characters

Atticus Finch
"You can never truly understand someone until you have walked a mile in their skin" -Atticus Finch. A lawyer and the father of Jeremy Finch and Jean Louise (Scout) Finch, he raises them as a single parent after he is widowed. He is the court-appointed counsel for Tom Robinson, a black man who has been accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. He sees this job as his duty because nobody else will defend Robinson, and also because he has to do it in order to hold the trust between him and his children. He also keeps watch on Robinson in prison in order to prevent him from being lynched. He acts as a "moral compass" for his children and in relation to the events that occur in the book.

Jean Louise "Scout" Finch
Scout is the narrator of //To Kill a Mockingbird//. She is smart for her age, being able to read and write, which gets her in trouble with her teacher, Ms. Caroline, because she wants Scout to learn //her// way to read and write. She matures from age 6 to age 8 as the novel progresses but still retains the childish ways that are appropriate to her age. 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. She is the only one of the novel's primary three children to see and speak to Boo Radley during the course of the novel. Scout was terrified of Boo, but once she actually saw him, she realized he was harmless. She learns the true value of getting to know someone before judging them, by "getting in their skin and walking around in it". By the end she is sad that she never gave Boo anything back, as he gave them treasures and saved their lives. Scout is an energetic six year old. She is an innocent and has not yet been able to understand the concepts of racial discrimination or hate. Scout is confused by some of the words and names she has heard people directing towards her father, Atticus Finch, since many of her classmates call Atticus a "nigger lover". Being only six, Scout does not know how to handle such situations so she solves her problems by fighting. Scout is also "engaged" to Charles Baker "Dill" Harris.

Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch
Jem is the brother of Scout Finch, four years older than she is. Jem represents the idea of bravery in the novel, and the way that his definition changes over the course of the story is important. The shift that occurs probably has as much to do with age as experience, although the experiences provide a better framework for the reader. He sees bravery from Mrs. Dubose's addiction, from Atticus and the mad dog, and from Scout's confrontation with the mob, among other incidents. Along the way, he grows from a boy who drags his sister along as a co-conspirator to a maturing young man who helps Scout understand the problems and events around them. Jem and Scout both learn throughout the novel to look at the good in human nature, as well as the bad.

Charles Baker "Dill" Harris
Jem and Scout's best friend, who lives in Maycomb only during the summer. His goal throughout the novel is to get the reclusive Boo Radley to come out of his house, which he hasn't left in years. For the first few summers the children concoct many plans to lure him out, until they are finally reprimanded by Atticus. 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 he 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." Even Miss Rachel, with whom he stays over the summer, is not a woman deserving of a child's trust and love. He is well aware of her drinking habits. He 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 [|Truman Capote], a childhood friend of Harper Lee.

Calpurnia
She 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 can be described as a strict mother figure. In Scout's early life she provides discipline, instruction, love, and essentially 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 is believed to be just a few years older than Atticus (in fact, they grew up together, and Atticus's father gave her the first book she ever read) but since she does not know when she was born, she simply has her 'birthday' at Christmas, as it is easy to remember. She is mentioned as having several children, one of whom is Zeebo, who drives the town garbage truck. Living in Maycomb's African American and Caucasian communities, Calpurnia has two different perspectives on life, and Scout notices that she speaks and acts differently among her black friends than at their home. Because of her unique status, she can relate to both sides of stories. 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. Furthermore, at the start of the novel, when Scout disrespects a child from her class, Walter Cunningham, Calpurnia yells at Scout for criticizing his ways, ones very different from her own. 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 one of the harder to understand characters in [|To Kill a Mockingbird], and slowly reveals himself throughout the novel. Arthur Radley, also known as Boo Radley, appears as a very quiet, [|reclusive] character, who only passively presents himself, until the children's final interaction with Bob Ewell. Most of Maycomb believes 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 attempted to reach out to the children for love and friendship. Throughout the novel, he is shown as kind and generous. Boo fixed Jem's jeans when he tore them on the fence, placed gifts in the knothole of the tree for the children in the beginning, and when the kids were watching Miss Maudie’s house burn down, he also placed a blanket on Scout's shoulders, without being noticed. It was not until the end of the book, when he saved Jem and Scout Finch's lives from Mr. Ewell's assault, that he was paid notice. It wasn't until hours after the attack, when the family was in Jem’s room watching over him, that Scout finally realizes that it was Boo Radley who had saved them, and was watching over her all along. When Heck Tate attempted to avert blame from Jem, stating that Bob Ewell simply "fell on his knife", after Atticus clearly thought Jem had murdered Bob Ewell, Tate indirectly revealed the truth: Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell in order to defend the children. Scout described 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. Boo doesn't talk much, but Scout describes him as being very soft spoken and quiet. Boo Radley's heroics and the subsequent "coverup" by Atticus, Sheriff Tate and Scout 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, something that would be calamitous for him. 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.

