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To kill a mockingbird
Harper lee

Novel Summary
Chapters summary
Character List

To Kill a Mockingbird is primarily a novel about growing up under extraordinary
circumstances in the 1930s in the Southern United States
...
Scout
Finch lives with her brother Jem and their father Atticus in the fictitious town of
Maycomb, Alabama
...


Scout, the narrator, remembers the summer that her brother Jem broke his arm, and
she looks back over the years to recall the incidents that led to that climactic event
...

The story starts with the first summer that Scout and Jem meet Dill, a little boy from
Meridian, Mississippi who spends the summers with his aunt, the Finchs' next-door
neighbor Miss Rachel Haverford
...
Dill's fascination, in particular, leads to all
sorts of games and plans to try and get Boo to come outside
...
Jem runs into the Radleys'
yard and touches the outside of the house
...
However, Scout's
first day at school is not at all the glorious experience she'd been expecting from the
winters she spent "looking over at the schoolyard, spying on multitudes of children
through a two-power telescope
...
secretly sharing their
misfortunes and minor victories
...
When Miss Caroline offers
to lend Walter Cunningham lunch money, Scout is punished for taking it upon herself
to explain Miss Caroline's faux pas to her
...
)
Scout catches Walter on the playground, and starts to pummel him in retaliation for
her embarrassment, but Jem stops her and then further surprises her by inviting
Walter to have lunch with them
...
Back at school, Miss Caroline has a confrontation with Burris
Ewell about his "cooties" and the fact that he only attends school on the first day of
the year
...
Atticus explains why the Ewells get
special consideration and then tells Scout, "'You never really understand a person
...
until you climb into his skin and walk around in it
...


The school year passes slowly for Scout
...

One day, Scout notices something shiny in a tree at the edge of the Radley yard
...
Jem admonishes her for
taking the gum, but Scout continues to check the knothole daily
...

Dill arrives two days later to spend the summer
...
Against Scout's better judgement, they enact
Boo's life with great gusto until Atticus learns of the game
...
Lonely, Scout begins spending more
of her time with Miss Maudie
...
She and Dill are
posted as guards, while Jem tries to deliver the note, but Atticus intervenes, telling
the children to leave the Radleys alone
...
" Scout discourages them
from going to the Radley house, but reluctantly decides to join them
...
The children scurry out of the yard,
but Jem gets caught on the fence and is forced to remove his pants to get to safety
...
Atticus tells Jem to get his pants from Dill and
come home
...
Scout literally fears for his life, but Jem would rather risk life and limb
than admit to Atticus that he lied
...
This year, Jem and Scout walk home together, and they again
begin finding things in the Radleys' tree
...
When they try to deliver the note, however, they find to their dismay that the
knothole has been filled with cement
...
School is closed, so Jem and
Scout spend their day trying to build a snowman
...
Jem and Scout are sent to wait in front of the Radleys' while the
fire is still raging
...
The next
day, Scout is surprised to find Miss Maudie in good spirits, working in her yard and
talking about expanding her garden
...
Atticus asks Scout to promise to "'hold your head high, and keep those
fists down
...
Uncle Jack Finch comes for Christmas as he does
every year; Scout and her family spend Christmas at Finch's Landing with Aunt

Alexandra and her family
...
She attacks Francis and is punished by Uncle Jack,
who had warned her not to fight or curse
...
The chapter ends
as Scout overhears Atticus and Uncle Jack talking about Tom Robinson's trial, which
will start soon
...
" The
children believe that Atticus' "advanced" age keeps him from doing the sorts of things
other children's fathers do
...

As Tom Robinson's trial grows closer, Jem and Scout endure more slurs against their
father
...
Dubose, a mean, elderly woman confined to a
wheelchair, makes a particularly stinging remark, Jem retaliates by destroying some
of her flowers
...
Dubose, letting her decide his punishment
...

Dubose after school for one month
...
Shortly after
Jem is relieved from duty, Mrs
...
Only then does Atticus tell the children
that Mrs
...


