Megan :)
“To Kill a Mockingbird” takes place in Alabama during the Great Depression, and is told from the point of view of Harper Lee, the author, but in the story she goes by Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. Atticus Finch, her father, is a lawyer that is very respected. Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill are curious about the man down the street that never leaves his house, named Boo Radley.
The children are curious to know more about Boo. The children begin moving closer to the Radley’s house. Jem, Scout and Dill try sneaking over to the house at night and looking through its windows. Nathan Radley, Boo’s brother, thinks he hears a prowler and firing his gun. They run away, but Jem loses his pants by trying to get through the fence to get away. When he returns in the middle of the night to get them back, they have been neatly folded and the tear from the fence was sewn up. It was as if someone was expecting Jem to come back.
A tree near the Radley house has a hole that little presents are left for them, such as pennies, chewing gum, and soap carvings of a little boy and girl who look alot like Scout and Jem, it was like they were being watched. The children don’t know where these gifts are coming from, and when they go to leave a note for the mystery giver, they find that Boo’s brother has plugged up the hole with cement. The next winter brings cold and snow, and Miss Maudie’s house catches on fire. While Jem and Scout obay their fathers directions to stand by teh Radely’s place, and watch the blaze, someone puts a blanket around Scout without her realizing it. Not until Atticus asks her where the blanket came from does she realize that Boo must have put it around her.
Atticus decides to take on a case involving a black man named Tom Robinson who has been accused of raping a very poor white girl named Mayella Ewell, who belong to as what teh Maycomb city people refer to as “trash.” He knows Tom is innocent, and also that he has almost no chance at being declared not guilty, because the white jury will never believe a black man over a white woman. Atticus still wants to show the truth to his fellow people.
Because Atticus is defending a black man, Scout and Jem get taunted at school. The trial becomes closer, and Atticus’s sister comes to stay with the family. She is proper and old-fashioned and wants to shape Scout into a young lady. The night before the trial, Tom is moved into the county jail, and Atticus, fearing possible peoples from teh townspeople, stands guard outside the jail door throughtout the night. Jem is concerned about him, and the three children sneak into town to find him. A group of men arrive ready to cause some violence to Tom, and threaten Atticus in the process. At first Jem, Scout and Dill hide in a buch, but they didn’t stay there for long. Scout begins to give a speach about how they shouldn’t be doing this, and they soon leave.
According to the Ewells, Mayella asked Tom to do some work for her while her father was out, and Tom came into their house to beat and rape her until her father appeared and scared him away. Tom’s version is that Mayella invited him inside, then threw her arms around him and began to kiss him. Tom tried to push her away. When Bob Ewell showed up, he rushed into a rage and beat her, while Tom ran away. According to the sheriff’s testimony, Mayella’s bruises were on the right side of her face, which means she was punched with a left hand. Tom Robinson’s left arm is useless, but Mr. Ewell leads with his left. Given these very useful facts, Tom should go free, but after hours of the jsury making a decision, the jury revils that they have found him guilty. Scout, Jem, and Dill, who had snuck into the black balcony, were angry at the jury’s decision because, it all clearly in Tom’s favor.
Atticus feels some satisfaction that the jury took so long deciding. Usually, the decision would be madequick, because a black man’s word is useless to them. Tom tries to escape from his prison and is shot to death in the process. Jem has trouble handling the results of the trial.
Mr. Ewell threatens Atticus and other people connected with the trial because he feels he was humiliated. He gets his revenge one night while Jem and Scout are walking home from Halloween play at their school. He follows them home in the dark, then runs at them and attempts to kill them with a large kitchen knife. Jem breaks his arm, and Scout, who is wearing a confining ham shaped wire costume and cannot see what is going on, is completely helpless. Boo Radley stabs Mr. Ewell and saves the children. Scout finally has her chance to meet Boo. At the end of this night, the sheriff declares that Mr. Ewell fell on his own knife. Scout walks Boo home and has many questions going through her mind. He returns inside and Scout never see’s him again.
