To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
Harper Lee
 In 1957 she sent the manuscript of
her novel to a publisher but she
was told that it consisted of a
series of short stories strung
together, and she was urged to
rewrite it.
 For the next two and a half years
she reworked the manuscript and
in 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird was
published.
 The novel was awarded the Pulitzer
Prize in 1961.
 Despite the success of the novel
Lee never published any more
books.
The Great Depression
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In 1931, 238 people were admitted to hospital suffering from
starvation.
International trade slumped from $10bn in 1929 to only $3 billion
in 1932.
5000 banks went bankrupt 1929-1932, including the Bank of
America.
In 1932 a quarter of a million Americans had their homes
repossessed, and a fifth of all farmers lost their farms.
In 1932, 20,000 companies went out of business.
By 1933:
- Industrial production had fallen by 40%
- Prices had fallen 50%
- Wages had fallen by 60%
- Share prices had fallen by 80%
- 5000 more banks went bankrupt.
- 25% of Americans were unemployed.
Alabama
Alabama in the 1930s
 By the early 20th century,
every southern state had
passed laws that created
two separate societies;
one black, the other
white.
 Blacks and whites could
not use the same waiting
rooms and blacks were
barred from many
hospitals.
Slavery and Racism
In the early 20th Century tens of thousands of convicts,
mostly black men, were caught up in a racist justice system.
 Nearly two decades after
slavery was abolished in
America, men were dying
as slaves in a prison work
scheme that benefited
southern states and
businesses.
Until nearly 1930, Alabama
was providing convicts to
businesses, who would work
in the fields and mines.
Civil Rights Movement
 To Kill a Mockingbird was written in 1960 at the beginning of the
black Civil Rights Movement.
Blacks, who had fought for
their country during the Second
World War, were starting to
demand more civil rights, such
as their right to vote. The black
Civil Rights Movement took on
new strength and Alabama was
an important centre in this
movement.
Although it was almost 100 years
since slavery was abolished in
America black people were still
being treated as second class
citizens.
Themes
 Prejudice
 Racism
 Loneliness
 Courage
 Innocence
 Growing Up
 Coexistence of Good and Evil
 Gaining Understanding
 Importance of Moral
Education
Characters – The Family Tree
Atticus Finch –
Father, lawyer, widower
“Jem” Finch
Aunt Alexandra - Atticus’s sister,
a strong-willed woman with a fierce
devotion to her family
Jean Louise “Scout” Finch The narrator of the story
“Dill” Harris - Jem and
Scout’s summer neighbour
Arthur “Boo” Radley
A recluse who never sets
foot outside his house, Boo
dominates the imaginations
of Jem, Scout, and Dill
and friend
Calpurnia - The
Finches’ black cook
Tom Robinson - The black
field hand accused of rape
Bob Ewell - A drunken,
mostly unemployed
member of Maycomb’s
poorest family
Mayella Ewell - Bob
Ewell’s abused, lonely,
unhappy daughter
Heck Tate - The sheriff
of Maycomb and a major
witness at Tom
Robinson’s trial
Miss Maudie Atkinson The Finches’ neighbour, a
sharp-tongued widow, and
an old friend of the family
Summary – Part 1
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Told through the eyes of "Scout Finch," a feisty six-year-old tomboy, TO
KILL A MOCKINGBIRD carries us on a journey through the fires of
prejudice and injustice in 1932 Alabama.
Scout Finch lives with her brother Jem and their father Atticus in the small
town of Maycomb in Alabama.
Atticus Finch is a lawyer in the town and is well off. He is an upstanding
citizen and an honourable man.
Presenting her tale first as a series of memories from her childhood, Scout
draws us in with stories of daring neighbourhood exploits by her, her
brother "Jem," and their friend "Dill."
Boo Radley becomes a fascination for the children as they are left
presents by the strange man in a tree in his garden.
Peopled with a cast of eccentrics, Maycomb ("a tired and sleepy town")
finds itself the venue of the trial of Tom Robinson, a young black man
falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell.
Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem's widowed father and a deeply principled
man, is appointed to defend Tom for whom a guilty verdict from an allwhite jury is a foregone conclusion.
Maycomb is largely racist and because of Atticus’ role Jem and Scout both
suffer abuse from other children.
In the summer Aunt Alexandra (Atticus’ sister) comes to live with Jem and
Scout. Dill is supposedly living with his ‘new father’ in a different town
runs away to join Scout and Jem in Maycomb.
Summary- Part 2
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The Tom Robinson trial begins.
At the trial Jem and Scout sit on the coloured balcony with the town’s black
citizens. Atticus provides very clear evidence that Mayella and her father Bob are
in fact lying. Mayella to cover her shame says Tom raped her.
