To Kill a Mockingbird
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| Author | Harper Lee |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical novel, Social Issues |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | 1960 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 336 (Hardcover 40th Anniversary edition) |
| ISBN | 0060194995 (Hardcover 40th Anniversary edition) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1960 novel by Harper Lee, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961. Lee's only novel, a coming-of-age story, is told from the point of view of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, the young daughter of Atticus Finch, a lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama, a fictional small town in the Deep South of the United States. She is accompanied by her brother Jem and their mutual friend Dill.
Plot summary
Template:Spoiler Scout Finch lives with her brother, Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus, in the sleepy Alabama county of Maycomb. Maycomb is suffering through the Great Depression, but Atticus is a prominent lawyer and the Finch family is reasonably well off in comparison to the rest of society. One summer, Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Charles Baker Harris (Dill), who has come to live in their neighborhood for the summer, and the trio acts out stories together. Eventually, Dill becomes fascinated with the spooky house on their street called the Radley Place. The house is owned by Mr. Nathan Radley, whose brother, Arthur (nicknamed Boo), has lived there for years without venturing outside in daylight.
Scout goes to school for the first time that fall and detests it. She and Jem find gifts apparently left for them in a knothole of a tree on the Radley property. Dill returns the following summer, and he, Scout, and Jem begin to act out the story of Boo Radley. Atticus puts a stop to their antics, urging the children to try to see life from another person’s perspective before making judgments. But, on Dill’s last night in Maycomb for the summer, the three sneak onto the Radley property, where Nathan Radley shoots at them. Jem loses his pants in the ensuing escape. When he returns for them, he finds them mended and hung over the fence. The next winter, Jem and Scout find more presents in the tree, presumably left by the mysterious Boo. Nathan Radley eventually plugs the knothole with cement.
To the consternation of Maycomb’s racist white community, Atticus agrees to defend a black man named Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Because of Atticus’s decision, Jem and Scout are subjected to abuse from other children, even when they celebrate Christmas at the family compound on Finch’s Landing. Calpurnia, the Finches’ black cook, takes them to the local black church, where the warm and close-knit community largely embraces the children.
Atticus’s sister, Alexandra, comes to live with the Finches the next summer. Dill, who is supposed to live with his “new father” in another town, runs away and comes to Maycomb. Tom Robinson’s trial begins, and when the accused man is placed in the local jail, a mob gathers to lynch him. Atticus faces the mob down the night before the trial. Jem, Dill, and Scout, who snuck out of the house, soon join him. Scout recognizes one of the men, and her polite questioning about his son shames him into dispersing the mob.
At the trial itself, the children sit in the “colored balcony” with the town’s black citizens. Atticus provides clear evidence that the accusers, Mayella Ewell and her father, Bob, are lying: in fact, Mayella propositioned Tom Robinson, was caught by her father, and then accused Tom of rape to cover her shame and guilt. Atticus provides impressive evidence that the marks on Mayella’s face are from wounds that her father inflicted; upon discovering her with Tom, he called her a whore and beat her. Yet, despite the significant evidence pointing to Tom’s innocence, the all-white jury convicts him. The innocent Tom later tries to escape from prison and is shot to death (though it might be that he tried to escape so he could get shot deliberately because he wanted to die looking like a hero. However, in the book, it is said that he could've escaped if he had two good arms instead of one). In the aftermath of the trial, Jem’s faith in justice is badly shaken, and he lapses into despondency and doubt.
Despite the verdict, Bob Ewell feels that Atticus and the judge have made a fool out of him, and he vows revenge. He menaces Tom Robinson’s widow, tries to break into the judge’s house, and finally attacks Jem and Scout as they walk home from a halloween pageant at their school. Boo Radley intervenes, however, saving the children. Atticus at first believes that Jem fatally stabbed Mr. Ewell in the struggle. Boo carries the wounded Jem back to Atticus’s house, where the sheriff, in order to protect Jem, insists that Ewell tripped over a tree root and fell on his own knife. After sitting with Scout for a while, Boo is walked to his home by Scout. While standing on the Radley porch Scout feels sorry for Boo because she and Jem never gave him a chance, and never repaid him for the gifts that he gave them.
