List of To Kill a Mockingbird characters

Atticus Finch Atticus Finch is the father of Jem and Scout Finch. He is a lawyer who appears to support racial equality and is appointed to represent Tom Robinson, a black man who has been accused of raping a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. The town disapproves of his defending Tom especially when he makes clear his intent to defend Tom Robinson to the best of his abilities. He is an honest person who tries to help everyone he could. Once known as "One-shot Finch" and "the deadest shot in Maycomb County", he is the moral center of the story. He is portrayed by Gregory Peck in the film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout Finch Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, as an adult, is the narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. She comments on how she could not understand something at the time but now can appreciate it. She gets into trouble with Miss Caroline, her teacher because she is expected to learn reading and writing her way. She is a tomboy and spends most of her time with her brother Jem and best friend Dill. To Jem's advice to pretend to "be a lady and start sewing or something", she answers, "Hell, no". The hints the narrator gives us about her grown-up life reveal that she has not attempted to change herself to please. She matures from age 6 to age 9 as the novel progresses but remains naive and idealistic, despite an increased understanding of human nature and racism in her town. At the beginning of the book, Scout is confused by some of the words and names she hears people directing toward her father, such as "nigger-lover". Being only six, Scout does not know how to handle such situations, so she tries to resolve her problems by fighting, or by talking to Atticus about what she has heard. By the end of the book, Scout realizes that racism does exist and comes to terms with its presence in her town. Scout also learns how to deal with others, including the Finch family housekeeper, Calpurnia, and her aunt, Alexandra. Scout is the only one of the novel's primary three children (Dill, Jem, and herself) to see and speak to Boo Radley during the course of the novel and realize that he is harmless, despite her initial fear of him. She unintentionally stops a mob about to lynch Tom Robinson by talking to the mob leader, Mr. Cunningham, who she knows as Walter Cunningham's father. She is portrayed by Mary Badham in the film. Jem Finch Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch is Atticus' son and Scout's older brother by four years. Jem's progression into adult maturity is apparent throughout the course of the novel. He is seen to have a greater understanding of the obstacles thrown their way. Jem explains many things to Scout throughout the novel. Bob Ewell breaks Jem's arm during his assault on the Finch children, subsequently resulting in it being shorter than it had been. He is portrayed by Phillip Alford in the film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. At the beginning of Go Set a Watchman, an earlier draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem has already died of the heart condition that killed their mother Dill Harris Charles Baker "Dill" Harris is a short, smart boy who visits Maycomb every summer from Meridian, Mississippi and stays with his Aunt Rachel (Aunt Stephanie in the film). Dill is the best friend of both Jem and Scout, and his goal throughout the novel is to get Boo Radley to come out of his house. The children concoct many plans to lure Boo Radley out of his house for a few summers until Atticus tells them to stop. In chapter 5 of the novel, Dill promises to marry Scout and they become "engaged." One night Dill runs away from his home, arriving in Maycomb County where he hides under Scout's bed. When she finds Dill, he tells both Scout and Atticus that he was chained to a wall in his father's basement; later, he confesses he actually ran away because he felt he was being replaced by his stepfather. Unlike Scout and Jem, Dill lacks the security of family support. He is unwanted and unloved by his mother and stepfather. Francis Hancock implies he doesn't have a home, just getting passed around from one relative to another. Dill maintains he has no father, but does not know whether his father is alive or not; or if he will ever see him again. He is played by John Megna in the film. Dill Harris is believed to be based on a childhood friend of Harper Lee, the author Truman Capote. Calpurnia Calpurnia, nicknamed Cal, is the Finch family's African-American 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 is an important figure in Scout's life, providing discipline, instruction, and love. She also fills the maternal role for the children after their mother's death. Calpurnia is a mother herself and raised her son, Zeebo, to adulthood. 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 learned how to read from Miss Maudie's aunt, Miss Buford, who taught her how to read out of Blackstone's Commentaries, a book given to her. Aunt Alexandra initially despised Calpurnia because Alexandra believed that Calpurnia was not a "maternal figure" for Jem and Scout, especially for Scout, but later develops some respect for her. Calpurnia is a member of the First Purchase M.E. African Church in Maycomb. While Scout always hears her speak "proper" English, she is surprised to learn that Calpurnia does not do so at church, especially with the uneducated members of the congregation. While everyone in the novel is filtered through Scout's perception, Calpurnia 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. 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. She is played by Estelle Evans in the film. Aunt Alexandra Alexandra Hancock (née Finch) is Atticus' and Jack's sister, married to James "Uncle Jimmy" Hancock. Her son, Henry, is married and has a spoiled child named Francis, who lives with her every Christmas. Aunt Alexandra decides to leave her husband at the Finch family homestead, ''Finch's Landing'', to come to stay with Atticus. Aunt Alexandra doesn't consider the black Calpurnia to be a good motherly figure for Jem and Scout; she disapproves of Scout being a tomboy. She encourages Scout to act more ladylike; wanting to make Scout into a southern belle. This is the cause of many conflicts between Scout and her aunt. However, Scout later sees how much her aunt cares for her father and what a strong woman she is. This is especially evidenced by a tea party when Scout is horrified by the racism displayed, and her aunt and Miss Maudie help her deal with her feelings. By the end of the book, it's clear that Alexandra cares very much for her niece and nephew, though she and Scout will probably never really get along. Jack Finch John Hale "Jack" Finch is the younger brother of Atticus and Alexandra. He is