Despite the impressive evidence which Atticus provides proving Tom’s innocence
the all white jury convict Tom.
Tom tries to escape from prison but is shot. Jem’s faith in the justice system is
shaken and he becomes despondent and doubtful.
Bob Ewell believes he has been made a fool of and vows to seek his revenge on
Atticus and the judge.
Bob Ewell abuses Tom’s widow and attempts to break into the judge’s house.
Eventually Bob attacks Jem and Scout on their way home from a Halloween party.
Boo Radley interferes and saves the children. Boo attacks Ewell in his attempt to
save the children and stabs him during the struggle. Bob Ewell is killed.
Boo carries a wounded Jem back into the house where the sheriff in a plea to save
Boo insists that Bob Ewell tripped over the tree and caused his own injury by
falling on his knife.
Boo once more disappears to live his solitary life.
Later on Scout feels as though she finally understands Boo. He has become
human to her no longer a shadow of danger or something to be feared.
Scout finally embraces her father’s attitude to show sympathy and understanding
to all.
Scout Finch
Scout is definitely her father’s
daughter, he has nurtured her
mind conscience and identity.
Whilst girls Scout’s age are
wearing dresses and playing
with dolls Scout wears overalls,
climbs trees with Jem and
fights.
Thanks to Atticus’s
wise attitude Scout
learns that she must
face every situation
with sympathy and
understanding.
Scout’s grows into a
person capable of
understanding and
conscience but she is
not cynical or jaded.
Scout is an unusual young
lady. She learns to read
before she even starts
school, she fights boys
without fear and an ever
confident attitude.
Scout is not
always tactful,
she tells her
teacher that
one student is
too poor to pay
for lunch.
She is a bit of a tom boy in
a very prim and proper
town where ladies are
expected to behave like
ladies.
Scout finds it hard to
believe that her teacher
openly criticises Hitler’s
treatment of the Jews
whilst being racist herself
towards the black
community.
Atticus Finch
A wise and good parent.
Atticus knows that
people are different
good and bad, he
shows admiration of the
good and understanding
to the bad.
Atticus is a man of intelligence, wisdom,
calm and a model citizen in the town. He
is respected by everyone. He functions
in this novel as a moral backbone
holding the Maycomb society together.
Atticus practises the
sympathy and
understanding and he
never holds anything
against the people of
Maycomb, despite their
racist attitudes.
Atticus’s actions make him the object
of abuse and scorn in Maycomb.
However he is clearly valued and after
the trial his status in the town is
restored.
Atticus is a well respected
man however neither Jem
nor Scout idolise him at the
beginning of the novel. Both
children are embarrassed
that he is older than the
other fathers and that he
does not hunt or fish.
Atticus is consistent throughout the
novel. He stands for justice. He does
not evolve during the novel but retains
his qualities and maintains the role as
moral guide and voice of conscience
throughout the novel.
Jem Finch
He feels vulnerable
and confused. He
tries to uphold the
commitment to
justice that Atticus
taught he and this
remains throughout
the novel.
Jem is older than Scout and finds his life
shattered during his experience with the Tom
Robinson trial. This experience comes as Jem
is entering puberty and leaves him feeling
confused and disillusioned.
Jem becomes
downhearted and
depressed when he
discovers that
justice does not
prevail.
Towards the end of the novel Jem
begins to show that he has learnt a
positive lesson from the trial.
Boo Radley
•Boo is a loner who never sets foot outside the house.
He dominates the imagination of Scout, Jem and Dill
and appears to be an evil and beast of a man.
•He is a powerful symbol of goodness who is
surrounded by evil.
•He shows his goodness when he leaves presents for
Jem and Scout and then saves them from the evil Bob
Ewell.
•Boo was damaged by his cruel father.
•He is one of the novel’s ‘Mockingbirds’, a good person
injured by the evil of mankind.
Dill
•He is Scout and Jem’s friend and neighbour, he is a
confident boy with an active imagination.
•He becomes obsessed with Boo.
•He represents innocence and childhood in the novel.
Bob Ewell and Mayella Ewell
•Father and daughter of Maycomb’s poorest family.
•Bob knows that Tom is innocent and still accuses him of rape.
•Bob represents the dark side of the south; ignorance, poverty
and racial prejudice.
•Mayella is an abused, lonely, unhappy daughter.
•Although we can pity Mayella because of her father, we cannot
pardon her for her shameful condemnation of Tom Robinson.
Tom Robinson
•A black man who works in the fields. He is accused of
raping Mayella Ewell
•Tom is another one of the novel’s ‘mockingbirds’ a very
important symbol of an innocent man who is destroyed by an
evil racist.