Later, Scout feels as though she can finally imagine what life is like for Boo. He has become a human being to her at last. With this realization, Scout embraces her father’s advice to practice sympathy and understanding and demonstrates that her experiences with hatred and prejudice will not sully her faith in human goodness.
Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird
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Primary characters
Jean Louise "Scout" Finch is the protagonist and narrator of the story. She is a 6 year old girl and a tomboy, possibly due to her closeness with her older brother, and from the lack of a mother as a female role model. She is an avid reader and unlike many other children of her age, is literate before she enters school, having been taught by Calpurnia, the black cook and housekeeper of the Finch household, and Scout's father, Atticus. However, she is initially held back by her teacher's teaching methods. She enjoys playing with her brother Jem and neighbour Dill Harris, a character based on Lee's lifelong friend, author Truman Capote.
Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch is Scout's older brother. Jem undergoes crucial transformations in the work as he becomes a teenager. The trial of Tom Robinson is Jem's first real encounter with injustice, and the realization of its existence drives him into a sullen state. Prior to this, he had viewed the world innocently, thinking of people as one-sided. He viewed Boo Radley, for example, as a frightening figure. Jem was able to overcome his sullenness due to the strong presence of Atticus in his life, and became a bigger person as he achieved a greater understanding of the world and how to view and treat other human beings. He also grew distant from Scout, as opposed to their closeness at the beginning of the novel, who he often asked to act more like a lady as the book progresses.
Atticus Finch is the father of Scout and Jem, and a lawyer who defends Tom Robinson, a black man being tried for rape. He does this because he feels that not doing so would make him a hypocrite, and his sense of morality tells him that he should try his best to try to save Tom Robinson from unfair prosecution. Atticus serves as a guiding light for his children, always calm and patient. He teaches them that one should not dwell on the fact that evil exists, but that they should instead realize that the existence of this evil is a sign that there is work to do, and progress to make. He provides a strong influence on his children, informing and preparing them on the harsh realities of the world. Atticus provides the moral backbone of the story. He is not only a very effective and just lawyer, but holds kindness and empathy as the highest traits a person can have. Scout calls Atticus by his first name instead of an honorific title such as "father", "dad", "papa", "pop", etc.
Lee has taken care in choosing her characters' names. Atticus was the name of a Roman philosopher, Titus Pomponius Atticus, who never took sides in arguments.
Arthur "Boo" Radley symbolizes tortured innocence. A gentle creature, he is viewed with fear by the children, as he was by the townspeople in general. The children do not come to a better understanding of him until the end of the work. He does several heroic things, including giving Scout a blanket during a neighborhood fire, and saving the children from attempted murder. His misconceived good nature testifies to the message of the story, one of kindness and the notion that people should not make judgments on others, since human beings are not that simple. Arthur Radley is one of the "mockingbirds" in the story. It is said that he was a good person, scared by the world.
Tom Robinson is cursed with a withered left arm, he accidentally caught his arm in a cotton gin during his youth, and is important to the novel for many different reasons. Firstly, he acts as a scapegoat in the novel – allowed to take the blame for something he didn't do (raping Mayella Ewell). He represents the 'mockingbird,' doing nothing but good (helping Mayella with various tasks and expecting no payment in return). In addition, his case shows that many white people are prejudiced against the black people of Maycomb, but they hide it behind a veil of hypocrisy. Although Scout is too young to understand the basic principle of racism, her description of the trial of Tom lets the readers know that the author is against racism. The book is an example of a Bildungsroman – showing how she and Jem are growing up.
Robert "Bob" Ewell is the father of a number of children, including Mayella and Burris Ewell. He is a racist character who spits on Atticus after Tom Robinson's court case. Bob Ewell and his family are the town embarrassment, exemplary of "white trash". In an attempt at revenge, he tries to kill Atticus's children, but is presumably killed by Boo Radley.
