Transcript Point of View and Genealogy

Chapters 1-11 (Part I)
Wrap Up
To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee
Point of View and Scout
The novel is told from first person point of view.
The narrator uses “I” and “Me” to describe events in
the novel.
The narrator: Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, a 6 year old
girl.
Scout is the adult narrator in the novel, but Scout, the
child, takes part in the action of the novel and
engages in the dialogue.
The narrator is an ADULT, but she retells the events
as she remembers experiencing them as a child.
Harper Lee is Scout
Harper Lee, the author, is a woman.
Scout represents the author as a little girl
although the story is not strictly autobiographical.
The novel is shaped by a young girl who sees
the story from a position of naïve acceptance.
Advantages and Disadvantages
of First Person Point of View
Advantages:
Draws reader/viewer into story and character when one who
is a part of the story tells it.
Makes story and narrator believable.
Interesting combination of Scout as the narrator and as the
child protagonist.
Disadvantages:
Her perspective is limited to what she saw and felt at the time.
Scout, the child, does not understand the full meaning of what
she observes, but her childlike perceptions are a source of
humor.
“Atticus was feeble: he was nearly 50” (Lee 89).
John Hale Finch
“Uncle Jack”
Atticus’ brother
10 years younger than Atticus
Studies medicine
Atticus invested in his education
Alexandra Finch
Atticus’ sister
Remained at “Finch’s Landing”
Married a taciturn man who spent time lying in
his hammock
Atticus Finch
Grew up in “Finch’s Landing”
Was taught at home by his father
Attended law school and practiced law in Maycomb
Town lawyer
Represented his county in State Legislature
“He liked Maycomb, he was Maycomb county born and bred” (Lee 5).
Related to nearly everyone in Maycomb.
Widower
Father to Scout and Jem
“He played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment”
(Lee 6).
Atticus’ Wife
15 years younger than Atticus
She died from a heart attack when Scout was 2
and Jem was 6
Jem remembered her clearly and missed her,
Scout did not
Calpurnia
Atticus’ black cook/housekeeper
Was all angles and bones
Nearsighted; she squinted
Wide, hard hand which she used to discipline Scout
“Tyrannical presence” (Lee 6).
Always ordering Scout about
She always won the battles with Scout because
“Atticus always took her side” (Lee 6).
Mother-figure to Jem & Scout
Charles Baker Harris “DILL”
Seven years old
From Meridan, Mississippi
Spends every summer with his aunt, Ms. Rachel (Finch neighbor)
His mother’s a photographer; does not have a father
Won $5 in a photo contest; used it to see the same movie twenty
times
“Dill was a curiosity” (Lee 7).
Plays with his cowlick
Spent the summer playing with Jem and Scout
They improved their tree house
They produced plays they wrote, based on books they read
Fascinated by the Radley place and Boo Radley
Gave them the “idea of making Boo Radley come out” (Lee 8).
The Radley Place
3 doors south of the Finches
Low house; once white but darkened to a slate-gray
Rain-rotted shingles
Oak trees kept the sun away
Unswept yard filled with weeds
“Malevolent phantom” (Lee 8) lived inside the house;
Jem/Scout have never seen him
Many people fear the Radley Place and cross the
street to avoid it
Any lost ball in the Radley’s yard remains there.
The Radleys
Lived with their two children
Kept to themselves; “unforgivable in Maycomb”
(Lee 9).
Did not go to church; principle recreation in
Maycomb; worshiped at home
Mrs. Radley never had coffee with her neighbors
nor did she take part in missionary work
Their shutters and doors were closed every
Sunday; kept their shades drawn to discourage
visitors
Never participated in Sunday formal afternoon
visiting
Mr. Radley
Thin, leathery man
Colorless eyes; did not reflect light
Sharp cheekbones; wide mouth
Ramrod straight posture
Made a living doing nothing; “bought cotton” (Lee 9)
Walked to town at 11:30 am every morning and returned home exactly at
12 pm carrying a brown paper bag
Never spoke to Jem and Scout
Calpurnia refers to him as, “the meanest man ever God blew breath into”
(Lee 12).