As summer begins, Jem is now too old to be bothered by his little sister, which causes Scout
great dismay
...
With Atticus at a special
session of the state legislature, Calpurnia takes the children to church with her
...
She announces
that at Atticus' request, she's coming to live with them for "a while
...


As Scout innocently recounts her trip to Calpurnia's church for Atticus, Aunt
Alexandra is mortified and vehemently refuses Scout's request to go to Calpurnia's
house
...
Now it's Atticus' turn to vehemently deny Alexandra's request
...
Sent to bed early, Jem and Scout get themselves ready for sleep
...
Jem discovers
that the "snake" is Dill with a fantastic story of his runaway voyage to Maycomb
...

Dill's mother gives him permission to spend the summer in Maycomb and the
children begin to enjoy their time together
...
That Sunday night, Atticus heads into town,
which gives Jem a funny feeling
...

They find Atticus sitting outside Tom Robinson's cell and turn to head home when a
group of men arrive to confront Atticus
...
After a few tense moments, she begins a
conversation with Walter Cunningham's father, which causes the men to retreat, and
very likely saves Atticus' life
...
He asks the children to stay away from the courthouse during the trial,
but by noon, their curiosity has the better of them, and they, along with Dill, head for
the courthouse where the trial is about to get under way
...
Finally, readers are introduced to Judge Taylor, who the children
earlier discovered — much to their surprise — appointed Atticus to defend Tom
Robinson
...
Heck Tate is the first witness
...
Bob Ewell
takes the stand next and causes a stir in the courtroom with his bad attitude and foul
language
...
Ewell is not shaken from his story, but Atticus carefully plants the seed
that Mr
...
Mayella takes the stand next
...
Her testimony soon proves that Mayella is

unused to gentility and common courtesy
...

The state rests its case
...
Tom tells the true story, being
careful all the while not to come right out and say that Mayella is lying
...
Dill has a very emotional response to Mr
...
Scout follows Dill outside, where they
talk with Dolphus Raymond, who reveals the secret behind his brown bag and his
drinking
...
Just as Atticus finishes, Calpurnia walks into the
courtroom and heads toward Atticus
...
Underwood tells him that the children are in the courtroom
— in the Colored balcony
...

Jem is convinced that the jury will acquit Tom Robinson after the evidence Atticus
presented
...

The African American community loads the Finch family with food for defending Tom
so valiantly, which surprises the children because Atticus didn't win
...
The neighborhood is abuzz with talk of the trial,
and Miss Stephanie questions the children relentlessly until Miss Maudie sides with
Atticus and puts an end to the discussion
...
However, Atticus uses the opportunity to further educate his children on
the ways of the world
...
In
the process, Aunt Alexandra hurts Scout's feelings horribly, prompting Jem to guess
why Boo Radley chooses to stay inside
...
Scout helps
Calpurnia serve refreshments and tries to join the ladies in conversation
...
Just about the time Scout decides that she prefers the
company of men, Atticus interrupts the meeting with the news that Tom Robinson
has been killed in an attempted escape
...
Aunt Alexandra is almost apologetic for Atticus, but Miss Maudie takes
her to task, defending him
...
Helen takes
the news about Tom badly; the rest of Maycomb has mixed reactions
...
"
School starts again with Jem in the seventh grade and Scout in the third
...
She and Jem have been through too much to be rattled by
the thought of Boo Radley
...
Later, Scout
remembers that she overheard Miss Gates making racist remarks about African
Americans after Tom's trial
...
Scout then goes
to Atticus who provides some consolation
...
Tom Robinson's old boss, Link Deas, gives Helen a job, but Bob Ewell
makes it very difficult for her to safely walk to work
...

The ladies of Maycomb decide to organize a Halloween pageant in the high school
auditorium this year
...
She has a great costume
for the pageant, but she can't get out of her ham suit without help
...
On the way to the pageant, Cecil Jacobs
frightens Jem and Scout
...
When it's time to go home, Scout
tells Jem that she would rather leave her costume on than have to face people, and
they head for home with Jem guiding Scout
...
Suddenly, a scuffle occurs
...
Someone — Scout
assumes it's Jem — pulls the attacker off her
...
She heads toward the breath sounds, feeling for Jem
...
Scout works to
reorient herself and finally sees a strange man carrying Jem to their front door
...