Mayella Violet Ewell is Tom Robinson's 19 year old accuser. She is the eldest daughter of Bob Ewell and has to take care of her siblings since all Ewell children go to school only on the first day of each year, and their father spends his unemployment money on alcohol. Mayella's mother died when Mayella was a child or adolescent and since the mother's untimely passing her daughter has become her widower's surrogate wife and children's mother. She was continually physically abused by her father; Atticus politely and indirectly proves this by mentioning the bruises concentrated on her right side. Mayella cannot attend school because she must stay home, take care of her siblings, and clean. She is isolated from her peers and very lonely. Indeed, she is so lonely that when Atticus asks her if she has any friends, she becomes confused because she does not know what a friend is. She wants a better life for herself and lovingly grows red geraniums, but a change in her situation is unlikely. To get the human contact that she so craves, she attempts to seduce a black man, but her father sees this and beats her up, calling her a whore, then he finds the sheriff and tells him that his daughter has been raped, even though there is absolutely no proof of this. By testifying against Tom she contributes to the racism that divides the town and the situation escalates to the point where everyone is involved.
Other characters
Aunt Alexandra is Atticus' proper sister, who comes to live with them to make a lady out of the tomboy Scout and restore proper Southern order to their home. Her views on Atticus' decision to have a "negro" in the house are made clear as she asks Atticus to get rid of her. However, she seems to have changed her mind by the end of the book, and is outraged by the unconcealed racist attitudes of her friends in the Missionary Book Club. Alexandra is not in the film version.
Miss Maudie Atkinson lives across the street from the Finches. She enjoys baking and gardening. She is also considered by some to be a symbolic Mockingbird, as she is frequently harassed by devout Primitive Baptists who tell her that her enjoyment of gardening is sin. Miss. Maudie befriends Scout and Jem and tells them about Atticus as a boy. During the course of the novel her house burns down; this event does not take place in the film.
Calpurnia is the cook and maid to the Finch family. Calpurnia is much more than a cook and is deeply respected by Atticus; she can be described as a mother figure and refers to Scout and Jem as "her kids". In Scout's early life she provides discipline, instruction, and love. Calpurnia is one of the few Negros able to read and write, and teaches Scout to write prior to Scout's entry into school.
Charles Baker "Dill" Harris is one year older than Scout. He spends the summer with his aunt, Miss Rachel Haverford, in Maycomb. He lives for the rest of the year in Meridian, Mississippi. Dill has a crush on Jean Louise "Scout" Finch and wants to marry her in the future. This character is based on the author's close friend Truman Capote.
Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose is an old lady who lives near the Finches. She shouts her opinion at all who pass, and is often extremely impolite. Dubose is racist, as was stereotypical of white southerners. She heavily criticizes Jem and Scout's father Atticus for defending Tom Robinson, calling him a "nigger-lover". After this, Jem cuts the tops off of her camellias. He is then punished by his father, who orders him to help replant her flowers and read to her. She dies soon after his punishment is over. Atticus reveals that the reading sessions were helping her to break her addiction to morphine, a goal she wanted to accomplish before she died. For this Atticus shows a great deal of respect towards her, despite her flaws.
Judge Taylor is a white-haired old man with a reputation for running his court in an informal fashion. He seems to have no views on almost anything, until he presides over the Tom Robinson trial, in which he shows great distaste for the Ewells and seems to have great respect for Atticus. After the trial, Miss Maudie points out to the children that Judge Taylor had tried to help Tom Robinson by appointing Atticus to the case instead of a new, untried lawyer.
Heck Tate is the sheriff of Maycomb. He is characterized as a neutral, fair-minded, but somewhat weak-willed character. However, his decision at the end of the novel to report the killing of Bob Ewell as a self-inflicted stabbing provides a measure of protection to Arthur Radley.
