To Kill a Mockingbird Characters, Including Boo Radley
Scout Finch narrates To Kill a Mockingbird. The main characters are her brother Jem, her father Atticus, their neighbour Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson, the Black man Atticus defends in court.
The story takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Scout (Jean Louise) Finch | Narrator, a girl of about six to nine |
| Jem Finch | Scout's older brother |
| Atticus Finch | Their father, a lawyer |
| Dill Harris | Visiting friend of the children |
| Calpurnia | The Finches' cook and housekeeper |
| Boo (Arthur) Radley | Reclusive neighbour |
| Tom Robinson | Black man accused of rape |
| Bob and Mayella Ewell | Father and daughter who accuse him |
Who are Scout, Jem and Atticus?
Scout (Jean Louise Finch) tells the story, looking back on her childhood. She is a tomboy who gets into fights and asks direct questions. Her brother Jem is a few years older and is the one who leads the games and has to grow up first.
Their father Atticus is a lawyer and a widower. He raises the children with patience and honesty, and he agrees to defend Tom Robinson even though he knows the town will turn on him for it. The children call him Atticus rather than Dad.
↑ Back to the topWho is Boo Radley?
Arthur "Boo" Radley lives in the Radley house at the end of the street and almost never comes out. The neighbourhood children, Dill most of all, invent frightening stories about him and try to lure him into view.
Over time someone leaves small gifts for the children in the knothole of a tree, and later covers Scout with a blanket on a cold night. Near the end, Boo saves Jem and Scout when Bob Ewell attacks them on the way home from the school pageant. Scout walks him home and, standing on his porch, sees the street the way he has seen it. By then she understands he was never a monster.
↑ Back to the topWho are Tom Robinson, Mayella and Bob Ewell?
Tom Robinson is a Black field hand accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a young white woman. Atticus shows in court that the case against him does not hold up, but the all-white jury convicts him anyway.
Mayella and her father Bob Ewell live in poverty on the edge of town. Bob is bitter and violent, and he threatens Atticus after the trial. His attack on the children leads to his death in the final chapters.
↑ Back to the topWho are Dill, Calpurnia and the rest?
Dill Harris is a small, imaginative boy who spends summers next door and is generally said to be based on Lee's childhood friend Truman Capote. Calpurnia, the Finches' cook, acts as a second mother to the children. Miss Maudie Atkinson is a neighbour who talks plainly to Scout. Aunt Alexandra is Atticus's sister, who moves in to teach Scout how to be a lady. Sheriff Heck Tate and Judge Taylor are the officials who deal with the trial and its aftermath.
↑ Back to the topMore about To Kill a Mockingbird
This guide covers the book only. Film and TV versions differ in places.