Kept his son, Boo, out of sight
Jem figured he kept his son chained to the bed, but Atticus felt “it wasn’t
that sort of thing, that there were other ways of making people into
ghosts” (Lee 11).
After his death Mr. Nathan Radley, Boo’s brother, returned from
Pensacola and took his place
Arthur Radley (BOO)
According to Jem…
He was 6 and a half feet tall
Ate raw squirrels and cats
Had blood-stained hands
Long jagged scar on his face
Yellow, rotten teeth
Drooled
BOO Radley
People in Maycomb said …
Arthur goes out at night after the town is asleep
He was responsible for any crimes committed in
town
He peeped into windows at night
He breathed on azalea’s (flowers) and froze
them
Boo Radley
The Real Story…
Got into trouble with a wrong crowd of boys;
came before a judge for disorderly conduct
Rather than being sent to a state school by the
judge, Arthur was released in his father’s care
Mr. Radley guaranteed that “[he would see to it]
that Arthur gave no further trouble” (Lee 10).
As a result Arthur was not seen again for 15
years
As a result the doors of the Radley house closed
on weekdays as well as Sundays
BOO: The Real Story
(continued)
At age 33, Arthur reportedly drove the
scissors into his father’s leg
Mrs. Radley ran outside and started to
scream, “Arthur was killing [us] all” (Lee 11)
Boo’s reaction: He continued to cut the
newspaper like nothing was wrong
After being temporarily locked up in the
courtroom basement for a while, he was
taken home by his father
From that day on people said “the [Radley]
house died” (Lee 12).
Miss Caroline Fisher
Scout’s teacher
21 years old
Bright auburn hair
Pink cheeks
Crimson nail polish
Wore high heels and a dress
“She looked and smelled like a
peppermint drop” (Lee 16).
Lived in a room at Miss
Maudie’s house
Jem has a crush on her
From Winston County in
North Alabama
Beliefs much different form
Maycomb County
“When Alabama seceded from
the Union…Winston County
seceded from Alabama, and
every child in Maycomb
County knew it” (Lee 16).
Conflict with Miss Caroline
With Scout
With Walter Cunningham
Seemed unaware that the
children were, “immune to
imaginative literature.”
Offers him a quarter to eat
downtown.
Tells Scout to tell Atticus
not to teach her how to
read anymore.
Walter refuses.
Scout gives in to Miss
Caroline’s accusations
She is “introducing a new
way of teaching” (Lee 18).
Scout tries to explain the
Cunningham’s and gets
herself in trouble
Scout gets hit on the palm
with a ruler for being
disrespectful
Think about this…
“My sojourn in the corner
was a short one. Saved by
the bell, Miss Caroline
watched the class file out
for lunch. As I was about
to leave, I saw her sink
down into her chair and
bury her head in her arms.
Had her conduct been
more friendly toward me, I
would have felt sorry for
her. She was a pretty little
thing” (Lee 22).
1.
How do you think that
Miss Caroline is feeling at
the end of Chapter 2?
2.
Why?
3.
Was Scout’s first day of
school all she thought it
was going to be?
4.
What proof can you find in
the text to support your
answer?
Conflict Caused by Walter
Between Jem and Scout
Between Calpurnia and
Scout
Between Scout and Atticus
At the schoolyard,
resulting in Jem inviting
Walter for dinner
At dinner when Walter
covers everything in
syrup
Scout wants Atticus to
fire Calpurnia, but he
says that he never will
The same afternoon…
Conflict between…
Events of the day…
Burris has creatures crawling
out of his hair
Burris Ewell
Miss Caroline
Chuck Little
Miss Caroline tells him to go
home and wash with lye and
kerosene
Chuck Little gets involved,
knowing that he is a Ewell foreshadowing
Burris leaves, but not before
making Miss Caroline cry in
front of the class
Maycomb’s Societal Conflicts
Although every member of the Finch family
understands the way Maycomb society works, they
do not conform to Maycomb’s rules of class.
