Search results
Need help on characters in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird? Check out our detailed character descriptions. From the creators of SparkNotes.
- Tom Robinson
A 25-year-old black man whom Atticus defends in a court case...
- Aunt Alexandra
Aunt Alexandra Character Analysis in To Kill a Mockingbird |...
- Atticus Finch
Get everything you need to know about Atticus Finch in To...
- Miss Maudie Atkinson
The Finches’ neighbor across the street. Miss Maudie is in...
- Mayella Ewell
Bob Ewell ’s 19-year-old daughter. She’s described as thick...
- Mr. Dolphus Raymond
A white man who, for much of the novel, Scout and most...
- Bob Ewell
The racist patriarch of the Ewell family, which lives behind...
- Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose
Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose Character Analysis in To Kill a...
- Tom Robinson
- Scout Finch. The narrator and protagonist of the story. Jean Louise “Scout” Finch lives with her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem, and their black cook, Calpurnia, in Maycomb.
- Atticus Finch. Scout and Jem’s father, a lawyer in Maycomb descended from an old local family. A widower with a dry sense of humor, Atticus has instilled in his children his strong sense of morality and justice.
- Jem Finch. Scout’s brother and constant playmate at the beginning of the story. Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch is something of a typical American boy, refusing to back down from dares and fantasizing about playing football.
- Arthur “Boo” Radley. A recluse who never sets foot outside his house, Boo dominates the imaginations of Jem, Scout, and Dill. He is a powerful symbol of goodness swathed in an initial shroud of creepiness, leaving little presents for Scout and Jem and emerging at an opportune moment to save the children.
Miss Maudie Atkinson. One of Maycomb's most open-minded citizens, Miss Maudie lives across the street from Jem and Scout. An avid gardener, she often spends time talking with the children — especially Scout — helping them to better understand Atticus and their community. Her house burns down.
- Part One, Chapter 1
- Chapters 2 & 3
- Chapters 4–6
- Chapters 7 & 8
- Chapters 9–11
- Part Two, Chapters 12 & 13
- Chapters 14 & 15
- Chapters 16 & 17
- Chapters 18 & 19
- Chapters 20–22
A young girl nicknamed Scout recounts her family history. She tells about her father, Atticus Finch, who became a lawyer in the town of Maycomb. Jem is Scout’s brother, and Calpurnia helps raise them after their mother dies. The siblings befriend a boy named Dill who suggests that they lure Boo Radley, a reclusive neighbor, out of his house. When D...
Scout eagerly attends school for the first time, but she and her teacher, Miss Caroline, do not get along. Jem invites the poor Walter Cunningham to lunch who douses his food in molasses, shocking Scout to the point that Calpurnia scolds her for not being a better hostess. Back at school, an incident involving Burris Ewell, a boy from an even poore...
When school breaks for the summer, Dill returns to Maycomb, continuing his games with Scout and Jem and eventually creating one called “Boo Radley” that they suspend when Atticus catches them. As Jem and Dill grow closer, Scout spends time with Miss Maudie Atkinson, who tells Scout that the rumors about Boo Radley are false. On Dill’s last day in M...
On Scout’s walks home from school with Jem, they find gifts left for them in a tree knothole. Maycomb endures a real winter, allowing the children to build a snowman that looks so much like Mr. Avery that Atticus demands them to disguise it. That night, Scout is woken up to find that Miss Maudie’s house is on fire, and while outside someone drapes ...
Scout nearly starts a fight when a classmate uses a racial slur to declare that Atticus defends Black people, particularly Tom Robinson, who was accused of raping a white woman. Atticus says that Tom is innocent but doomed, since it’s inconceivable that an all-white jury would acquit him. One day, Atticus surprises Jem and Scout when he shoots a ma...
Jem begins spending less time with Scout, telling her that she should act more like a girl, a comment that upsets her. The children are taken to Calpurnia’s mostly Black church, where they learn that Tom Robinson was accused by Bob Ewell. When they return home, they find Aunt Alexandra, who has come to stay with the Finches, believing that they nee...
Tom Robinson’s trial draws near, and Atticus’s role as his defense lawyer subjects Jem and Scout to town gossip. Scout gets into a fight with Jem after he asks her not to antagonize Alexandra, and when she goes to bed, she finds Dill hiding underneath it. Sherriff Heck Tate appears at the Finch home and expresses concerns about the possibility of a...
People from all over the county make an appearance at the trial, except for Miss Maudie who does not approve of watching. Jem, Scout, and Dill sneak into the courtroom and find seats in the balcony where Black people are required to sit. Bob Ewell gives his testimony, telling the court how he found Tom Robinson raping his daughter Mayella, and Atti...
During Atticus’s fiery cross-examination of Mayella, Mayella yells at the courtroom to convict Tom Robinson, eventually crying and refusing to answer any more questions. Tom’s testimony explains how he often would help Mayella with chores, and how on the night of the alleged rape, it was actually Mayella who attempted to pursue Tom. When Bob appear...
Scout and Dill speak to Mr. Dolphus Raymond who tells them that he pretends to be a drunk to provide other white people with an explanation for why he prefers Black people. Atticus gives his closing remarks in the courtroom, and when he finishes, Calpurnia tells him that the children have not been home. The children beg to hear the verdict, but the...
- Scout Finch. Jean Louise "Scout" Finch is the narrator and main character of the novel. The fact that Jean Louise is actually telling the story as an adult decades later is sometimes forgotten, because Lee so perfectly ties the perspective to the younger Scout, who is 6 years old when the story begins.
- Atticus Finch. Scout’s widower father is an attorney. Although he is a well-respected member of the community and can seem like a very traditional man of his time, Atticus in fact has many subtle attributes that mark him as a bit of an iconoclast.
- Jem Finch. Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch is Scout’s older brother. Ten years old at the beginning of the story, Jem is in many ways a typical older sibling.
- Boo Radley. If there is one character who encapsulates the broader themes of To Kill a Mockingbird, it’s Boo Radley. A troubled recluse who lives next door to the Finches (but never leaves the house), Boo Radley is the subject of many rumors.
Meet the characters in 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. From Scout the adorable tomboy, to the mysterious Boo Radley and the noble Atticus Finch.
People also ask
Who are the characters in to kill a Mockingbird?
Who is the narrator in to kill a Mockingbird?
Who is Atticus in to kill a Mockingbird?
How is Tom's decency perceived by scout in to kill a Mockingbird?
To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis. Next. Chapter 10. Themes and Colors Key. Summary. Analysis. Things began to get difficult for Scout. Atticus forbids Scout from fighting, but Cecil Jacobs makes her forget this when he announces to their class that Atticus defends black people.
