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Notes on To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee - GCSE
Contents
Introduction … 2
Characters…. 3
Atticus
Aunt Alexandra
Bob Ewell
Boo Radley
Calpurnia
Dill
Jem
Miss Maudie
Scout
Tom
Themes… 23
Books and Superstitions
Courage
Education
Family
Good and Evil
Mockingbird
Religion and Sin
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Context… 39
Changes
Civil War
Culture and Attitudes
Great Depression
Harper Lee
Language and Viewpoint
Racism
Introduction
In this booklet are summaries of all the key characters, themes and
context to Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ for GCSE level
study. The notes provide essential points along with key evidence and
quotes and an in-depth explanation of the topic at hand, so you can
come to understand this novel. These notes are suitable for revision,
where you can learn the quotes and evidence or for lesson time to
learn these topics. I hope you will find these notes useful and all the
best with your studies.
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Characters
Atticus - Character
Characteristic Evidence/Quote
Courteous ‘Atticus Finch is the same in his
house as he is on the street’
Conscience ‘Atticus had every tool available
to free men to save Tom
Robinson, but in the secret courts
of men’s hearts Atticus had no
case. Tom was a dead man the
minute Mayella Ewell opened her
mouth and screamed’
Fair ‘When Jem and I fuss Atticus
doesn’t ever just listen to Jem’s
side of it’
Respect ‘Most people are, Scout, when
you finally see them’
Moral ‘We’re so rarely called on to be
Christians, but when we are
we’ve got men like Atticus to go
for us’
Courageous ‘Baby, it’s never an insult to be
called what somebody thinks is a
bad name, it just shows how poor
that person is’
‘I wanted you to see what real
courage is, instead of getting the
idea that courage is a man with a
gun in his hand. It’s when you
know you’re licked when you
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begin but you begin anyway and
see it through no matter what’
Atticus Finch, father of Scout, is key to this novel. He is courteous to
everybody and is well known for it ‘Atticus Finch is the same in his
house as he is on the street’. He has a good conscience. He is fair and
moral and fights for what’s right ‘When Jem and I fuss Atticus doesn’t
ever just listen to Jem’s side of it’, ‘Atticus had every tool available to
free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s
hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella
Ewell opened her mouth and screamed’. He is respectful towards
everyone and is faithful in people too ‘Most people are, Scout, when
you finally see them’ he is a good Christian ‘We’re so rarely called on to
be Christians, but when we are we’ve got men like Atticus to go for us’.
He is also courageous and sticks up for what he believes in ‘Baby, it’s
never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name, it just
shows how poor that person is’, but he also shows real courage in the
Tom Robinson case ‘I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of
getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when
you know you’re licked when you begin but you begin anyway and see
it through no matter what’.
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Aunt Alexandra - Character
Characteristic Evidence/Quote
Ladylike ‘After all, if Aunty could be a lady
at a time like this, so could I’
Alien ‘She was cold and there’
Traditional ‘Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my
deportment involved playing with
small stoves, tea sets and wearing
the Add-A-Pearl necklace she
gave me when I was born’
Southern-Lady ‘She fitted into Maycomb like a
hand in a glove, but never into
the world of Jem and me’
‘She gave Miss Maudie a look of
pure gratitude, and I wondered at
the world of women. Miss
Maudie and Aunt Alexander had
never been especially close, and
here was Aunty silently thanking
her for something’
Gossip /
Disapproving ‘Everybody in Maycomb, it
seemed, had a streak: A drinking
streak, a gambling streak, a mean
streak, a funny streak’
Family /
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Aunt Alexandra is Scout’s Aunt and although she is family, she doesn’t
always act like it ‘Aunt Alexandra fit into Maycomb like a hand into a
glove, but never into the world of Jem and me’, ‘She was cold and
there’. She is ladylike and as such is quite alien to the children who do
not have many ladylike role-models. She is traditional and conforms to
the ‘southern lady’ stereotype - ‘Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my
deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets and wearing
the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born’, ‘She gave Miss
Maudie a look of pure gratitude, and I wondered at the world of
women. Miss Maudie and Aunt Alexander had never been especially
close, and here was Aunty silently thanking her for something’, ‘After all
if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I’. She is a gossip
and is very disapproving ‘Everybody in Maycomb, it seemed, had a
streak: A drinking streak, a gambling streak, a mean streak, a funny
streak’.
