Bright Summaries - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

The novel is set in 1930s Maycomb, Alabama. Scout and Jem Finch, aged six and ten years old respectively, live near a house which both intrigues and terrifies them. It belongs to the Radleys, a strange family who live in reclusion. During the holidays, they meet a boy called Dill who is staying with his aunt. The three children very quickly become friends. They start to play together and, the following summer, invent a game about the Radleys, in spite of being forbidden to do so by Atticus, Scout and Jems father. One night, the children venture onto the Radleys veranda. A shadow suddenly appears, startling them. A gunshot rings out and they scamper, terrified. In his panic, Jem manages to lose his trousers. When they get home, Dill makes up a plausible, if rather stupid, excuse as an explanation.

In September, Scout starts school, but she is disappointed in her teacher, Miss Caroline, as her teaching methods do not fit the poor children of Maycomb. Scout, who learnt how to read and write long before she started school, incurs the wrath of the teacher and is forbidden from reading, a terrible punishment for a girl who adores deciphering the newspaper with her father. After such a disappointing day, the little girl loses all desire to go to school. Her father therefore suggests a compromise: he will let her continue to read the newspaper with him if she agrees to go back to school. She accepts. One day, while on her way home, she finds some chewing gum hidden in a tree in front of the Radleys house. This happens again several times. However, one morning, Jem is upset to discover that the opening has been blocked up with cement.

Winter comes and brings snow along with it, which is a very unusual event for Maycomb. There is no school that day, and Jem and Scout makes their first ever snowman. During the night, Atticus wakes the children up and makes them go outside, because the house next door is on fire. Without Scout noticing, Arthur Radley covers her shoulders with a blanket.

Since the father of the two children is a lawyer, he is appointed by the court to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. Criticism of Atticus begins to get violent at school and in town, and Scout fights another pupil who teases her about the case. Her father tries to prepare her for the trial which is coming up and the consequences it will have for their family. One day, while on their way to town, Scout and Jem pass the house of Mrs Dubose, a sick, old, bad-tempered woman who provokes them about the trial. Jem is furious and ruins her flowers. Atticus orders him to go and apologise. Mrs Dubose demands that he read to her for a month in compensation. As a result, the two children go to the old womans house every day. After she dies, they find out that their presence helped her to detox from morphine.

With Tom Robinsons trial approaching, hostile reactions against Scouts family continue to increase. One night, feeling that things are about to go sour, Atticus goes to the prison to watch over the defendant. The children, intrigued to see him go out so late, follow him. They witness a heated argument between their father and some farmers who have come to lynch the prisoner. Even if she does not totally understand what is going on, Scouts navet manages to diffuse the situation. At Christmas, Uncle Jack comes to visit them, and then they go to see Aunt Alexandra, a narrow-minded woman who is quick to criticise. She has a grandson the same age as Scout, and the two children argue about the trial.

Jem begins to change: he gets bigger and starts spending more time on his own, and Scout begins to understand him less and less. She finds out that Dill will not be coming this summer. However, one night, the two children find the little boy hidden under a bed, and it turns out that he has run away from home to be with them. Atticus agrees to let him stay for a couple of days. Aunt Alexandra also comes to live with them. However, living with her is difficult and a lot of arguments break out.

On the day of the trial, the whole region seems to have come to court. The children go too and, since there are no seats left, they are allowed to sit in the area reserved for black people. The trial begins with the testimony of Bob Ewell, the father of the young woman who claims to have been raped. The Ewells are among the poorest and most looked-down-upon residents of the town. Atticus casts doubt on the fact that the defendant, who has a maimed arm, managed to injure Mayella, the alleged victim.

When the girl is questioned, her testimony is confused and highlights her miserable living conditions. Nevertheless, she continues to accuse Tom Robinson of raping and beating her. Finally, it is the defendants turn to speak: he describes a lonely girl who invited him home and, after being rebuffed by Tom and caught by her father, made up this rape story. Atticus supports this version of events and points out the racial prejudices at play in the case. Nevertheless, the defendant is declared guilty, which comes as a shock to the children.

The next morning, Atticus is moved to discover that the black community has thanked him by leaving a pile of food on the veranda. He goes back into town, where Bob Ewell spits at him and threatens him. Later on, Atticus comes home after learning that Tom Robinson has been killed while attempting to escape.