Walter is welcomed into the home by Atticus.
The Ewell family, on the other hand, in no way fits
into Maycomb society. They even live on the edge
of town. Burris and his father refuse to obey the
school attendance rules and the hunting
regulations of Maycomb.
Society elects to turn a blind eye on these activities.
Burris Ewell vs. Walter Cunningham
A child’s behavior can be explained by his family’s last name.
“He was the filthiest human I had ever
seen” (Lee 26).
Dark grey neck
“He looked as if he had been
raised on fish food” (Lee 23).
Rusty hands
Thin because he has
hookworms - shoeless
Black fingernails
Red-rimmed and watery eyes
Cooties in his hair
Neat and clean appearance
Comes to class the first day every year
and then leaves
Has repeated first grade three times =
illiterate
No mother, drunk father
“He’s a mean one, a hard-down mean
one” (Lee 27).
Doesn’t take money offered by
Miss Caroline because , “he’s
a Cunningham” (Lee 20).
Illiterate due to family
obligations on the farm.
Social Class: Poor Whites
The Cunninghams
Poor country farmers; “The crash hit them the hardest” (Lee 21).
“They never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what
they have” (Lee 20).
They do not take what they cannot pay back; they won’t accept
handouts - Ex: Welfare
Walter won’t take lunch money even though he is starving because
he cannot repay it.
Pride: “Came from a set breed of men” (Lee 21); remain
honorable despite situation; cannot pay Atticus with money for
his legal services, so they pay him with farm crops.
Poor Whites Continued…
The Ewells
Disgrace of Maycomb for three generations
None of them had done an honest day’s work in their lives
They were people, but lived like animals
Father spends relief checks on whiskey
Lived outside local and national laws because they are poor
and ignorant - children do not attend school and father
hunts out of season
Maycombians allow this because of their name: Ewell
Lessons Scout Learns
Calpurnia teaches Scout that when people differ, Scout is not
“called on to contradict ‘em. . . ” (Lee 24).
Scout also learns from Calpurnia that guests in her home should
be treated as such.
Atticus teachers her to consider things from another person’s
point of view in order to understand that person. He indicates
that sometimes it is better to bend the law a little in special cases.
Find the quote in chapter 3 that exemplifies this.
He also tells Scout that at times it is best to ignore things. He
reminds her that Maycomb overlooks Burris’s skipping school and
Robert Ewell’s hunting out of season. He applies this to Jem in
the tree house; if Scout will ignore Jem, Jem will come down.
Stylistic Devices in Chapter 3
The repetition of sounds, or alliteration, is
used often. For instance, the reader finds
words like “snorted and slouched” and “snotnosed slut.”
Scout uses an idiom when she says that Walter
made her start off “on the wrong foot.”
Walter’s dialect is apparent as he says, “Almost
died first year I come to school and et them
pecans—folks say he pizened ‘em and put ‘em
over on the school side of the fence.”
Theme of Bravery
Once again the children must prove their bravery in the face
of many threats. Often, this is easier in a group.
The children walk by the Radley Place when they are
together, but go by “at a full gallop” when they are alone.
The children fake bravado in front of their peers, but they
allow free rein to their feelings when they are unobserved.
Bravery versus cowardice also occurs with the confrontation
of Little Chuck Little and Burris in the classroom. Little
Chuck Little, one of the smallest children in the class,
displays bravery and is able to confront Burris, “a hard-down
mean one.”
Questions:
Why do the children make Boo’s story into a game?
Whose idea is it?
What do they do in this game? What scene do they
seem to enjoy the most?
Do you think the game is an accurate version of what
happens in the Radleys’ home?
What might be the cause of laughter from inside the
house?
Answers….
The three of them act out scenes from the stories they
have heard about the Radleys.
The scene they enjoy play acting the most concerns the
rumors that Boo once stabbed his father with a pair of
scissors.
Significance of their games..
