To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Setting: The book is set in the fictional small Southern town Maycomb, Alabama. The book was published in 1960, but the book takes place in 1930s. The view of the book is very limited to the small-town where the narrator and her family lives. Maycomb doesn't know what's happening elsewhere and doesn't care. Few people move there and few people ever leave. The setting of the book is very important for the storyline. The view upon certain people was justified by the fact that they lived where they lived. In the 30s the people was not as developed as the people today. The racial prejudice was also seen in bigger degrees, but also more accepted. The storyline takes place in the past, as the narrator is an older Jean Louise Finch whom looks back on her childhood memories and experiences them from a more mature point of view.

Characterisation: Along the storyline of the book the readers are exposed to several characters, but the main characters are Scout, Jem, Atticus and Tom Robinson. Scout is the narrator of the book, which means that everything is seen from her point of view. Her full name is Jean Louise Finch, and is the daughter of Atticus Finch. Scout is an unusual girl. She's unusually intelligent because she is taught to read before she starts school, which is something she gets in trouble from with her first grade teacher. Scout is very confident, because she is very sure of herself and unlike other girls she does not stray from a fight, even if it is with a boy. The six year old is also considered a tomboy because she's very different from the other girls. She likes to fight and the other girls wears dresses, whilst Scout walks around in overalls and only hangs out with Jem and Dill.

Another major character is Jeremy Atticus Finch, the son of Atticus Finch and brother of the protagonist Scout. Jem developed from the age of 10 to the age of 13. He has to experience everything whilst growing up into his teens. Jem represents the image of bravery in the book, he learns it from his father facing a mad dog, from interacting with Mrs. Dubose and from Scout's confrontation with the mob outside of Tom Robinson's jail cell. Toward the end of the book Jem loses his faith in humans capacity for good because of the evil he is exposed to during Tom Robinson's trial.

Atticus Finch is the father of the main children in the book. Alongside with being a father he is also a lawyer, whom the controversial decision to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, in his trial. In the book he is considered the moral backbone because he the where the children and adults would go for advice. Atticus is the one who taught Scout to read and he is the voice of truth. He teaches his children to be good and to never kill a mockingbird. Atticus is one of the static characters of the book. Which means he does not change or develop during the book. He receives a lot of hate and negativity because of him defending a black man, but after the trial and death of Tom he goes back to his usual high standard.


Tom Robinson is one of the mockingbirds of the book. Tom Robinson is a black man living in Maycomb, Alabama. In the book he is accused of raping a girl, Mayella Ewell. Tom is not seen as an individual in the community in which we lives, because of his skin colour. Throughout the story he becomes a symbol, used to illustrate the judgment and racism that takes place in this town. The first time we get a glimpse of Tom is in his trial, which comes towards the end. The reason we don't see him before the end of the book is because Scout doesn't. 

Plot and Structure: The whole storyline is seen trough the eyes of the older Scout Finch and she is looking back on her experiences as a six-year-old girl where she lives in a racially divided community. Through her eyes we see various situation that involves her older brother Jem and their best friend Dill. Jem and Scout is the kids of Atticus Finch, which creates controversy by defending a black man in a trial, Tom Robinson. Whom is accused of raping a white woman. The plot is structured chronological because we get to see the characters develop with age. The most important event in the book and also the climax is when we read about Tom's trial. Throughout we hear about the child innocence being destroyed by the evil in the world. The message of the book is to never kill a mockingbird, which is what happened when Tom Robinson was found guilty. 

Narrator and Point of view: The narrator of To Kill A Mockingbird is Scout Finch, also known as Jean Louise. In this case the narrator is the main protagonist in the book. The story is written in first person because the story is seen through one persons eyes. The narrator is not all-knowing. We hear about her own emotions and thoughts and sometimes the other characters feelings, but she she can't reveal everything because she does not know everything. 

