A small-town lawyer, a wrongful conviction, and the neighbor nobody ever sees.
Who drives the story
The narrator, a tomboy looking back on her six-to-nine-year-old self. She fights first and thinks later, until the trial and Boo Radley teach her to see from inside other people's skins.
Scout and Jem's widowed father, a lawyer who defends Tom Robinson knowing he'll lose. The town's moral center, who hides a marksman's past and teaches his children that real courage is starting when you're already licked.
Scout's older brother, who believes in justice until the jury destroys his faith. He cries at the verdict and carries the book's deepest wound.
The reclusive neighbor the children terrorize in their imaginations, who answers with gifts in a tree and finally saves their lives. The mockingbird of the title, in human form.
The black field hand accused of raping Mayella Ewell, with a crippled left arm that makes the charge impossible. Convicted by a jury that won't look at him, then shot seventeen times escaping prison.
Mayella's father, the town's trash, who beats his daughter and gets Tom convicted anyway. Humiliated at trial, he spits on Atticus and finally attacks the Finch children in the dark.
The Finches' black cook, who raises the children and bridges two worlds, speaking one way at the Finch house and another at her church.
Also in the story
The lonely, abused white woman whose false accusation dooms Tom. She broke the town's code by kissing a black man and pays for it with his life.
The summer friend from Meridian who dreams up the Boo Radley games and declares he'll be a clown, because laughing at folks is all he can do about them.
The Finches' neighbor and straight-talker, who explains the mockingbird, the mad dog, and why some men are born to do our unpleasant jobs.
How they are connected
She fights first and thinks later, until the trial and Boo Radley teach her to see from inside other people's skins.
Scout and Jem's widowed father, a lawyer who defends Tom Robinson knowing he'll lose.
Scout and Jem's widowed father, a lawyer who defends Tom Robinson knowing he'll lose.
Scout and Jem's widowed father, a lawyer who defends Tom Robinson knowing he'll lose.
Scout's older brother, who believes in justice until the jury destroys his faith.
The black field hand accused of raping Mayella Ewell, with a crippled left arm that makes the charge impossible.
Mayella's father, the town's trash, who beats his daughter and gets Tom convicted anyway.
Mayella's father, the town's trash, who beats his daughter and gets Tom convicted anyway.
Humiliated at trial, he spits on Atticus and finally attacks the Finch children in the dark.
The summer friend from Meridian who dreams up the Boo Radley games and declares he'll be a clown, because laughing at folks is all he can do about them.
Go deeper
Racial injustice · Courage · Empathy · Innocence lost
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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