Are the children listening to Atticus advice
about trying to understand other people’s ways
or have they forgotten?
The games of Scout, Jem, and Dill have a
childish innocence, but they can be cruel.
Do you think the Radleys would appreciate
having their private problems dramatized for
the entire neighborhood?
Atticus and the Radleys
“So that’s what your doing,
wasn’t it? Makin fun of him?”
“No” said Atticus, “Putting his
life’s history on display for the
edification of the
neighborhood. Jem seemed to
swell a little. :I didn’t say we
were doin’ that, I didn’t say it!”
Atticus grinned dryly. “You just
told me,” he said. “you stop this
nonsense right now, every one
of you.”
Atticus is rarely stern
with his children.
The fact that he is being
stern shows that his
opinions toward the
Radleys differ from the
children’s opinions.
Atticus does not believe
the Radleys are bad
people.
MISS MAUDIE
Widowed lady who lives next door; “a benign
presence” (Lee 42).
Hates her house; spends as much time as possible
working outdoors in her garden
Obsessed with her flowerbeds; tends to them
despite the disapproval of the “foot washing
Baptists” (Lee 44), who accuse her of spending
too much time in such vain earthly pursuits
Religious; she finds a relationship between
maintaining beautiful things in the world and
connecting with God
Grew up with Uncle Jack Finch; teases him
Miss Maudie continued….
Forms a special friendship with Scout
(Why?)
“You’re the best lady that I know” (Lee 45).
Believes in the importance of pleasure and
the enjoyment of life
Kind, gentle person (Proof)
Allowed Scout and Jem to play in her yard;
baked them cakes; never told on them
What does Miss Maudie tell Scout about
Boo Radley?
Knows that Arthur is still alive “because [she has
not] seen him carried out yet” (Lee 43).
Says that legends about Arthur are “three fourths
colored folk and one fourth Stephanie Crawford”
(Lee 45).
She knew Arthur as a boy; “He always spoke nicely
to me, no matter what folks said he did” (Lee 46).
Tries to make Scout see that Boo is a real human
being who deserves her sympathy
Suggests Arthur’s family hold strict religious
beliefs, which have affected the way they treat him
What does Miss Maudie mean in the following
statement that she makes to Scout?
“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse
than a whiskey bottle in the hand of someone else”
(Lee 45).
Objects in The Tree
Scout and Jem find more objects
in the tree:
Figurines carved in soap
(a boy and a girl)
A pack of chewing gum
A spelling contest medal
A pocket watch and an
aluminum knife
Jem writes a thank-you note…
Dear Sir,
We appreciate everything which you have put
into the tree for us.
Yours very truly,
Jem Finch
Jean Louise Finch (Scout)
When Jem and Scout go to
deliver the letter they are
horrified to discover that the
tree has been plugged up.
Mr. Radley claimed the tree
was dying.
The children ask Atticus
about the tree and he tells
them it is healthy. However,
when they tell him what Mr.
Radley has done Atticus says
that he probably had good
reason.
Chapter 7 Analysis
The reader can infer that it is Boo Radley leaving
the objects in the tree
The objects represent someone who is generous
and thoughtful, yet with few social skills
Mr. Radley discourages this interaction
Jem is upset by this; yet this indicates that he is
mourning the passing of childish things as he
moves closer to adulthood.
Chapter 8 Summary
A harsh winter comes to Maycomb.
Mr. Avery blames the children for the inclement
weather.
Mrs. Radley dies and Atticus visits the Radley
household.
Snow arrives and Jem and Scout build a snowman
that looks like Mr. Avery.
Atticus says that perhaps the children should make
the snowman a little less realistic.
On a bitterly cold night, Miss Maudie’s house
catches fire.
Atticus has the children stand safely by the
Radley house.
Atticus saves Miss Maudie’s most prized
possession.
Miss Maudie’s house collapses.
Scout has a blanket wrapped around her
shoulders and the children realize that Boo must
have done it.
Chapter 8 Analysis
Throughout the novel, the location of people
and events inside or outside of houses speaks
toward themes of the book.