Theme: The most important theme of the is book coexistence of good and evil in humans - whether people are essentially evil or good. The novel answers this question by dramatising Scout and Jem's transition from a perspective of childhood innocence to an adult perspective, where they have to confront evil. The moral of the book is embedded by Atticus Finch whom has experienced and understood evil without loosing his faith in the human capacity for goodness. The most important thing is to appreciate the good and bad qualities in people. He tries to learn his ultimate lesson to Jem and Scout. Scout's progress as a character in the novel is defined by her gradually development toward understanding Atticus's lesson. 

A Memorable Scene - Dead Man Walking

Tom Robinson is a black man living in Maycomb, Alabama. In the book he is accused of raping a girl, Mayella Ewell. Tom is not seen as an individual in the community in which we lives, because of his skin colour. Throughout the story he becomes a symbol, used to illustrate the judgment and racism that takes place in this town. The first time we get a glimpse of Tom is in his trial, which comes towards the end. The reason we don't see him before the end of the book is because Scout doesn't. 

During Tom's trial all of Maycombs residence has shown up to witness the black man being sentenced for something he did not do. At the trial we get two versions of the story, Mayella Ewell's version and her father's, who tells the story that people expect to hear. And the other side, Tom's version, where he tell the story that nobody want to hear. Where he explains what kind of man he is and that this kind of man would never do what he is accused of. During his defends he explained how he felt sorry for miss Ewell and wanted to help a fellow citizens. Which story is the jury going to believe? The comfortable one about the black man raping a white woman or the shocking one where a black man pities a white woman. Surprisingly enough, Tom's verdict was that he was guilty of raping Mayella Ewell. 

This paragraph is taken out of the book. It took place after Tom Robinson was put in jail, where he spoke about having a escape plan. During the execution of that plan, Tom gets shot by hand of a white man. The death changed little about how Maycomb saw him, I actually think it reinforced the stereotype. 

"To Maycomb, Tom's death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger's mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw. Funny thing, Atticus Finch might've got him off scot free, but wait-? Hell no. You know how they are. Easy come, easy go. Just shows you, that Robinson boy was legally married, they say he kept himself clean, went to church and all that, but when it comes down to the line the veneer's mighty thin. Nigger always comes out in 'em".

To Kill A Mockingbird - Jean Louise "Scout" Finch

Jean Louise Finch, also refered to as "Scout" in the book, is the narrator and protagonist of the story. Scout lives in Maycomb, Alabama with her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem and their housekeeper, (whom is black) Calpurnia. The novel is written from the point of view of an adult Scout, she is describing how she saw the events in the novel as a child. Jean Louise loves to read and considered smart for her age. She is also seen at as a tomboy because she spends the majority of her time with her brother and their best friend Dill. As she matures from age 6 to age 8 in the novel her understanding of human nature and racism in her town increases. 

Scout start out in the novel as an innocent good-hearted six-year-old girl whom has no experience with the evils of the world. As the novel goes on, Scout beings to see the bad in her hometown in form of racial prejudice. But her father, Atticus, helps her to realise that all though people have great capacity for evil, they also have it for good.

Something that both Scout and I have in common is that as children we were both considered tomboys. We'd rather hang out with boys than guys, and sometimes even dress like them. As most children, Scout sees the evils of the world as she grows up. In that way I think that every child can relate to this character. Because as a child, the world seems like the perfect playground, but as you get older you will see that this is not the case. 

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Why I Chose The Book

During these two next weeks I will be finishing the book To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. The book uses the characters to explore and tell a story about the civil right and racism in the Southern part of the United States of America in the 1930's.

The reason i chose this book was because of the theme. I have a very high interest in human rights and how people are treated in this world to this day today. The main reason why I chose this book is because I had heard about it, a lot. To Kill A Mockingbird have gotten very good and many reviews, from friends, but also important papers such as the Guardian. "What ever happens, it will never stop being a good book and it will never stop inspiring good people".

The way that I read is I use an audiobook. The audiobook that I use, I found on Audible.com. While I listen to the audiobook, I read the book at the same time. Because the language is a little hard, I can understand the plot a lot better.

I look forward to finishing the book, and telling you more about it along the way.