Miss Maudie Atkinson
•A neighbour of Atticus. She is a sharp tongued widow and
a friend of the family.
•She has a passion for justice along with Atticus and is a
friend to Scout and Jem
Themes
Good and Evil
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The main theme in the novel is the exploration of moral nature of humans. It
is a exploration of whether people are essentially good or essentially evil.
The novel explores this idea through using Scout and Jem movement from
childhood innocence to mature understanding adults.
As a result of this transition from innocence to experience, one of the
important themes involves threat, hatred, prejudice, racism and ignorance.
These themes show how innocent people can be betrayed by ignorance.
Even Jem is victimized to an extent by his discovery of the evil of racism
during and after the trial.
Scout is able to sustain her faith in human nature.
The moral voice in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is embodied by Atticus Finch is
unique in the novel because he understands people without loosing faith
when evil occurs.
Atticus accepts people for what they are good and bad qualities included.
Atticus accepts these points and tries to see life through other people’s eyes.
Atticus can admire Mrs Dubose’ s courage whilst in deplores her racism.
Scout learns from her father and at last sees Boo Radley in this way and
accept him for good and bad points
Themes
Moral Importance
• The education of children forms a large part of the novel. In a
sense the novel plots the development of Scout and Jem from
childhood innocence to maturity.
• The theme of education and moral importance is best shown
between Atticus and Scout, as Atticus devotes himself to instilling
a social conscience.
• The scenes at school provide a direct comparison to Atticus’s
effective education of his children, Scout is frequently confronted
with teachers who are frustrated by her attitude and fail to meet
her needs.
• The novel’s most important message is that the lessons of
sympathy and understanding are the most vital.
• Atticus’s ability to put himself in his children’s shoes and see their
perspective makes him an understanding and valuable teacher.
Themes
Social Inequality
The social inequality in the novel is explored using the town of Maycomb
and its complicated hierarchy.
The Finch family are well off within the town largely due to Atticus’s
employment. As a result most of the town’s people are beneath them.
The country farmers the Cunningham's lie below the town’s people due to
their ignorance whilst the Ewells are below the Cunningham's because of
their immoral behaviour.
The black community in Maycomb lie even further below the Ewells in spite
of their admirable qualities and good will.
It is this social hierarchy which allows the innocent Tom Robinson to be
punished by the evil Bob Ewell.
These social divisions make up a large part of the adult world which Jem
and Scout see, and these divisions appear to be irrational and
destructive.
Social division ultimately epitomises the prejudice and ignorance of human
nature.
Themes
Small Town life
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Lee focuses closely on the old fashioned small town values of Maycomb.
In order to contrast with the themes of ignorance and prejudice and the suspense and
tension of the novel. Lee emphasises the slow paced and good natured ambiance of
small town Maycomb.
Lee juxtaposes small town values with images of evil, to show the forces of good and evil
within the town. For example: The terror of the fire is contrasted with people of
Maycomb coming together to save Miss Maudie’s valued possessions.
Mockingbirds
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The title carries great symbolic weight in the novel, as it represents good being destroyed
by evil.
The mockingbird represents the idea of good- thus to kill a mockingbird is to destroy
innocence.
Throughout the novel Jem, Tom, Dill and Boo are all symbolised as mockingbirds – ie
innocents who have been destroyed through contact with evil.
This connection is explicit after Tom’s death Mr. Underwood compares his death to “the
senseless slaughter of songbirds,”
Whilst Miss Maudie epitomises the concept of the novel when she declares
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but . . . sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin
to kill a mockingbird.”
The fact that Jem and Scout’s last name is Finch (a small bird) suggests that they are
vulnerable and innocent within this racist world.
Summary
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Scout is the main female narrator – 5 years old at the start of the novel.
The novel focuses on her movement from innocent child to understanding adult.
The novel focuses on prejudice, racism, social class and the battle between good
and evil.
The novel is set in Maycomb, Alabama during 1930s America – the time of the
great depression.
Scout has an older brother Jem, her father is Atticus, they make up the Finch
family.
Scout and Jem are friends with Dill – during their friendship they become obsessed
with Boo Radley and he is portrayed as an evil character.
Scout and Jem are saved by Boo Radley at the end of the novel and they change
their opinion of him.
The main event of the novel is the trial of Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is a black
man accused of rape by Mayella Ewell. Atticus defends Tom and proves him
innocent, however the all white jury find him guilty.
The trial of Tom has a huge impact on Jem and Scout. Jem becomes despondent
and depressed that justice fails, whilst Scout has to learn to accept people for who
they are.
The relationship Atticus has with his children is pivotal in the novel as he teaches
them the most valuable lesson of all: To truly understand someone else's point of
view, accept people for who they are and accept their good and bad points.