For example, those who willfully stay inside
are corrupted by the prejudices of society
(Mrs. Dubose), yet those who are forced to
stay inside are victims of society (Boo Radley
and Tom). Those who are outside, are free
and think freely.
Atticus is the exception
The presence of his office provides him a
different type of “house”.
He is tied into the fabric of society yet is also
outside of it.
His daily walks show that he is a part of those
in the outside world, the free thinkers.
This is symbolic of the fact that his morals are
the same whether at work or at home.
Chapter 9 Summary
Cecil Jacobs, a boy at school, teases Scout about
Atticus defending Tom Robinson
Later, Scout asks Atticus why he is taking the
case, Atticus responds that if he didn’t he would
not be able to “hold up my head in town” or even
tell his children what to do
He explains the importance of this case and how
it will affect him personally
Atticus advises Scout not to fight
Scout listens to this advice and is able to keep this
up until Christmas
The Finches go to Finch’s landing for Christmas
They are spending the holiday with Uncle Jack and
Aunt Alexandra
Aunt Alexandra tells Scout she should be more
ladylike; this upsets Scout
Francis calls Atticus names
Scout punches Francis
The Finches return home
Chapter 9 Analysis
Atticus knows the Robinson trial will be difficult
for the children
He knows the case is hopeless because the jury
simply won’t believe a black man’s word against a
white man’s
Atticus will defend Tom anyway because he must
follow his conscience and set an example
He believes that if he is false in his work than he
cannot be true to his family
Characters: Scout
Scout is seeking to maintain
her own identity
She is a tomboy
Adventurous
Curious
Tough
Intelligent
Aunt Alexandra:
dominating
strong
traditional
She has strong opinions about
how Scout should behave. Thus,
she imposes her ideas of what a
“Southern lady” should be.
Chapter 10 Summary
Scout and Jem do not think their father can “do
anything”
He does not do physical work
He wears glasses
Instead of hunting, he sits and reads inside
The children received air guns for Christmas and
Atticus tells them the following:
Titular line:
(where the title comes from)
Atticus said to Jem, "I'd rather you shot at tin
cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after
birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can
hit ‘em, but remember it's a sin to kill a
mockingbird." That was the only time I ever
heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something.
"You're father's right," she said. "Mockingbirds
don't do one thing but make music for us to
enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't
nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but
sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to
kill a mockingbird" (Lee 98).
“One-Shot Finch”
A rabid dog named Tim Johnson is loose in the
neighborhood
Atticus reluctantly picks up a gun to shoot the dog
Jem is dumbstruck because Atticus is such a good
shot
Atticus Finch
Does not like using a gun because it gives him an
unfair advantage
He puts aside this moral for a higher goal: the
protection of human life
Atticus does not want his own children to inflict
cruelty upon the innocent mockingbirds
His warning emphasizes that those with power
must be careful not to use it cruelly
Mrs. Dubose
o
neighbor to the Finches
o
elderly
o
spends most of her day in a wheelchair
o
rumored that she keeps a pistol
o
Physical Description:
Old
Face the color of a dirty pillowcase
Has liver spots
Pale eyes
Knobby hands
Lip protrudes
Mrs. Dubose Actions:
Criticizes Jem and Scout
Yells racial slurs about Atticus
Attempts to kick her morphine habit
Mrs. Dubose’s words:
Yells at the children: “…hey you ugly girl!” (Lee 99).
Calls Atticus trash for defending a black man
Calls Atticus a “nigger-lover” (Lee 108).
Scout, Jem and Mrs.. Dubose
Opinions of other characters:
“Jem and I hated her” (Lee 99).
vicious
Mean
Old
nasty
Atticus’s View of Mrs. Dubose
“She’s an old lady and she’s ill” (Lee 100).
He knows she is a morphine addict and she was
determined to kick the habit before her death.
“She died beholden to nothing and nobody” (Lee
112).
“…she was a great lady” (Lee 112).
“She was the bravest person I ever knew” (Lee
112).