Scout fears that Jem is dead, but Aunt Alexandra tells her that he's only unconscious
as she works to disentangle Scout from the chicken wire
...
Reynolds arrives, and
after he examines Jem, Scout and Heck Tate go into Jem's room
...
Scout has never seen him before
...


At the sheriff's request, Scout recounts what happened, realizing that one of the
strange noises she heard was Jem's arm breaking
...
She also recognizes that the stranger — the man who pulled Ewell off of her
and saved both children's lives — is Boo Radley
...
Atticus begins defending
Jem, insisting that killing Bob Ewell was clearly self-defense
...
Atticus appreciates what Heck is
trying to do, but he doesn't want anyone to cover for Jem
...
As the men argue, Atticus realizes that
Boo Radley killed Ewell, and it is Boo who Tate is trying to protect
...

Boo sees Jem one more time and then asks Scout to take him home
...
She returns to Jem's room and Atticus reads aloud to
her until she falls asleep
...


Scout (Jean Louise Finch) Narrator of the story
...
Scout is a tomboy who would
rather solve problems with her fists than with her head
...

Atticus Finch Maycomb attorney and state legislative representative who is
assigned to represent Tom Robinson
...

Jem (Jeremy Atticus Finch) Scout's older brother who ages from 10 to 13 during
the story
...
As part of reaching
young adulthood, Jem deals with many difficult issues throughout the story
...
Aunt Alexandra lives at Finch's Landing, the Finch
family homestead, but she moves in with Atticus and the children during Tom
Robinson's trial
...

Francis Hancock Aunt Alexandra's grandson
...

Uncle Jack Finch Atticus and Aunt Alexandra's bachelor brother who comes to visit
every Christmas
...

Calpurnia The Finchs' African American housekeeper
...
She is the closest thing to a mother
that Scout and Jem have
...

Zeebo The town garbage collector who is also Calpurnia's son
...
E
...

Boo Radley (Mr
...
They've never seen him and make a game of trying to get him to come
outside
...
Radley dies
...
and Mrs
...


Dill (Charles Baker Harris) Jem and Scout's neighborhood friend
...

Miss Rachel Haverford Dill's aunt who lives next door to the Finches
...
An avid gardener, she often spends time
talking with the children — especially Scout — helping them to better understand
Atticus and their community
...

Mrs
...

Mrs
...
Merriweather writes the
Halloween pageant
...
Gertrude Farrow The "second most devout lady in Maycomb" belongs to the
local Missionary Society
...

Helen Robinson Tom Robinson's wife
...
He makes sure that Helen can
pass safely by the Ewells' after Tom is arrested
...
He
claims to have witnessed Tom attacking Mayella
...

Burris Ewell One of Bob Ewell's children
...

Reverend Skyes The pastor at First Purchase African M
...
Church
...
"
Judge John Taylor The judge at Tom's trial
...

Mr
...

Sheriff Heck Tate Maycomb's sheriff who accompanies Atticus to kill the mad dog
and who delivers the news about Bob Ewell
...
Braxton Bragg Underwood The owner, editor, and printer of The Maycomb
Tribune
...


Dolphus Raymond Father to several biracial children, Mr
...
When he comes into Maycomb, he pretends to be drunk
...
One of the men who comes to lynch Tom Robinson, he's
also one of Atticus' clients
...

Walter Cunningham, Jr
...
Jem invites him to have lunch
with them after Scout accosts Walter on the playground
...

Cecil Jacobs A schoolmate of the Finch children, he scares Jem and Scout on the
way to the Halloween pageant
...

Miss Gates Scout's second grade teacher
...
E
...

Eula May The local telephone operator
...
Avery A boarder at the house across from Mrs
...




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