Download Key Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird: Atticus, Jem, Scout, Boo, and Others and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Literature in PDF only on Docsity!
List of To Kill a
Mockingbird characters
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modernAmerican literature, widely read in U.S. high schools.[1]^ The story takes place during three years of the Great Depression in the fictional "tired old town" of Maycomb, Alabama. This is a list of characters from the novel.
Major characters
Atticus Finch
Atticus Finch is a well known good guy, attorney in Maycomb and the father of the protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, and her brother Jem. He is a wise and caring father throughout the novel. His children call him "Atticus" rather than "Dad," and he was originally known as "One-Shot Finch" because of his skill with the rifle (demonstrated when killing a rabid dog). Atticus' belief in equality leads him to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, from baseless charges of rape. Atticus has great character throughout the book and demonstrates it because he wants to set a good example for his kids. One of the reasons he takes the case is because if he doesn't do the right thing, then how can he expect his kids to follow in his footsteps and respect him. Mrs. Maudie may have a small crush on Atticus.
Jean Louise "Scout" Finch
Jean Louise "Scout" Finch is the narrator and protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel is written from the point of view of an adult Scout describing how she viewed things as a child, and she often comments about how she didn't understand something at the time, but now, having grown up, she does. Scout is considered smart for her age, and loves to read. In fact, she gets in trouble with her teacher Ms. Caroline because Ms. Caroline wants Scout to learn reading and writing her way, but Scout refuses. She is also a tomboy who spends the majority of her time with her brother and best friend Dill. She matures from age 6 to age 8 as the novel progresses but still remains naive and idealistic, despite an increased understanding of human nature and racism in her town. At the beginning of the book, Scout is confused by some of the words and names she has heard people directing towards her father, such as "nigger lover". Being only six, Scout does not know how to handle such situations so she tries to resolve her problems by fighting and talking to Atticus about what she has heard. By the end of the book, she realizes that racism does exist and has come to terms with its presence in her town. Scout also learns how to deal with others, including her nanny Calpurnia and her aunt. Scout is the only one of the novel's primary three children (Dill, Jem, and herself) to see and speak to Boo Radley during the course of the novel and
realizes that he is harmless, despite her earlier fear of him. She also stops a mob that is trying to lynch Tom Robinson by informing the mob leader (Mr. Cunningham) about inviting his son over for dinner. Mr. Cunningham then tells the other mob members to get back in their cars and leave them alone. The members listen, and Scout unintentionally saves Robinson's life.
Jeremy Atticus 'Jem' Finch
Jeremy Atticus 'Jem' Finch is the brother of Scout, and is four years older than her. Jem matures a lot throughout the course of the novel and is much more affected by events (his mother's death, before the novel begins, the racism in the town, the death of Tom Robinson) than Scout is due to his greater understanding of them. Jem is the best friend of Dill and the son of Atticus Finch. After the Maycomb pageant, Jem and Scout are attacked by Bob Ewell and he has his arm badly broken at the elbow, and is knocked unconscious. He is carried him by Boo (Arthur) Radley at the end of the book.
Charles Baker "Dill" Harris
Charles Baker "Dill" Harris is Jem and Scout's best friend who visits Maycomb every summer and stays with his aunt Miss Rachel. His goal throughout the novel is to get Boo Radley to come out of his house, and for the first few summers the children concoct many plans to lure him out, until Atticus stops them. Dill promises to marry Scout, and they become "engaged". One night Dill runs away from his home in the city, because he feels like he is being replaced in the family by his stepfather. He gets on a train and goes to Maycomb County, then hides under Scout's bed until she finds him. Unlike Scout and Jem, Dill lacks the security of family love. He is unwanted and unloved by his parents: "They do get on a lot better without me, I cannot help them any." As Francis, another Finch from the novel, says, "He hasn't got a home, he just gets passed around from relative to relative." Dill is described as not having a father; he doesn't know where he lives or when he'll come back, if he does. This character is believed to be based on author Truman Capote, a childhood friend of Harper Lee.
Calpurnia "Cal"
Calpurnia is the Finch family's housekeeper, whom the children love and Atticus deeply respects (he remarks in her defense that she "never indulged [the children] like most colored nurses"). She is an important figure in Scout's life and provides discipline, instruction, and love. She also fills the maternal role for them after their mother's death. Calpurnia is one of the few black characters in the novel who is able to read and write, and it is she who taught Scout to write. She learned how to read from Miss Maudie's aunt, Miss Buford,
who taught her how to read out of Blackstone’s Commentaries, a book given to her by Grandfather Finch.
