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To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee, 1960. Chapter 1. “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed [...]” (page 3). Chapter Summary. Simon Finch (fur trader/apothecary from Cornwall, ENG). unnamed wife (Saint Stephens, AL).
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To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee, 1960 Chapter 1 “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed [...]” (page 3) Image: http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/10/mockingbird_endures_readers_in.html
Chapter Summary Simon Finch (fur trader/apothecary from Cornwall, ENG) unnamed wife (Saint Stephens, AL) “[...] established a line that ran high to daughters” (page 4) * unnamed wife (Graham from Montgomery, AL) (deceased) ? Alexandra Finch Unnamed husband Atticus Finch (lawyer) John Hale “Jack” Finch (doctor) ? ? Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch Jean Louise “Scout” Finch The narrator, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, introduces the readers to her family’s history: Image: http://tazeea4973.blogspot.ca/2011_05_01_archive.html
Chapter Summary Story begins in 1933; Great Depression Maycomb County, AL on the county’s main residential street between Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose’s house and the Radley Place Summer 1933: Charles Baker “Dill” Harris comes to spend the summer at his aunt, Miss Rachel Haverford’s Acting out scenes from various books ... and so begins Dill’s obsession to get Boo Radley to come out! The Radleys had always kept to themselves; strange behavior for the town on Maycomb Youngest Radley got mixed up with the Cunninghams from Old Sarum = troublemakers
Chapter Summary The “gang” got into some trouble with the law Were ordered to be sent to the state industrial school, but Mr. Radley wouldn’t hear of it Arthur wasn’t see again... for 15 years! At age 33, Arthur (allegedly) stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors Mr. Radley still defended Arthur: instead of being sent to the asylum, Arthur was locked in the church basement for a while Mr. Radley died; Mr. Nathan Radley, Arthur’s older brother, came to take his place Dill challenges Jem to try to get Boo to come out; settles for touching the side of the house “[...] we thought we saw an inside shutter move. Flick. A tiny, almost invisible movement, and the house was still.” (page 19)
Key Quote “There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.” (page 6) Reflective of the time period: Great Depression (1929-1939)
Emerging Characters Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch The Ewells Charles Baker “Dill” Harris Arthur “Boo” Radley Simon Finch Atticus Finch Alexandra Finch John Hale “Jack” Finch Calpurnia Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose Miss Rachel Haverford Jean Louise “Scout” Finch Crazy Addie Mrs. Radley Mr. Radley The Cunninghams from Old Sarum Mr. Connor Miss Stephanie Crawford Mr. Nathan Radley
Emerging Characters Important Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch Eldest child of Atticus Finch and his deceased wife 4 years old when his mother died; remembers and misses her Loves football 9 years old Atticus Finch State lawyer “[...] profound distaste for the practice of criminal law.” (page 5) Paid for his younger brother John’s schooling (med school) His children found him to be satisfactory: played with them, read to them and “treated [them] with courteous detachment.” (page 6) Was middle-aged when he married a woman 15 years his junior
Emerging Characters Important Calpurnia The Finch’s cook Description on page 6-7 Didn’t comment on the ways of white people Jean Louise “Scout” Finch Narrator & protagonist 2 years old when her mother died; doesn’t remember or miss her 5 years old Can already read and has been able to for a long time Charles Baker “Dill” Harris 7 years old Can read Description on pages 8 and 9 Doesn’t like talking about his father
Emerging Characters Important Arthur “Boo” Radley The “malevolent phantom” that lives in the Radley Place Only goes out to peep in windows and eat small animals Younger brother of Nathan Radley Has an unfavorable past Jem’s description on page 16
Historical Significance “If General [Andrew] Jackson hadn’t run the Creeks up the creek, Simon Finch would never have paddled up the Alabama [...] (page 3) General Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States, was the army general responsible for the defeat of the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. “the Alabama” = the Alabama River Battle of Hastings (page 4) October 14, 1066 During the Norman conquest of England Norman-French versus English John Wesley (page 4) Founder of the Methodist movement
Historical Significance “[...] the disturbance between the North and the South [...]” (page 4) American Civil War reference; North (the Union) versus South (the Confederate) “[...] the boys backed around the square in a borrowed flivver [...]” (page 12) Slang for a small, inexpensive, old car Image: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am483_97/projects/sarratt/intro.html
Relation to the Themes The coexistence of good and evil G00d: Jem, Scout and Dill; childhood; naiveté; innocence Evil: Boo Radley (and all the things he allegedly did/does The importance of moral education Demonstrated by Atticus and his relationship with his children The existence of social inequality Even in the very first chapter, a line is beginning to be drawn between different social classes and races