about 40. Jack smells like alcohol and something sweet and it is said that he and Alexandra have similar features. Jack is a childless doctor who can always make Scout and Jem laugh, and they adore him. He and Miss Maudie are close to the same age; he frequently teases her with marriage proposals, which she always declines. Boo Radley The Maycomb children believe that Arthur "Boo" Radley, a recluse, is a "haint". Boo is a lonely man who attempts to reach out to Jem and Scout for love and friendship, such as leaving them small gifts and figures in a tree knothole. Jem starts to have a different understanding of Radley. Scout finally meets him at the very end of the book, when he saves the children's lives from Bob Ewell. At first, Scout does not recognize him. She describes him as being sickly white, with a thin mouth, thin and feathery hair and grey eyes almost as if he were blind. While standing on his porch after Boo rescues Jem, she realizes that he is not that lonely. When Bob Ewell tries to murder the Finch children, no one sees what happens in the scuffle but Ewell is dead and it is Radley who carries an unconscious Jem into the Finch's house. He is played by Robert Duvall in his first ever film role. Tom Robinson Thomas "Tom" Robinson is an African-American who has three children with his wife, Helen. He is accused and put on trial for the rape of a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Atticus is assigned to defend him and stands up to a lynch mob intent on exacting their own justice against him before the trial begins. Tom's left arm is crippled and useless, the result of an accident with a cotton gin when he was a child. Atticus uses this fact as the cornerstone of his defense strategy, pointing out that the nature of Mayella's facial injuries strongly suggests a left-handed assailant. Tom testifies that he had frequently helped Mayella with household chores because he felt sorry for her and the family's difficult life - a statement that shocks the all-white, male jury. Despite Atticus' skilled defense, the jury's racial prejudices lead them to find Tom guilty. Atticus plans to appeal the verdict, but before he can do so, Tom is shot and killed while trying to escape the prison where he is being held. Tom Robinson is played by Brock Peters. 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, all of whom are left to fend for themselves. The Ewells are the lowest of the low in the white community of Maycomb; regarded as "white trash", they live in a squalid, cramped shack next to the town garbage heap, are uneducated and resort to crime to survive. Bob is a violent, racist, unemployed alcoholic who poaches to feed his family because he spends the money the family obtains from government "relief checks" on alcohol, and the local authorities turn a blind eye to his poaching out of pity as they know it is the only way his children will be fed. It is implied that he is the one who abused his daughter Mayella, not Tom Robinson (the African American man accused of doing so). It is clear in the text that Tom Robinson was convicted because he is a black man whose accuser was white. Upon hearing of Tom's death, Ewell is gleeful, gloating about his success. After being humiliated at the trial by Atticus however, he goes on a quest for revenge, becoming increasingly violent. He begins by spitting in Atticus' face, followed by a failed attempt to break into the home of Judge Taylor. He then menaces Helen, the poor widow of Tom Robinson and later attempts to murder Jem and Scout Finch with a knife to complete his revenge. Boo Radley saves Jem and Scout and it is implied that Boo kills Ewell with the knife. Heck Tate, the sheriff, puts in the official report that Bob Ewell fell on his own knife and died after lying under a tree for 45 minutes. Ewell is played by James Anderson in the 1962 film. Mayella Mayella Violet Ewell, 19, is the oldest of the eight Ewell children. She is abused, unloved and lonely, and her father, Bob, publicly reveals his contempt for her in court when asked if he is her father, he crassly retorts he only assumes he is her father, but because his wife is dead he'll never know for sure. Before the trial, Mayella is noted for growing red geraniums outside her otherwise filthy and rundown shack to try and bring some beauty into her life. Due to her family's living situation, Mayella has no opportunity for human contact or love, and it is strongly implied that her father has been sexually abusing her for years. She eventually gets so desperate for affection that she attempts to seduce a black man, Tom Robinson. She does this by saving up nickels to send her siblings to go get ice cream so that she can be alone with Tom. Her father sees this through a window and punishes her with a savage beating. Ewell tells Heck Tate, the sheriff, that Tom has raped and beaten his daughter. At the trial, Atticus points out that only the right side of Mayella's face is injured, suggesting a left-handed assailant; Tom's left arm is mangled and useless, but Bob Ewell is left-handed. When Atticus asks her if she has friends, she becomes confused and even insulted because she does not know what a friend is. During her testimony, Atticus' polite speech confuses her and she thinks he's mocking her when he calls her "Miss Mayella." She testifies against Tom Robinson. Mayella is played by Collin Wilcox in the film. Miss Maudie Miss Maude "Maudie" Atkinson, a widow of about 40, lives across the road from the Finches, and she is one of the few adults that Jem and Scout hold in high regard and respect. She had known them all her life, being the daughter of Dr. Frank Buford, their neighbouring landowner to the Finch ancestral home, ''Finch's Landing''. She enjoys baking and gardening; her cakes are held in especially high regard. However, she is frequently harassed by devout "Foot-Washing Baptists", who tell her that her enjoyment of gardening is a sin. The Foot-Washing Baptists also believe that women are a sin "by definition". Miss Maudie befriends Scout and Jem and tells them stories about Atticus as a boy. She does not act condescendingly towards them, even though they are young children. When she suffers a house fire, she shows remarkable courage throughout, even saying that she had wanted to burn it down herself to make more room for her flowers. She is not prejudiced, though she talks caustically to Miss Stephanie Crawford, unlike many of her Southern neighbors, and teaches Scout important lessons about racism and human nature. It is important to note that Miss Maudie fully explains that "it is a sin to kill a mockingbird", whereas Atticus Finch initially brings up the subject but doesn't go into depth. When Jem gets older and doesn't want to be bothered by Scout, Miss Maudie keeps her from getting angry. She is played by Rosemary Murphy in the film. == Other characters ==