“He liked Maycomb, he
In this summary of Atticus, it was Maycomb County further proves earlier stated born and bred; he observations of the town of knew his people, they Maycomb. The town is so close, knew him, and that most people are relatives. because of Simon
Atticus is obviously very attached
Finch’s industry, to the town considering the fact
Atticus was related by that he has yet to move. Perhaps blood or marriage to he feels some emotional nearly every family in connections to the town because the town” (Lee 6). that is where his wife died.
Throughout the book, he seems to be okay with the fact that everyone knows everyone else’s business in Maycomb. In fact he seems to be the policeman of gossip. He tells Jem and Scout what is true about the town and its people and what is not true.
1
“Inside the house lived Boo Radley is characterized by Character Boo a malevolent phantom. darkness and anonymity. No one
Radley
People said he went truly knows who Boo Radley is. I out at night when the believe that Harper Lee wanted mood was down and
Boo to appear this way because peeped in windows” in the end, he is the unexpected
(Lee 10). protagonist that saves Scout and
Jem from being attacked. He seems like a very mysterious man, and Scout describes him as a creepy man, that watches people at night. Though Scout says that she has never seen
Boo herself, she listens carefully to the already formed opinions of the other townspeople and soon establishes her own opinion about Boo.
1
“We looked at her in surprise, for Calpurnia rarely commented on
This sentence interests me because throughout this book, I found Calpurnia one of the most
Character
Atticus Finch
Theme Social
Class
27
the ways of white people” (Lee 15).
levelheaded people in this entire book. This passage shows the social class difference between
AfricanAmericans and
Caucasians. Calpurnia hardly ever comments on white people, most likely to keep from making negative comments, which would probably only get her into trouble. However, I also find it interesting that though Calpurnia is the “help” in the Finch house,
Atticus, Jem, and Scout, seem to treat her as the mother figure in the household as they come to her for advice and receive her reprimands, and in turn,
Calpurnia shows them what is right and wrong.
“‘Teach me?’ I said in surprise. ‘He hasn’t taught me anything,
Miss Caroline. Atticus ain’t got time to teach me anything,’ I added, when Miss Caroline smiled and shook her head’” (Lee 22).
In this sentence, this shows that
Scout is a sweet girl that just wants to please her teacher on her very first day of school. Her teacher, Miss Caroline, is insisting that she stop learning how to read from her father.
Scout seems to be proud that she can read as well as she can.
This is important because it lets all of the readers know that
Scout is more intellectually developed than most children are at 5 years old. As Scout tries to appease her teacher by telling her that she doesn’t learn from
Atticus and the teacher doesn’t thinks she’s telling the truth.
Scout just wants her first day of school to go perfectly and for her teacher to like her. Unfortunately, because this teacher is a novice, she is unskilled at how to actually handle children in the classroom,
Theme
Morality in the face of futility
and seems to take out her frustrations about not having much to teach Scout out on her. 27
27
“‘Because that’s the
This quote really says a lot about only way he can pay
Mr. Atticus Finch. When Mr. me. He has no money’” Cunningham told Atticus that he
(Lee 27). would not be able to pay for
Atticus’ services with money,
Atticus did not get angry or turn
Mr. Cunningham away, instead he accepted whatever Mr.
Cunningham could give to him as pay. In this
