To Kill A Mockingbird

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 10th grade October 2001

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English Stephen Lewis To Kill A Mockingbird 10/20/96 To Kill A Mockingbird is a fictitious novel which portrays the attitude of southern culture, and a little girl growing up. This story is told in the first person by Scout (Jean Finch) who is the daughter of Atticus Finch, a lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama. Scout lives in a residential part of town with Atticus, her older brother Jem, and Calpurnia the cook, who is insistent on bringing up the children properly. Every summer Scout's companion Dill comes from Mississippi to visit his Aunt Rachel.

The story opens with Scout recalling her brother Jem breaking his arm when he was 13.

Scout begins to describe the town as the old, tired town Maycomb is. Scout also begins to describe Calpurnia in detail mentioning how fragile and old she was, and the fact that she always won any type of argument.

Chapter one is also where Scout and Jem first meet Dill and the mystery of Boo Radley is explained.

The Radley house is described as old and rain-rotted, surrounded by overgrown Johnson grass and rabbit tobacco. According to the neighborhood legend Arthur (Boo) and the Cunningham brothers hung around the town drinking and causing trouble. No one however had the nerve to tell Mr. Radley that Boo was hanging out with the wrong crowd. One night when they were drunk they were arrested and charged for disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and resisting arrest. The boys were sentenced to the state's industrial school, which was actually the best secondary education in the state. Mr. Radley however considered it to be a disgrace to have a Radley go there and instead he gave his word that Arthur would make no more trouble. It was thought that Boo...