To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
Plot & THeme
Alex's Plot Overview
In the start of the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird", by Harper Lee, the main character Scout narrates her life with her widowed father Atticus and older brother Jem. In the first few chapters they meet a boy no older than Scout, named Dill. Dill comes to Maycomb County to stay with his aunt Rachel every summer. Scout, Jem and Dill go on countless adventures to find the rumored ghost man, Boo Radley. When Boo was a teenager he got into a bit of trouble and got arrested. His father Mr. Radley, bailed him out and promised that he wouldn't ever get in trouble again; no one saw him since. Between the story and the rumors, Jem, Scout, and Dill are curious if it's true. They want to see if any of these rumors are real, so they try a series of tests. They try things from knocking on the door, to writing him a letter and stick it through his window! Although, children do have short attention spans, so the Radley house was soon forgotten when Atticus' big court case came up. In the case Atticus has to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who apparently raped Mayella Ewell. As the case progressed you could tell that Mr. Gilmer was very racist and subjective in stating his claims. Atticus was whipping out the educated facts and his claims were way more believable! In the end Atticus fails even though Tom was innocent, but i feel like the kids really learn what this world was really like around this time. Even though Tom was proven guilty, the town still believed more in Atticus' facts than they did in Mr. Ewell's biased claims. So he took his anger out on Scout and Jem! After he hurt the kids he killed himslef. Even though death isn't something to be happy about, in the end everything turned out alright.
Casie's Plot Overview
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the begins with Scout, the narrator, talking about her town Maycomb and what goes there. Scout explains her and her brother Jem’s adventures.Scout and Jem soon come across a boy named Dill. Dill joins them in their adventures and becomes curious with the Radley house as well. Throughout parts of the book, Scout, Jem, and Dill are very suspicious of the Radley house because of its many legends that have been told about it. The three constantly attempt to discover if the stories about Boo Radley are true. Boo Radley is portrayed as almost insane. Dill comes up with all these plans to makes Boo come outside, and each time they get into some sort of trouble. Dill eventually leaves to go back home at the end of summer. Scout later experiences her first day at school. She dislikes it very much and protests it. When Jem and Scout were walking home, they found little items in a tree by the Radley house. Over time, they continued to find little things in the hole in the tree. This caused them to be very suspicious.
Finally, school was over for Jem and Scout and summer was beginning. Their friend Dill returned and he was still very curious about Boo Radley. Scout, Jem, and Dill continue discussing the stories about Boo Radley. They get the idea to start acting out the stories. After a long time of acting out, Atticus - Scout and Jem’s father - caught them doing it and told them to stop. Atticus tells them to think about how life is like from another person’s point of view before they judge them. This causes them to rethink their actions and they stop acting out the Radley story. On Dill’s last night before he leaves, the three attempt to sneak into the Radley property. They successfully enter the property. But then, they are spotted by Nathan Radley and he shoots at them. Scout, Jem, and Dill try to escape the property. During the escape, Jem loses his pants on a fence. He later goes back for them at night only to discover them fixed and folded. Jem and Scout start to become suspicious thinking it’s Boo Radley.
Later in year when walking home from school Jem and Scout find more “presents” in the tree by the Radley house. Again they are excited to find these items, but also suspicious on who is putting them there. One day when walking home from school, they were anxious to find what would be in the tree. When they got there, they found that the hole in the tree was filled in by cement. Disappointed, Jem and Scout go home. Later that night, a fire breaks lose in a neighbor’s house. Scout, Jem, and Atticus go outside to watch it. When they were about to go back home. Scout discovers a blanket on her shoulders. Her and Jem start to make theories on how it got there. They make the assumption that it was Boo Radley. Jem tells Atticus about the items in the tree and how he found his pants fixed and folded.
Eventually Atticus accepts to defend Tom Robinson in a court case. Tom Robinson was a black man in the town. He was accused of raping a white woman. During the trial Atticus provides evidence that the supposed victim Mayella and her father Mr. Ewell are lying. Unfortunately Tom Robinson was sent to jail anyway. He later attempts to escape jail, but is shot to death.
