Characters

Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch

Scout is the main protagonist of the nove. The story takes place during her years of growing up and maturing. As it begins, she is six years old. she is the daughter of Atticus Finch. She is very curious about various topics; school, her neighbor, Boo Radley, and all the strange people living in the town. She does not want to act like a "lady", and prefers to run around and play all day in overalls, and jeans, than sit and do nothing in a dress. She loves to sit on her father's lap and have him read stories to her. She really loves to read, and gets very upset when her teacher tells her to stop reading since she is so far ahead of her classmates. She lives with her widowed father, older brother and their black cook.

Atticus Finch

Atticus is the town's most respected lawyer. He is not wealthy, but he is well off in the community and kind towards everyone. He has been assigned a case of defending a black man accused of rape. Now he is both revered and reviled by the townspeople. After all, they do live in the south in the early 1930's. Atticus gives a lot of advice to his children. He tells them that they cannot judge people until they "climb into their skin and walk around in it".

Jeremy Atticus ‘Jem’ Finch

Jem is Scout's older brother. He is 10 as the story begins, and 13 at its end.He is very wise for his age, and also very emotional. He takes after his father Atticus a lot. He is more easy-going and not as adventurous as Scout.

Tom Robinson

Tom is the black man who was accused of rape by Mayella Ewell. He is a young man who works around the town doing labor. He was hired by Mayella to do chores for her. He is strong and a hard worker, even though his left arm is shriveled and useless. He is innocent of the crime, but because he is black, he is considered guilty by the townspeople.

Calpurnia

Calpurnia is the black maid and cook of the Finch household. She acts like a mother figure towards Scout, as in the scene where Scout unknowingly insults a poor neighbor boy, and Calpurnia teaches her how to behave.

Arthur 'Boo' Radley

Boo Radley lives near the Finches. He is the subject of various rumors because he never comes out of his house. All of the children in Maycomb are afraid of him. He only appears once during the novel, but this is a crucial episode in the book.

Charles Baker 'Dill' Harris

He visits his aunt, Miss Rachel Haverford, during the summer months. He is seven yeas old and has a very vivid imagination. He has the ability to thinks up all sorts of new make-believe games that the children enjoy playing.

Miss Maudie Atkinson

She is a neighbor of the Finch family and knows Atticus' friend for many years. She respects Atticus and shares his beliefs of all people being equal regardless of their color.

Aunt Alexandra

She is Atticus' sister. She wishes to make Scout behave like a "lady", and she takes her to a party with all of her older women friends. She doesn't approve of Atticus' defense of a black man, even though he is innocent. She is very concerned about how the Finch family is seen in the community and doesn't want them to do anything that will make the town go against them

Bob Ewell

Bob is the head of the least respected and most hated family in the town. They live like animals and are always dirty and illiterate. They are not included in any part of the town, as they are considered too low and animal-like to go with whites, and they are white, so they can't go with the blacks. The Ewell children only go to school on the first day, and they are never bathed or in good clothes. They just go that one day to get their records in, then they never attend another school day. Bob is an older man, who is very selfish and cruel. He tries to kill Jem at the end, and he is the one who most likely raped Mayella, his daughter.

Mayella Ewell

Mayella is the daughter of Bob Ewell. She is a teenager, who is very lonely and emotional. No one has ever liked her, and when Tom tries to be nice to her, she accuses him of rape. She lives at the end of town in squalor with her father and other brothers and sisters

Walter Cunningham

Walter is a classmate of Scout who is extremely poor. He is very nice. He is very thin because he has various diseases like hookworm. It is because of Walter's dad that Atticus is not harmed in the incident at the jail.

Mrs. Dubose

She is a very old woman who lives near the Finch family. One time when Jem and Scout walk past her house, she starts to yell at them from her window. She says that Jem should be sent to reform school, and that Scout should quit wearing overalls and start acting like a lady. She then criticizes Atticus, which enrages Jem and Scout.