Mr. Horace Gilmer is a lawyer from Abbotsville. He is the man who presents prosecution against Tom Robinson.
Miss Rachel Haverford is Dill's aunt and lives next door to the Finches.
Miss Stephanie Crawford lives next door to the Finches and enjoys gossiping.
The Cunninghams are a poor but proud family in Maycomb, unwilling to accept charity or loans that they are unable to pay back. The father is a part of the Old Sarum mob that tries to lynch Tom Robinson. His cousin later serves on Robinson's jury, and is the only member of the jury to push for an acquittal.
Burris Ewell One of the Ewell children, he attends school for the first day and then leaves, after calling Miss Caroline a "snot-nosed slut of a school teacher."
Nathan Radley is Arthur Radley's brother, who now is the head of the Radley house, since his father died. Like his father, he tries to isolate Arthur "Boo" Radley from the outside world.
Mr. Dick Avery is an unpleasant old man who rents a room from Miss Maudie until her house burns down.
Dr. Dolphus Raymond is a disliked white man who married a black woman. He pretends he is an alcoholic, but he only drinks Coca Cola out of a sack. He does this to put the people of Maycomb at ease, to give them a reason why he married a black woman. He knows they will not understand why he lives as he does, so by pretending he is a drunk, he makes life easier for himself (and for Maycomb).
Mr. Braxton Underwood writes the Maycomb Tribune. Although he is racist himself, he helps Atticus protect Tom Robinson from the mob. Following Tom's conviction, however, he writes an editorial proclaiming that killing a cripple is like killing a songbird.
Miss Caroline Fisher is Scout's first grade teacher and is new to Maycomb and its ways. She suffers an embarrassing event as Scout tries to teach her the ways of Maycomb County. She attempts to teach the first grade class using the a system that Jem mistakenly refers to as the Dewey Decimal System, and thus forbids Scout from letting Atticus teach her to read. Caroline fails to realise, however, that Scout learning from Atticus' example is in fact what she is trying to introduce.
Miss Gates is Scout's third grade teacher. She is nice, but ironically, is unable to see the prejudice that African Americans face in the US, as opposed to her hatred and understanding of the discrimination that Jews faced in Nazi Germany.
Reverend Sykes is the reverend of the First Purchase M.E. African Church in Maycomb County. This is the church where Tom Robinson attended. Reverend Sykes forces the congregation to donate $10 for Tom Robinson's family.
Mrs. Grace Merriweather is one of Scout's neighbors. She attended the Missionary Tea. She feels bad for the Mrunas who suffer because they don't act as a real family and have a poor social status in society and also supports the way that J. Grimes Everett is the only person who is willing to help the Mrunas. She, however, does not see how the blacks suffer and can also not see how Atticus is the only white in Maycomb who is willing to directly support Tom Robinson. By talking about this under Atticus's own roof, Mrs. Merriweather angers Miss Maudie. Mrs. Merriweather was also the leader of the Halloween Pageant where Scout was a ham.
Zeebo, Calpurnia's son, is the town garbage collector. He is one of only four people in the church who can read. After a rabid dog is located, he clears up the animal's corpse.
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
Harper Lee stated, "To get the ideas for the book I used recent events in my time like the Scottsboro Trials." (Harper Lee, Book Review, 1964)
Literary significance & criticism
Truman Capote frequently implied that he himself had written a considerable portion of this novel, and some have said he ghosted the entire novel. At least one person – Pearl Kazin Bell, an editor at Harper's – has gone on record as believing his assertions were true. However, Capote would likely have been much more aggressive in claiming credit for the novel's Pulitzer Prize had he been the real author, since he never achieved a Pulitzer for his own work. His persona was far more flamboyant than Lee's, and their writing styles reflect this difference. A letter (dated July 9, 1959) from Capote to his aunt indicates that Harper Lee did indeed write the entire book herself [1]. However, in one respect, his influence on the work is inescapable: he was the model for the major character of Dill.
