To Kill a Mockingbird Summary: Plot, Characters and Key Facts
To Kill a Mockingbird is told by Scout Finch, a young girl in a small Alabama town in the 1930s, whose father, the lawyer Atticus Finch, defends a Black man falsely accused of a crime.
The novel was published in 1960 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | Harper Lee |
| Published | July 11, 1960 |
| Genre | Literary fiction, Southern Gothic |
| Setting | Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression |
| Narrator | Scout Finch, looking back as an adult |
| Award | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1961 |
What is To Kill a Mockingbird about?
The story is set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Scout Finch is six at the start of the book and nine at the end. She lives with her older brother Jem and their widowed father Atticus, a respected lawyer. With their friend Dill, the children become fascinated with their neighbor Arthur Radley, called Boo, who never leaves his house. They find small gifts left in the knothole of a tree on the Radley property, until Boo's brother Nathan Radley plugs the hole with cement.
The second half of the book centers on a trial. Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a Black man accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Despite threats and scorn from many in town, Atticus takes the case, and Scout and Jem have to face the town's prejudice.
↑ Back to the topWhere and when is it set?
Maycomb is a small, fictional town in Alabama, set during the Great Depression of the 1930s. It is based on Monroeville, Alabama, where Harper Lee grew up. The adult Scout tells the story as a memory, which is why a child's view and an adult's understanding sit side by side.
↑ Back to the topWho are the main characters?
Scout (Jean Louise) Finch is the narrator. Jem Finch is her brother. Atticus Finch is their father. Boo Radley is the reclusive neighbor. Tom Robinson is the man on trial. Mayella Ewell accuses him, and Bob Ewell is her father. Calpurnia is the Finch family's cook.
↑ Back to the topHow does To Kill a Mockingbird end?
At the trial Atticus shows that Mayella made advances toward Tom and that her father Bob Ewell beat her. Medical evidence points to a left-handed attacker. Bob is left-handed, and Tom's left arm is crippled. The all-white jury still finds Tom guilty. Tom later tries to escape from prison and is shot and killed.
Bob Ewell, humiliated by the trial, attacks Jem and Scout as they walk home from a school Halloween pageant, and Jem's arm is broken. A man carries the children to safety, and it is Boo Radley. Bob is found dead of a knife wound after falling on his own knife. The sheriff decides to protect Boo from publicity, and Scout agrees that exposing him would be like killing a mockingbird. Scout walks Boo home.
↑ Back to the topWhat does the title mean?
Atticus tells his children that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because mockingbirds only sing and do no harm. The bird stands for innocent people hurt by cruelty, such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.
↑ Back to the topMore about To Kill a Mockingbird
This guide covers the book only. Events in film or TV versions differ in places.