“ Shoot all the blue-jays you

want

but remember it’s a sin to kill a

mocking bird.”

-

Harper lee

Atticus Finch

Atticus Finch is a lawyer in Maycomb descended from an old local family and Scout and Jem ’s father . He is a wise and caring father and a widower with a dry sense of humor . Atticus is nearly fifty.

Atticus' beliefs and strong moral compass lead him to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, from baseless charges of rape. This is an unpopular decision among many Maycomb residents. However, Atticus feels that his refusing to take up the case would make him undeserving of others' and his own respect. He is a very strong and resilient static character.

His children call him "Atticus" rather than "Dad". Atticus demonstrates great character throughout the book, strives to set a good example for his children, and teaches Jem and Scout to treat everyone equally . He has instilled in his children his strong sense of morality and justice.

He was once known as "One-Shot Finch" because of his skill with rifles (shown when he kills a rabid dog with a single shot).

Atticus Finch serves as the moral conscience of Maycomb, a man all people--

white and black, rich and poor--can turn to in a time of need. He is the

quintessential Southern liberal of the period, a Lincolnesque character who

cannot tell a lie, treats all people equally, and rarely has a bad word to say

about anyone (except possibly Bob Ewell). A widower, he does his best to bring

up his children in an even-handed manner without depriving them of their

needed independent streaks. He always finds time to answer their questions

honestly, provide them with good advice, and take Scout on his knee for a story

each night. Although Scout is the narrator, and the story mostly revolves around

the two children (and sometimes their friend, Dill), Atticus emerges as the

central and most powerful figure..

In Atticus Finch, author Harper Lee (who based Atticus on her own attorney father) creates one of the most admired characters in all of American literature, and he is probably the most well known and best-loved lawyer of any novel. (Gregory Peck's Oscar-winning portrayal brought Atticus to life on screen, and his performance has routinely been voted one of the best in cinematic history.) In addition to being the best known lawyer in Maycomb, Atticus serves as the town's representative in the Alabama legislature, running unopposed each election. He is respected by all who know him, as evidenced by the lynch mob's willingness to obey Atticus's directive to speak quietly so as not to awake the sleeping Tom Robinson-the man they had come to kill

Calpurnia

Calpurnia is the Finch family's African American housekeeper,

whom the children love and Atticus deeply respects . She is

highly regarded by Atticus. 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 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 . While everyone in the novel is filtered through Scout’s perception, Calpurnia in particular 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.

Calpurnia, much like Atticus, stands up against racism. She takes Jem and Scout to the African American church where they feel, for the first time, what racism must be like as the congregation is unhappy about Calpurnia's decision to bring white folks to church. What makes this incident even more important is that it illustrates that racism and prejudice cross color lines; that is, paradoxically, the Blacks are prejudiced against the Whites, and this takes place in a religious setting, where one should love his neighbor, no matter the color of skin. Calpurnia also acts as a surrogate mother to the children in the motherless household.

Boo Radley

Arthur "Boo" Radley is a mysterious character in To Kill a Mockingbird and slowly

reveals himself throughout the novel. Boo Radley is a very quiet, reclusive character,

who doesn't actively present himself until Jem and Scout's final interaction with Bob

Ewell.Maycomb children believe he is a horrible person, due to the rumors spread

about him and a trial he underwent as a teenager. It is implied during the story that

Boo is a very lonely man who attempts to reach out to Jem and Scout for love and

friendship, for instance leaving them small gifts and figures in a tree knothole

Scout finally meets him at the very end of the book, when he saves the children's lives.

Scout describes him as being sickly white, with a thin mouth and hair, and grey eyes,

almost as if he were blind. During the same night, when Boo whispers to Scout to walk him

back to the Radley house, Scout takes a moment to picture what it would be like to be Boo

Radley. While standing on his porch, she realizes his "exile" inside his house is really not

that lonely. Boo Radley's heroics in protecting the children from Bob Ewell are covered up

by Atticus, Sheriff Tate, and Scout. This can be read as a wise refusal of fame. As Tate

notes, if word got out that Boo killed Ewell, Boo would be inundated with gifts and visits,

calamitous for him due to his reclusive personality.

Boo Radley is a ghost who haunts the book yet manifests himself at just right moments in just the right way. He is, arguably, the most potent character in the whole book and as such, inspires the other key characters to save him when he needs saving . After the Tom Robinson trial, Jem and Scout have a different understanding of Boo Radley. “Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time… it's because he wants to stay inside." Having seen a sample of the horrible things their fellow townspeople can do, choosing to stay out of the mess of humanity doesn’t seem like such a strange choice . When Boo finally does come out, he has a good reason: Bob Ewell is trying to murder the Finch children. No one sees what happens in the scuffle, but at the end of it, Ewell is dead and Boo carries an unconscious Jem to the Finch house. Finally faced with Boo, Scout doesn’t recognize him at first, but suddenly realizes who he is. Boo Radley is played by Robert Duvall in the movie.

In Boo Radley, author Harper Lee has created a major, complex character who

remains unseen until the final pages of the story--a true rarity in fictional novels.

Boo's presence is nonetheless felt throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, and the first

one-third of the book concentrates on the children's attempts to either get a look

at Boo or make him come out of his house. Boo's lone appearance comes in heroic

fashion, saving Jem and Scout from the murderous intentions of Bob Ewell in the

final chapters. Boo serves as a reminder that rumor and innuendo are most often

untrue, and in Boo's case, he reveals that he is actually quite the opposite of the

man that Maycomb's stories describe

Feared by adults and children alike because of the terrible crimes that he is believed to have committed, Boo's acts of kindness toward Jem and Scout finally show the children that he is a man to be pitied and not feared. He is one of the innocent human mockingbirds created by Lee, relegated to the life of a recluse thanks to his father's punishments and the town's vicious rumors. Lee ties her two main plots together through Boo when he comes to the children's rescue to stop Ewell, whose false accusations against Tom Robinson led to the black man's rape conviction and eventual death (the primary plot of Part Two). Jem and Scout learn many lessons through Boo, none more important than the fact that people are not always what they seem, and thatwhen they finally saw him he hadn’t done any of those things the people used to talk about

KEEP CALM AND

KEEP READING