Additionally, To Kill a Mockingbird is number 41 on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.[2]
Allusions/references from other works
Many references and allusions to the book can be found in popular culture, including:
- In the TV series Lost, Season 3 - Episode 5, The Cost of Living, Juliet shows Jack a video tape, calling it To Kill a Mockingbird, while the tape is actually a secret message requesting his help to overthrow Ben, the apparent leader of The Others.
- The 2006 film Failure To Launch contains a subplot about killing a mockingbird. The book is specifically mentioned in the gun shop scene.
- The character of Boo Radley – a mysterious neighbor who lives quietly in his dark house and is feared by the local children – gave his name to the British band The Boo Radleys.
- In the TV series Get Smart, Maxwell Smart hunts down the Mexican artifact, the "Tequila Mockingbird."
- The Knoxville, Tennessee-based rock band Atticus was inspired by To Kill a Mockingbird.
- In the DC Comics continuity, it has been established that To Kill a Mockingbird is Superman's favorite book and movie.
- In 2005, the Seattle-based rock group Acceptance released an instrumental track on their album Phantoms titled "Ad Astra Per Aspera", after the Halloween pageant that Scout is in near the end of the book.
- Bruce Hornsby has a song on his 1988 release Spirit Trail entitled "Sneaking Up on Boo Radley" as told from Jem's point of view.
- A Flash animation called How to Kill a Mockingbird found on AwesomeFunny is a mockumentary about To Kill A Mockingbird. It starts out as a genuine description of the book, but quickly turns into a science-fiction fantasy about pirates, ninjas, nuclear explosions, various burning wildlife, and time-traveling castles.
- In the romantic comedy film Mr. Deeds, Babe Bennett (Winona Ryder), a reporter concealing her identity, introduces herself as Pam Dawson from the small town of Winchestertonfieldville, Iowa. When asked by Deeds (Adam Sandler) to provide details of her growing up in Winchestertonfieldville, Iowa, she borrows from some of the characters and events in To Kill a Mockingbird. At one point she claims to have fallen out of "the Boo Radley tree" and broken her arm when she was a child.
- In the movie "A Walk To Remember", Mandy Moore's character Jamie Sullivan is reading a book while eating lunch and when ask what was she reading, she lifts up the book and shows the title "To Kill A Mockingbird".
- In 2001, Blink-182 band members Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus created the clothing line Atticus, named after the character in this book. Similarly, the female line of the brand is called Scout. The line's logo is a dead crow.
- An episode of the popular U.S. sitcom Frasier was titled 'To Kill a Talking Bird'; a direct reference to the novel.
- In one episode of The Simpsons Homer says, "I vowed never to read again after To Kill a Mockingbird gave me no useful advice on killing mockingbirds! It did teach me not to judge a man by the color of his skin, but when am I ever gonna use that?"
- In his 2004 song Mockingbird the rapper Eminem announces to kill "the Mockingbird" if it doesn't sing for his daughter
- In the cartoon strip Frazz Caulfield is a ham for Halloween. Frazz is the only person to guess that Caulfield is Scout Finch in the pageant.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The book was made into the well-received and Academy Award-winning film with the same title, To Kill a Mockingbird, in 1962. The novel was adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel as a two act play in 1960.
Trivia
- Demi Moore and Bruce Willis named their daughter Scout after Jean Louise Finch.
- American actor Jake Gyllenhaal named his German Shepherd Atticus and his Puggle Boo Radley after characters from the novel.
- The city of Monroeville, Alabama was the author's birthplace and is believed to be the source of the setting of "Maycomb" for the book; the town promotes itself as such.
- In the book Dill's aunt is called Miss Rachel Haverford and the town gossip is Miss Stephanie Crawford, whereas in the film version Miss Stephanie Crawford is the name of Dill's aunt.
External links
- Publishing history
- Sparknotes study guide: To Kill a Mockingbird
- GradeSaver study guide with quizzes and glossary on To Kill a Mockingbird
- Reading guide and book excerpt (Official publisher web page)