To Kill A Mockingbird

 

Summary

To Kill A Mockingbird takes place during the years of the Great Depression, in the town of Maycomb, Alabama.  Scout Finch, a young girl is the narrator of the story.  She talks about her life and one specific event that happened in her little town.  Scout lives with her father and brother in Maycomb, where her father is a lawyer. Throughout the book the children are intrigued by a mysterious character Boo Radley. There is a lot of racism and controversy in the book.  The book starts off by telling us about Scout and her family and their obsession with Boo.

The children are curious to know more about Boo. The children begin moving closer to the Radley house, which is said to be haunted. They try leaving notes for Boo on his windowsill with a fishing pole, but are caught by Atticus, who yells at  them for making fun of a sad man's life. Next, the children try sneaking over to the house at night and looking through the windows. Boo's brother, Nathan Radley, who lives in the house, thinks he hears a prowler and fires his gun. The children run away, but Jem loses his pants in a fence. When he returns in the middle of the night to get them back, they have been neatly folded and the tear from the fence sewn up.

Many mysterious things happen to the Finch children. A certain tree near the Radley house has a hole/knot in it which little presents are often left for them, such as pennies, chewing gum, and soap carved figures of a little boy and girl who resemble Jem and Scout. The children are curious of who is leaving these gifts and writ a letter to the person but go to the tree and find that it has been cemented up. The next winter brings unexpected cold and snow, and Miss Maudie's house catches on fire. While Jem and Scout, watch the blaze from near the Radley house, someone puts a blanket around Scout without her realizing it. Not until she returns home and Atticus asks her where the blanket came from does she realize that Boo Radley must have put it around her while she was watching Miss Maudie's house burning down.

Later in the story, Atticus decides to take on a case involving a black man named Tom Robinson who has been accused of raping a very poor white girl named Mayella Ewell.  The Finch family faces harsh criticism in the heavily racist Maycomb because of Atticus's decision to defend Tom. But, Atticus insists on going through with the case because his conscience could not let him do otherwise. He knows Tom is innocent, and also that he has almost no chance at being acquitted, because the white jury will never believe a black man over a white woman. Despite this, Atticus wants to reveal the truth to his fellow townspeople, and encourage them to maybe start realizing how dumb racism is.

Because Atticus is defending a black man, Scout and Jem find themselves whispered at and teased, and have trouble keeping their tempers.  Jem cuts off the tops of an old neighbor's flower bushes after she degrades Atticus, and as punishment, has to read out loud to her every day. Jem does not realize until after she dies that he is helping her break her morphine addiction. Scout also gets herself in trouble and tries to fight anyone who says bad stuff.

The time for the trial gets closer, and Atticus's sister Alexandra comes to stay with the family. She is proper and old-fashioned and wants to shape Scout into a lady, but scout just will not have it. Dill runs away from his home, where his mother and new father don't seem interested in him, and stays in Maycomb for the summer of Tom's trial. The night before the trial, Tom is moved into the county jail, and Atticus, fearing a possible lynching, stands guard outside the jail door all night. Jem is concerned about him, and the three children sneak into town to find him. A group of men arrive ready to cause some violence to Tom, and threeaten Atticus in the process. At first Jem, Scout and Dill hide, but when scout senses danger, she runs out and begins to speak to one of the men, the father of one of her classmates in school. Her innnocence brings the crowd to their senses, and they leave.

The trial puts the evidence of the white Ewell family against Tom's evidence. According to the Ewells, Mayella asked Tom to do some work for her while her father was out, and Tom came into their house and beat and raped Mayella until her father appeared and scared him away. Tom's story is that Mayella invited him inside, then threw her arms around him and began to kiss him. Tom tried to push her away but then Bob Ewell arrives, and he flew into a rage and beat her, while Tom ran away. 


Accordinng to the sheriff, Mayella's bruises were on the right side of her face, which means she was most likely punched with a left hand. Tom Robinson's left arm is useless due to an old accident, but Mr. Ewell is left handed. EVen though the evidence says Tom should go freee, after hours of talking, the jury pronounces him guilty. Scout, jem and Dill sneak into the courthouse to see the trial and sit in the colored balcony. They are shocked at the verdict because to them, the evidence was in Tom's favor.

Though the verdict is unfair, Atticus feels some satisfaction that the jury took so long deciding. Usually, the decision would be made in minutes, because a black man's word would not be trusted. Atticus is hoping for an appeal, but unfortunately Tom tries to escape from his prison and is shot to death in the process. Jem has trouble handling the results of the trial, feeling that his trust in the good of people has been taken away.  Jem can't handle seeing how people truely are.

 Mr. Ewell threatens Atticus and other people connected with the trial because he feels he was humiliated. He gets his revenge one night while Jem and Scout are walking home from the Halloween play at their school. He follows them home in the dark, then runs at them and attempts to kill them with a large kitchen knife. Jem breaks his arm, and Scout, who is wearing a costume, is helpless throughout the attack. Boo Radley stabs Mr. Ewell and saves the children. Finally, Scout has a chance to meet the shy and nervous Boo. At the end of this crazy night, the sheriff declares that Mr. Ewell fell on his own knife so Boo, the hero, won't have to be tried for murder. Scout walks Boo home and that was last she ever seen of ghim.