While everyone in the novel is filtered through Scout’s perception, Calpurnia in particular appears for a long time more as Scout’s idea of her than as a real person. At the beginning of the novel, Scout appears to think of Calpurnia as the wicked stepmother to Scout’s own Cinderella. However, towards the end of the book, Scout views Calpurnia as someone she can look up to and realizes Calpurnia has only protected her over the years.
Arthur "Boo" Radley
Arthur "Boo" Radley is the most mysterious character in To Kill a Mockingbird and slowly reveals himself throughout the novel. Boo Radley is a very quiet, reclusive character, who only passively presents himself until Jem and Scout's final interaction with Bob Ewell.
Maycomb children believe he is a horrible person, due to the rumors spread about him and a trial he underwent as a teenager. It is implied during the story that Boo is a very lonely man who attempts to reach out to Jem and Scout for love and friendship, for instance leaving them small gifts and figures in a tree stump. Scout finally meets him at the very end of the book, when he saves the children's lives. Scout describes him as being sickly white, with a thin mouth and hair and grey eyes, almost as if he was blind. During the same night, when Boo requests that Scout walk him back to the Radley house, Scout takes a moment to picture what it would be like to be Boo Radley. While standing on his porch, she realizes his "exile" inside his house is really not that lonely.
Boo Radley's heroics in protecting the children from Bob Ewell are covered up by Atticus, Sheriff Tate, and Scout. This can be read as a wise refusal of fame. As Tate notes, if word gets out that Boo killed Ewell, Boo would be inundated with gifts and visits, calamitous for him due to his quiet personality. The precocious Scout recognizes the danger: Renown would "kill the mockingbird." Boo Radley is a ghost that haunts the book yet manifests himself at just the right moments in just the right way. He is, arguably, the most potent character in the whole book and as such, inspires the other key characters to save him when he needs saving.
After the Tom Robinson trial, Jem and Scout have a different understanding of Boo Radley. “Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time… it's because he wants to stay inside." (23.117)
Having seen a sample of the horrible things their fellow townspeople can do, choosing to stay out of the mess of humanity doesn’t seem like such a strange choice.
When Boo finally does come out, he has a good reason: Bob Ewell is trying to murder the Finch kids. No one sees what happens in the scuffle, but at the end of it, Ewell is dead and Boo carries an unconscious Jem to the Finch house. Finally
faced with Boo, Scout doesn’t recognize him: after all, she’s never seen him before, except in her dreams.
Miss Maude "Maudie" Atkinson
Miss Maude "Maudie" Atkinson lived across the street from the Finch family. She had known the Finches for many years, having been brought up on the Buford place, which was near the Finch's ancestral home, Finch's Landing. She is described as a woman of about 40 who enjoys baking and gardening; her cakes are especially held in high regard. However, she is frequently harassed by devout "Foot-Washing Baptists", who tell her that her enjoyment of gardening is a sin. Miss Maudie befriends Scout and Jem and tells them stories about Atticus as a boy. Also, she is one of the few adults that Jem and Scout hold in high regard and respect. She does not act condescendingly towards them, even though they are young children. During the course of the novel, her house burns down; however, she shows remarkable courage throughout this (even joking that she wanted to burn it down herself to make more room for her flowers). She is not prejudiced, unlike many of her Southern neighbors, and teaches Scout important lessons about racism and human nature. It is important to note that Miss Maudie fully explains that "it is a sin to kill a mockingbird", whereas Atticus Finch initially brings up the subject, but doesn't go into depth. When Jem gets older, and doesn't want to be bothered by Scout, Miss Maudie keeps her from going mad.
Robert 'Bob' Ewell
Bob Ewell is the main antagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird. He has a daughter named Mayella, and a younger son named Burris, as well as six other unnamed children. He is an alcoholic who poaches game to feed his family, because he spends whatever money they legally gain (via "relief checks" from the government) on alcohol. It is implied and evidence suggests that he was the one who sexually abused his daughter Mayella Ewell, not Tom Robinson (The man accused of doing so). Though everyone in the town knows the Ewells are not to be trusted, it is made clear to the jury that Tom Robinson is to be convicted because he is black, and not because of Bob or Mayella's testimony. Upon hearing about Tom's death, Bob is absolutely gleeful, gloating about his success. After being humiliated at the trial, however, he goes on a quest for revenge, becoming increasingly violent. He begins by spitting in Atticus' face, followed by a failed attempt to break into Judge Taylor's house, and finally menacing Tom's widow. He then attempts to murder Jem and Scout Finch with a knife to complete his revenge. However, Boo Radley saves Jem and Scout and (it is believed) that he kills Bob. Heck Tate, the sheriff, then puts in the official report that Bob Ewell fell on his own knife and died after lying on the street for 45 minutes.
Atticus informs Jem that Mrs. Dubose had fallen victim to an addiction to morphine. By reading to her, Jem had distracted her so that she could conquer her addiction and die free from painkillers. In thanks, she leaves him a candy box with a camellia flower in it. Jem disposes of the box in anger, but is later seen by Scout admiring the flower. Atticus tells Jem that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person he ever knew, and he was trying to teach Jem the importance of bravery and respect and the importance of true courage and endurance when the situation is hopeless, as in her morphine addiction. After Atticus explains why Mrs. Dubose sent him the flower, Jem learns to admire it.
Judge John Taylor
Judge John Taylor is a white-haired old man with a reputation for running his court in an informal fashion and an enjoyment of singing and dipping tobacco. He is unimportant to the children until he presides over the Tom Robinson trial, in which he shows great distaste for the Ewells and shows great respect for Atticus. Due to his sympathies to Tom, Bob Ewell breaks into his house while his wife is at church. After the trial, Miss Maudie points out to the children that he had tried to help Tom by appointing Atticus to the case instead of Maxwell Green, the new, untried lawyer who usually received court appointed cases. Judge Taylor knew that Atticus was the only man who would have a chance at acquitting Tom, or at least would be able to keep the jury thinking for more than a few minutes.
Heck Tate
Heck Tate is a friend of Atticus and also the sheriff of Maycomb County. At the end of the novel he is the one who comes up with the story to protect Arthur "Boo" Radley from being subjected to unwanted attention after he kills Bob Ewell to protect Jem and Scout. He also indirectly forces Atticus to reveal his expertise with firearms (which Atticus had previously tried to conceal from his children) by asking him to shoot a rabid dog. Heck is a decent man who tries to protect the innocent from danger. Like Atticus, he seems to be one of the few in Maycomb County who is not prejudiced against the African-Americans. He is described as tall as Atticus but thinner, always wearing boots and boot-cut pants with a belt of bullets. He is a static character, holding onto his basic principles throughout the events of the story.
Mr. Braxton Bragg (B.B.) Underwood
Mr. Braxton Bragg (B.B.) Underwood is a news reporter and a friend of Atticus. He owns and also publishes The Maycomb Tribune. Being a racist, he disagrees with Atticus on principle but has a strong bond with him, as exemplified when he defends Atticus from the Cunningham mob by having his double barrel shotgun loaded and ready to shoot them. He also demonstrates some humanity when he publishes a
scathing editorial comparing the killing of Tom Robinson (a cripple) to "the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children".
Mr. Horace Gilmer
Mr. Horace Gilmer is a lawyer from Abbottsville, and is the prosecuting attorney in the Tom Robinson case. Mr. Gilmer is between the ages of forty and sixty. Mr. Gilmer has a slight cast with one eye, which he uses to his advantage in trial. Mr. Gilmer appeared to be racist in his harsh cross-examination of Tom Robinson, but it is hinted at that he is in fact going easy on Tom.
Dr. Reynolds
Dr. Reynolds is the Maycomb doctor. He is well known to Scout and Jem. Scout says that he "had brought Jem and me into the world, had led us through every childhood disease known to man including the time Jem fell out of the tree house, and he had never lost our friendship. Dr. Reynolds said that if we were boil-prone things would have been different ..." (ch. 28). He inspects Jem's broken arm and Scout's minor bruises after the attack from Bob Ewell under the tree.
Dolphus Raymond
Dolphus Raymond is a wealthy white man who is jaded by the hypocrisy of the white society and prefers to live among black folks. In fact, he has children with a black woman. Dolphus pretends he is an alcoholic so that the people of Maycomb will have an excuse for his behavior, but in fact he only drinks Coca Cola out of a paperbag. When Dill and Scout discover that he is not a drunk, they are amazed. He shows Scout how sometimes you simply need to pretend you are something when you really are not. He was engaged to marry a woman named Spencer, but she committed suicide on the wedding day. It is said that she shot herself by "pulling the trigger of a gun with her toes, and it blew her head off."
Link Deas
Link Deas owns cotton fields in Maycomb who employs Tom and later Helen because she does not get accepted by any other employers in the county due to Tom Robinson's legal troubles. He announces to the court (in defense of Tom) at one point in the trial that he hadn't “had a speck o’trouble outa him” even though Tom had been working for him for eight years, and gets sent out by Judge John Taylor for doing so. When Bob Ewell starts threatening Helen after the trial, Mr. Deas fiercely defends her and threatens several times to have Mr. Ewell arrested if he keeps bothering her. He is on Tom Robinson's side during the trial and remains loyal to the family afterwards.
Miss Caroline Fisher
Miss Caroline Fisher is Scout's first grade teacher and is new to Maycomb, Alabama and its ways. She attempts to teach the first grade class using a new system which she learned from taking certain college courses that Jem mistakenly refers to as the "Dewey Decimal System", (which is really how library books are organized.) She is upset that Scout is far more advanced in reading than the rest of her class, and doesn't like that she is receiving lessons from her father, Atticus. In an effort to standardize the class she forbids Scout from reading. Once again Atticus asks Scout to step into Ms. Caroline's skin, but continues to allow Scout to read with him at night so long as she continues to go to school. She has good intentions, but proves quite incompetent as a teacher. When Scout tells Miss Fisher that she shamed a student by giving him lunch money, she raps Scout's palms with a ruler (a punishment unheard of in Maycomb). She is also very sensitive and gets emotionally hurt quite easily, as seen when Burris Ewell yells at her, "Report and be damned to ye! Ain't no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c'n make me do nothin'! You ain't makin' me go nowhere, missus. You just remember that, you ain't makin' me go nowhere!" After the Burris Ewell incident, Miss Caroline is seldom seen and soon forgotten.
Reverend Sykes
Reverend Sykes is the reverend of the First Purchase M.E. African Church in Maycomb County. This is the church Tom Robinson attended. Reverend Sykes forces the congregation to donate 10 dollars for Tom Robinson's family since at the time, wife Helen was having trouble finding work. During the trial, when the courtroom was too packed for the children to finds seats, Reverend Sykes lets the kids sit with him up in the colored balcony. This is an example how the black community accepts the Finches, and they in turn accept the black community. Reverend Sykes also saves the kids seats when they come back at the end of the trial.
James Zeebo
Zeebo is Calpurnia's oldest son. He is one of only four people in First Purchase church who can read, and so he is the vocal leader, leading hymns in the negro First Purchase Church by "lining," reading a line of verse and having the congregation repeat. Calpurnia teaches Zeebo to read through the use of the bible. He is also the garbage man of Maycomb, taking away dead Tim Johnson, the rabid dog. When a fellow church member, a woman named Lula tries to make the children feel bad for attending church with his mother, Zeebo welcomes Scout and Jem with open arms.
Stephanie Crawford
Stephanie Crawford is the neighborhood gossip who claimed that she once saw Boo Radley from her bedroom standing outside of her cleaned window one night. Crawford is one of
the first on the scene after a loud gunshot is heard behind the Radley house. Because she is the neighborhood gossip, it is unwise to think of anything that she says as true, because most of the time it is not true at all. She is a friend of Alexandra Finch. She lets Miss Maudie live with her when Miss Maudie's house burns down, supposedly in order to steal Miss Maudie's Lane cake recipe. She is thrilled to pass on gossip to the kids about Boo Radley. She witnessed Bob Ewell's threatening Atticus at the Post Office corner as she was returning from the local Jitney Jungle grocery store.
Miss Rachel Haverford
Miss Rachel Haverford is Dill's aunt and the Finch's next door neighbor. She drank neat whiskey heavily after seeing a rattlesnake coiled in her closet, on her washing, when she hung her negligee up. Her trademark line is "Doo Jesus!" and even though she can be very hard to deal with, she truly does love her nephew. She is also a close friend of Alexandra. Her family name, in the legends of Maycomb County, is synonymous with good-for-nothing. Two of her relations murdered the community's blacksmith over one of their mares being wrongfully detained, were imprudent enough to have done so in the presence of witnesses, and then insisted that the blacksmith had it coming to him. They tried to urge the court to plead not guilty to first degree murder, but the court refused, and they were then hanged. This trial was Atticus' first case as a lawyer.
Helen Robinson
Helen Robinson is the wife of Tom Robinson. She is spoken about many times. She has 3 children. Employed by Link Deas following the death of her husband, she is repeatedly harassed by Bob Ewell when traveling to work. Upon learning of this, Deas threatens Ewell, forcing him to stop. She is an example of how one person's actions can have an effect on a lot of people and she elucidates the hardships that surround the Tom Robinson case.
Nathan Radley
Nathan Radley is the older brother of Arthur "Boo" Radley and another difficult character to understand in To Kill a Mockingbird. When the children try to catch a view at his brother "Boo", he shoots at them in the yard (albeit thinking he was aiming at a black person), but they escape. Nathan also fills up the knothole in which Arthur leaves little gifts for the children. On the other hand, he helps Miss Maudie by saving some of her belongings when her house is on fire. He is more present than his brother, but not less mysterious
Jessie
Jessie is Mrs. Dubose's black caregiver. She is the woman who shoos the children out when Mrs. Dubose has her fits, and she
we see, through the narrative view of Scout, his gentlemanly attitude and how it calms Miss Caroline down. Little Chuck may be even more intelligent than originally meets the eye, as he easily could have been bluffing about the aforementioned implied knife to scare Burris into retreating.
Eula Mae
Eula Mae is Maycomb's most prominent telephone operator. She sends out public announcements, invitations, and activates the fire alarm. She announced the closing of schools when it snowed and announced the rabid dog that entered Maycomb.
Cecil Jacobs
Cecil Jacobs is a bully to Scout and Jem at school. Scout almost gets into a fight with Cecil over the trial of Tom Robinson. Scout beats up Cecil Jacobs because he says Atticus is a "Nigger Lover." He gives a current event on 'Old Adolf Hitler', and later, frightens Scout and Jem on their way to the Halloween pageant. He and Scout then pair up at the carnival; at the pageant afterwards, Cecil was a cow. He hints that black people are not as good as white people while talking about Hitler during current events. He also tends to take jokes too far.
Tim Johnson
Tim Johnson is a dog belonging to Harry Johnson (a character in the book who is mentioned once and seen never). He is infected by rabies in chapter 10 and goes mad, putting everyone in the town at risk. Atticus is forced to shoot Tim Johnson before he reaches the Radley House or attacks anyone. When Atticus shoots the dog, his excellent marksmanship is revealed to Scout and Jem (his nickname used to be One-Shot Finch). Tim Johnson is successfully shot and killed. His body is collected by James Zeebo.
Simon Finch
Simon Finch is the founder of Finch's Landing. He is only brought up in the first chapter of the book. He is the ancestor of Atticus, Jem and Scout Finch. He is aCornish Methodist apothecary, who was also a fur trader. He fled from religious persecution in England and sailed across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, and then Jamaica, before finally settling in Alabama. After returning to St. Stephens, where he was married, with one son, Welcome; and several daughters, he established the Finch homestead, Finch's Landing. He ended up dying rich, due to his medical practice.
Maxwell Green
Maxwell Green is the new lawyer in town. He usually takes Judge-assigned cases, but Judge Taylor assigned Tom Robinson's case to Atticus to give Tom Robinson a better chance.
Mr. X Billups
Mr. X Billups was seen only once in the book, at the trial, who is described as a "funny man". X is his name, and not his initial. He was asked repeated times what his name was until he signed it. X was the name he had been given when he was born, because that was what was put on the birth certificate.
The Barber Sisters (Miss "Tutti" and Miss "Frutti")
The Barber Sisters ( Miss Sarah, nicknamed "Tutti" and Miss Frances, nicknamed "Frutti" ) are maiden sisters who live in the only house in Maycomb with a cellar. They were originally from Clanton, Alabama; and are rumored to be Republicans. Besides their Yankee ways, both sisters are deaf (Tutti completely deaf; Frutti uses an ear trumpet), and had a Halloween prank pulled on them by some of the more wicked schoolchildren (Scout and Jem were not included) who put all of their furniture in their cellar.
Mrs Farrow
She is a lady in the missionary society. She comes to the Finch house.
