays at home with his large family and his
alcoholic father.
The Trial
Tom Robinson
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Tom is a kind, generous man who works hard for his employer, Link Deas, in order to
support his wife and child. He is falsely accused of rape by Mayella Ewell.
Bob Ewell
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Male
Bob Ewell is an abusive father who is poor because he refuses to work and buys alcohol
with his government relief checks. His daughter, Mayella, falsely accuses Tom Robinson
of raping her, and Bob persecutes him.
Mayella Ewell
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Mayella is a young woman who lives with her abusive, alcoholic father and several
siblings. She falsely accuses Tom Robinson of rape.
Link Deas
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Male
Link Deas is Tom Robinson’s employer. He believes firmly in Tom’s innocence, and he
testifies in Tom’s trial.
Heck Tate
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Male
Heck Tate is Maycomb’s sheriff. He is an important witness at Tom’s trial.
Judge Taylor
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Male
Judge Taylor is the judge at Tom’s trial. He tries his hardest to be a fair judge.
Mr. Underwood
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Male
Mr. Underwood publishes Maycomb’s newspaper. He believes in Atticus and in Tom’s
innocence.
Mr. Dolphus Raymond
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Male
Mr. Dolphus Raymond is known as the town drunk. The people ostracize him (that is,
they keep their distance from him) because he lives with a black woman and their
mulatto children. When Jem and Scout meet him, they learn he is not quite what he
seems.
Mr. Gilmer
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Male
Mr. Gilmer is the prosecuting attorney at Tom’s trial. He argues for Tom’s guilt as hard
as he can because it is his job and duty to do so. He and Atticus are friends.
Mr. Walter Cunningham
Age: Middle-aged
Gender: Male
Mr. Walter Cunningham is a very poor farmer whose son goes to school with Scout. Mr.
Cunningham gets mixed up with a mob who wants to lynch Tom Robinson.