Flashcards for To Kill a Mockingbird

Atticus Finch

Atticus Finch is the moral center of To Kill a Mockingbird and a widowed father to Scout and Jem, living in Maycomb, Alabama, during the 1930s. As a lawyer who commands quiet respect, he takes on the defense of Tom Robinson, a Black man wrongfully accused of raping white Mayella Ewell.

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Bob Ewell

Bob Ewell is the main villain in To Kill a Mockingbird, representing the worst aspects of Maycomb's racism, poverty, and moral decay.

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Boo Radley

Arthur "Boo" Radley is one of To Kill a Mockingbird's most haunting yet ultimately redemptive characters.

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Calpurnia

Calpurnia is the Finch family's Black housekeeper and one of the most quietly authoritative figures in the novel.

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Dill Harris

Dill Harris is a small, imaginative boy who spends each summer in Maycomb with his Aunt Rachel, quickly becoming Scout and Jem's closest friend and the catalyst for many of their adventures.

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Jem Finch

Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch is Scout's older brother and a central figure in the novel, providing a perspective through which Harper Lee explores the difficult transition from childhood innocence to moral understanding.

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Mayella Ewell

Mayella Violet Ewell is the nineteen-year-old daughter of Bob Ewell and the main accuser in the trial that serves as the moral and narrative climax of To Kill a Mockingbird.

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Miss Maudie Atkinson

Miss Maudie Atkinson is the Finch children's friendly and straightforward neighbor living on their Maycomb street.

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Scout Finch

Scout Finch, also known as Jean Louise Finch, is the narrator and main character of To Kill a Mockingbird.

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Tom Robinson

Tom Robinson is a Black field hand working for Link Deas in Maycomb County, and he serves as the moral center of Harper Lee's novel as the man falsely accused, with his trial exposing the community's deep-rooted racism.

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“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

This line comes from Atticus Finch as he speaks to his children, Scout and Jem, shortly after gifting them air rifles for Christmas.

Atticus Finch · Chapter 10

“There's a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep 'em all away from you. That's never possible.”

This line is delivered by Atticus Finch to his son Jem in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.

Atticus Finch

“As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.”

This impactful line is delivered by Atticus Finch to his daughter Scout (Jean Louise Finch) in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.

Atticus Finch · Chapter 23

“It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.”

This line is spoken by Scout Finch, the young protagonist of the novel, as she reflects on her father, Atticus Finch.

Scout Finch (Jean Louise Finch) · Chapter 11

“Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.”

This line is said by Atticus Finch to his daughter Scout in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.

Atticus Finch · Chapter 9

“People in their right minds never take pride in their talents.”

This line comes from Miss Maudie Atkinson, directed at Scout Finch, after Scout admires Atticus's sharpshooting skill when he takes down a rabid dog in the street.

Miss Maudie Atkinson · Chapter 10

“Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.”

This line is delivered by Miss Maudie Atkinson, the Finch family's kind-hearted and insightful neighbor, in response to Scout's question about why Atticus told the kids that it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.

Miss Maudie Atkinson · Chapter 10

“The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”

This line is spoken by Atticus Finch to his daughter Scout in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.

Atticus Finch · Chapter 11

“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.”

This line is delivered by Atticus Finch to his son Jem in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, shortly after Atticus has been compelled to shoot the rabid dog Tim Johnson in the street.

Atticus Finch · Chapter 11

“Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.”

This line is delivered by Atticus Finch, the moral center of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, in response to his daughter Scout's inquiry about why he is defending Tom Robinson — a Black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman — despite the strong social pressure and hostility from the Maycomb community.

Atticus Finch · