TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > English > To Kill a Mockingbird
Revision Points
Themes
Courage
Pants incident
Dill Running Away
Atticus and Trial (Chapter 9)
Mad Dog - Atticus Courage
Visit from Old Saurum (chpt 15)
Dubose's Courage
Cowardice
Bob Ewell
Dolphus Raymond
Mad Dog represents Robinson
Family
Dill returns
Calpurnia
Maudie as a mother figure
Education
Through people:
Atticus teaches Scout and Jem about moral values. E.g. "you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- ... -until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" Chapter 3
Mrs Dubose (Atticus reiterates it) teaches Scout and Jem about real courage. E.g. "she was the bravest person I ever knew" "I wanted you to see what real courage was" Chapter 11
Through events:
The main trial teaches Scout and Jem that the world is a cruel place and for them to grow up.
Events
Characters
- Scout Finch - the novel's narrator; not a typical young girl (she enjoys wearing boys' overalls, for instance); keen to understand everything around her; discusses adult issues such as prejudice and the justice system
- Jem Finch - Scout's brother; grows up during the course of the novel; starts acting like Atticus; shows his feelings quite a lot (e.g. his sense of justice when Tom Robinson's fate is announced).
- Atticus Finch - a very central character (perhaps more so than Scout); a lawyer who defends Tom Robinson; a single parent (presents parallels to Bob Ewell?); honourable; a bridge between the black and white communities?
- Aunt Alexandra - Atticus' sister; thinks she knows what's best for 'the family'; very proud of her heritage; tries to make Scout behave like a girl
- Uncle Jack - Atticus' younger brother; a doctor; more popular than Alexandra; doesn't really understand children
- Tom Robinson - accused of raping Mayella Ewell; a mockingbird; victim of prejudice
- Mayella Ewell - accuses Tom Robinson of raping her; abused by her father?; the eldest of the current generation of Ewell children; doesn't understand basic manners (thinks Atticus is making fun of her when he calls her 'ma'am'
- Dill - real name Charles Baker Harris; stays in Maycomb during the summer holidays with his aunt; has a very active imagination; sensitive
- Boo Radley - a "malevolent phantom"; one of the mockingbirds in the book; a victim of Maycomb's prejudice; WANTS to stay inside the houseleaves the children gifts in a tree;
- Calpurnia - the Finch family's black cook; pretty much raised Scout and Jem; a lot more educated than most coloured people of the time; reliable; has a life outside of the Finch home