Mr. Ewell, still being angry about what happened during the case, attacks Scout and Jem while they were walking home. To their surprise, Boo Radley saved them by stabbing Mr. Ewell. Boo returns the two back to their house. The sheriff protects Boo by saying that Mr. Ewell tripped into his own knife. After sitting with Boo, Scout realizes that Boo is just a normal person. Again, her father’s words come back about imagining what life is like for someone before judging them.
Finally, school was over for Jem and Scout and summer was beginning. Their friend Dill returned and he was still very curious about Boo Radley. Scout, Jem, and Dill continue discussing the stories about Boo Radley. They get the idea to start acting out the stories. After a long time of acting out, Atticus - Scout and Jem’s father - caught them doing it and told them to stop. Atticus tells them to think about how life is like from another person’s point of view before they judge them. This causes them to rethink their actions and they stop acting out the Radley story. On Dill’s last night before he leaves, the three attempt to sneak into the Radley property. They successfully enter the property. But then, they are spotted by Nathan Radley and he shoots at them. Scout, Jem, and Dill try to escape the property. During the escape, Jem loses his pants on a fence. He later goes back for them at night only to discover them fixed and folded. Jem and Scout start to become suspicious thinking it’s Boo Radley.
Later in year when walking home from school Jem and Scout find more “presents” in the tree by the Radley house. Again they are excited to find these items, but also suspicious on who is putting them there. One day when walking home from school, they were anxious to find what would be in the tree. When they got there, they found that the hole in the tree was filled in by cement. Disappointed, Jem and Scout go home. Later that night, a fire breaks lose in a neighbor’s house. Scout, Jem, and Atticus go outside to watch it. When they were about to go back home. Scout discovers a blanket on her shoulders. Her and Jem start to make theories on how it got there. They make the assumption that it was Boo Radley. Jem tells Atticus about the items in the tree and how he found his pants fixed and folded.
Eventually Atticus accepts to defend Tom Robinson in a court case. Tom Robinson was a black man in the town. He was accused of raping a white woman. During the trial Atticus provides evidence that the supposed victim Mayella and her father Mr. Ewell are lying. Unfortunately Tom Robinson was sent to jail anyway. He later attempts to escape jail, but is shot to death.
Mr. Ewell, still being angry about what happened during the case, attacks Scout and Jem while they were walking home. To their surprise, Boo Radley saved them by stabbing Mr. Ewell. Boo returns the two back to their house. The sheriff protects Boo by saying that Mr. Ewell tripped into his own knife. After sitting with Boo, Scout realizes that Boo is just a normal person. Again, her father’s words come back about imagining what life is like for someone before judging them.
Alex's Theme
Good and evil are the foundations of our world. The theme of this book is how good and evil both exist in the world. This is the theme is because, we have people like Atticus and we have people like Mr. Ewell. What this means is that, in this situation someone like Atticus is the good and someone like Mr. Ewell is the bad. Atticus is an example of the good because, even though he lived in a racist world, he truly believed all men are equal. He decided defend Tom Robinson against a white man even though he knew he wouldn’t win. Atticus knew that the only reason he wouldn’t win was because Tom was black. Although, even at those odds, he still defended him until the end. Even though he lost, the entire town knew that the case should’ve been in his favor. Martin Luther King was a similar situation, when a big part of the nation agreed with him but the part that had the greatest power disagreed.
Mr. Ewell is the evil. Mr. Ewell was the one who hurt his daughter but he basically brain-washed Mayella into believing that Tom Robinson raped her. He knew that the jury would obviously pick his side no matter what he said; whenever he walked down the street he heard horrible whispers and gossip being spread around the county about him, so it was easy to pull this off. He beat his daughter and is racist to any man that isn’t white; he ruined this mans life, he had a family, a wife and a child! He didn’t care; to Mr. Ewell Tom Robinson was like the trash in his yard.
I used Atticus and Mr. Well as the example because they are in a way the antagonist and protagonist of this book. Mr. Ewell is a lying, abusive, racist man, and Atticus is a kind, wise, loving man. Yin and yang, they are the good and evil and they are both existing in the world together, constantly battling one another. They always will be fighting, sometimes the good prevails and sometimes the bad prevails, and sometimes, they cancel each other out, so we’ll never have too much of either side.
