List of To Kill a Mockingbird characters
's To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960. Instantly successful, widely read in middle and high schools in the United States, it has become a classic of modern American literature, winning the Pulitzer Prize. She wrote the novel Go Set a Watchman in the mid-1950s and published it in July 2015 as a sequel to Mockingbird, but it was later confirmed to be merely her first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. Multiple attempts to get To Kill a Mockingbird banned have failed and have never lasted for long.
Main Characters
Atticus Finch
Atticus Finch is the father of Jem and Scout Finch. He is a lawyer who appears to support racial equality and is appointed to represent Tom Robinson, a black man who has been accused of raping a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. The town disapproves of his defending Tom especially when he makes clear his intent to defend Tom Robinson to the best of his abilities. He is an honest person who tries to help everyone he could. Once known as "One-shot Finch" and "the deadest shot in Maycomb County", he is the moral center of the story.He is portrayed by Gregory Peck in the film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Scout Finch
Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, as an adult, is the narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. She comments on how she could not understand something at the time but now can appreciate it. She gets into trouble with Miss Caroline, her teacher because she is expected to learn reading and writing her way. She is a tomboy and spends most of her time with her brother Jem and best friend Dill. To Jem's advice to pretend to "be a lady and start sewing or something", she answers, "Hell, no". The hints the narrator gives us about her grown-up life reveal that she has not attempted to change herself to please.She matures from age 6 to age 9 as the novel progresses but remains naive and idealistic, despite an increased understanding of human nature and racism in her town. At the beginning of the book, Scout is confused by some of the words and names she hears people directing toward her father, such as "black man-lover". Being only six, Scout does not know how to handle such situations, so she tries to resolve her problems by fighting, or by talking to Atticus about what she has heard. By the end of the book, Scout realizes that racism does exist and comes to terms with its presence in her town. Scout also learns how to deal with others, including the Finch family housekeeper, Calpurnia, and her aunt, Alexandra. Scout is the only one of the novel's primary three children to see and speak to Boo Radley during the course of the novel and realize that he is harmless, despite her initial fear of him. She unintentionally stops a mob about to lynch Tom Robinson by talking to the mob leader, Mr. Cunningham, who she knows as Walter Cunningham's father.
She is portrayed by Mary Badham in the film.
Jem Finch
Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch is Atticus' son and Scout's older brother by four years. Jem's progression into adult maturity is apparent throughout the course of the novel. He is seen to have a greater understanding of the obstacles thrown their way. Jem explains many things to Scout throughout the novel. Bob Ewell breaks Jem's arm during his assault on the Finch children, subsequently resulting in it being shorter than it had been.He is portrayed by Phillip Alford in the film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird.
At the beginning of Go Set a Watchman, an earlier draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem has already died of the heart condition that killed their mother.
Dill Harris
Charles Baker "Dill" Harris is a short, smart boy who visits Maycomb every summer from Meridian, Mississippi and stays with his Aunt Rachel. Dill is the best friend of both Jem and Scout, and his goal throughout the novel is to get Boo Radley to come out of his house. The children concoct many plans to lure Boo Radley out of his house for a few summers until Atticus tells them to stop. In chapter 5 of the novel, Dill promises to marry Scout and they become "engaged." One night Dill runs away from his home, arriving in Maycomb County where he hides under Scout's bed. When she finds Dill, he tells both Scout and Atticus that he was chained to a wall in his father's basement; later, he confesses he actually ran away because he felt he was being replaced by his stepfather.Unlike Scout and Jem, Dill lacks the security of family support. He is unwanted and unloved by his mother and stepfather. Francis Hancock implies he hasn't got a home, he just gets passed around from one relative to another. Dill maintains he has no father but does not know whether his father is alive or not; or if he will ever see him again.
He is played by John Megna in the film. Dill Harris is believed to be based on a childhood friend of Harper Lee, the author Truman Capote.
Calpurnia
Calpurnia, nicknamed Cal, is the Finch family's African-American housekeeper, whom the children love and Atticus deeply respects. She is an important figure in Scout's life, providing discipline, instruction, and love. She also fills the maternal role for the children after their mother's death. Calpurnia is a mother herself and raised her son, Zeebo, to adulthood. Calpurnia is one of the few black characters in the novel who is able to read and write, and it is she who taught Scout to write. She learned how to read from Miss Maudie's aunt, Miss Buford, who taught her how to read out of Blackstone's Commentaries, a book given to her. Aunt Alexandra initially despised Calpurnia because Alexandra believed that Calpurnia was not a "maternal figure" for Jem and Scout, especially for Scout, but later develops some respect for her.Calpurnia is a member of the First Purchase M.E. African Church in Maycomb. While Scout always hears her speak "proper" English, she is surprised to learn that Calpurnia does not do so at church, especially with the uneducated members of the congregation.
While everyone in the novel is filtered through Scout's perception, Calpurnia appears for a long time more as Scout's idea of her than as a real person. At the beginning of the novel, Scout appears to think of Calpurnia as the wicked stepmother to Scout's own Cinderella. However, towards the end of the book, Scout views Calpurnia as someone she can look up to, and realizes Calpurnia has only protected her over the years. She is played by Estelle Evans in the film.