Maudie Atkinson
Miss 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 Landing. She is described as a woman of about 50 who enjoys baking and gardening; her cakes are especially held in high regard. She is also considered by some to be a symbolic Mockingbird, as 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 about Atticus as a boy. 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. 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. It is important to note that Miss Maudie fully explained that "it is a sin to kill a mockingbird", whereas [|Atticus Finch] initially brought up the subject, but didn't go into depth. When Jem gets older, and doesn't want to be bothered by Scout, Maudie keeps him from going mad.

Bob Ewell
Robert E Lee "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. He accuses Tom Robinson of raping his daughter and eventually has him thrown in jail, where Tom is subsequently killed while allegedly trying to escape. Everyone in the town knows the Ewells are not to be trusted. It is clear that Tom Robinson is convicted because he's black, and not because of Bob Ewell's testimony. Upon hearing about Tom's death, he is absolutely gleeful, gloating about his success. After being humiliated at the trial, however, Bob Ewell goes on a murderous rampage for revenge, becoming increasingly violent. He begins by spitting in Atticus' face, followed by a failed attempt at breaking into Judge Taylor's house, and finally menacing Tom's widow. He then attempts to murder Jem and Scout Finch with a knife. However, Arthur "Boo" Radley arrives, and is able to save Jem and Scout. 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. They decided upon saying that Ewell fell on his own knife not due to fears that Boo Radley would be convicted of murder, but because "It is a sin to kill a mockingbird". That is, metaphorically speaking, Tom's innocence would be destroyed by "throwing a man who has done this town a great service into the spotlight regardless of his shy ways" as Tate puts it, adding that "all the women in town including Tate's wife would be going over and giving Boo cakes and thank yous no matter how much he just wants to be left alone."

Mayella Violet Ewell
Mayella Violet Ewell is Tom Robinson's 19-and-a-half-year-old accuser and the daughter of [|Bob Ewell]. She is the oldest daughter of Bob Ewell and has to take care of her siblings (such as [|Burris Ewell]) since her father is an alcoholic. She was continually physically abused by him; Atticus politely and indirectly proves this by mentioning the bruises concentrated on the right side of her face during Tom Robinson's trial. When [|Atticus Finch] asks her if she has any friends, she becomes confused because she does not know what a friend is. During her time in court, she is confused by Atticus' polite speech and thinks that his use of "Miss Mayella" is meant to mock her. 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, named Tom Robinson. Through the window, her father sees this action, and calls her a whore, causing Tom Robinson to flee the scene, worried that he may be put on trial. Bob Ewell then finds the sheriff, [|Heck Tate], and tells him that his daughter has been raped, even though there is no evidence. By testifying against Tom Robinson, she was also trying to destroy the evidence suggesting that she had attempted to seduce him, most likely due to the extremes of racism in Maycomb.

Thomas "Tom" Robinson
Thomas Robinson is a 25-year-old black man who is accused of assaulting and raping Mayella Ewell. He is defended by Atticus Finch in his trial. As Atticus noticed, his left arm is "hardly nothing", because it was caught in a cotton gin at age 12, making it nearly impossible that he beat Mayella- her bruises were only on the right side of her face. He is polite, and frequently helps Mayella, and a few other characters from the book, out of compassion and kindness. He states during his testimony that he felt sorry for Mayella, shocking the jury, as it was unheard of that a black man could feel sorry for a white woman. It is eventually proven that he didn't commit any crime, but is still declared guilty by the white jury. Tom is killed when he tries to escape from prison, and was shot 17 times by guards. He has three children with his wife, Helen. He also worked as a field worker for Link Deas, who tried to defend Tom in court. Even after the trial ended Toms' family continues to be persecuted by some of the more racist people in Maycomb County (the area in which the story takes place).

Aunt Alexandra Hancock
Alexandra Hancock ([|née] Finch) is Atticus Finch's sister, married to James "Uncle Jimmy" Hancock. She has a son named Henry and a very [|spoiled] grandson named Francis. Her husband, James, remains at Finch's Landing, the Finch family homestead, and, as she told Jem upon her arrival that, "he'll keep the place going." She stays with the Finches because she does not find the [|black] Calpurnia a satisfactory maternal figure, and because she wants to make Scout into a [|Southern belle]. She disapproves of Scout being a [|tomboy] and unsuccessfully encourages her to act like a "lady".[|[][|1][|]] This is the cause of many conflicts between Scout and Alexandra throughout the course of the novel. She feels guilty and partially responsible when Scout and Jem are attacked by Bob Ewell, then after she gives up on making Scout a lady and even gives Scout back her overalls, (although she is in a shocked daze whilst she does so, apparently not aware she even is giving back Scout her overalls. Scout herself doesn't even notice the implications at that time, being in shock herself, as she notes that if she were, she'd never let Alexandra forget it.)