Mr. Ewell is the evil. Mr. Ewell was the one who hurt his daughter but he basically brain-washed Mayella into believing that Tom Robinson raped her. He knew that the jury would obviously pick his side no matter what he said; whenever he walked down the street he heard horrible whispers and gossip being spread around the county about him, so it was easy to pull this off. He beat his daughter and is racist to any man that isn’t white; he ruined this mans life, he had a family, a wife and a child! He didn’t care; to Mr. Ewell Tom Robinson was like the trash in his yard.
I used Atticus and Mr. Well as the example because they are in a way the antagonist and protagonist of this book. Mr. Ewell is a lying, abusive, racist man, and Atticus is a kind, wise, loving man. Yin and yang, they are the good and evil and they are both existing in the world together, constantly battling one another. They always will be fighting, sometimes the good prevails and sometimes the bad prevails, and sometimes, they cancel each other out, so we’ll never have too much of either side.
Casie's Theme
The theme in To Kill a Mockingbird is that there will always be good and evil people in the world. Scout, Jem, and Atticus are characters that would represent the good in the world. People like Mr. Ewell could represent the evil.
Scout, Jem, and Atticus represent good because they are all good-hearted people. They help people no matter what their race. Although they run into trouble a few times, they still find a way out of it without hurting people. Scout and Jem are both still children. They both get into a lot of trouble due to their young age and curiosity as most children do, but this does not make them bad people. They still have a good heart. Unlike most of their town, they are not racist and do not judge people by how they look based on their race. When Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson, many people make fun of him for defending a colored person. Atticus does not give up. He continues to try his hardest to defend someone even when a majority of the town was against him.
Mr. Ewell is one character that represents evil. He is a racist, and does not tolerate many people and simply does not care about others. When he frames an innocent man named Tom Robinson for raping his daughter, he really shows as a bad person. He takes the case to court and continues to lie to the judge. Although Atticus proves Mr. Ewell is lying, the court still votes against him because of his face. Tom Robinson was sent to jail even after the evidence Atticus provides.
There are many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird that represent good and evil that can show the theme that there will always be good and bad people. Also many situations that occur in the book can show the theme too. Such as Tom Robinson’s court case - even though Atticus proved that he was innocent Tom was still sent to jail. Another situation could be when Mr. Ewell attacked Jem and Scout. That shows evil because Mr. Ewell continued to hold a grudge against Atticus even after the court case. The good in that part is that Boo Radley saved Jem and Scout from being attacked by Mr. Ewell. This shows good because Boo Radley had the bravery to risk his safety to help the two kids.
Scout, Jem, and Atticus represent good because they are all good-hearted people. They help people no matter what their race. Although they run into trouble a few times, they still find a way out of it without hurting people. Scout and Jem are both still children. They both get into a lot of trouble due to their young age and curiosity as most children do, but this does not make them bad people. They still have a good heart. Unlike most of their town, they are not racist and do not judge people by how they look based on their race. When Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson, many people make fun of him for defending a colored person. Atticus does not give up. He continues to try his hardest to defend someone even when a majority of the town was against him.
Mr. Ewell is one character that represents evil. He is a racist, and does not tolerate many people and simply does not care about others. When he frames an innocent man named Tom Robinson for raping his daughter, he really shows as a bad person. He takes the case to court and continues to lie to the judge. Although Atticus proves Mr. Ewell is lying, the court still votes against him because of his face. Tom Robinson was sent to jail even after the evidence Atticus provides.
There are many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird that represent good and evil that can show the theme that there will always be good and bad people. Also many situations that occur in the book can show the theme too. Such as Tom Robinson’s court case - even though Atticus proved that he was innocent Tom was still sent to jail. Another situation could be when Mr. Ewell attacked Jem and Scout. That shows evil because Mr. Ewell continued to hold a grudge against Atticus even after the court case. The good in that part is that Boo Radley saved Jem and Scout from being attacked by Mr. Ewell. This shows good because Boo Radley had the bravery to risk his safety to help the two kids.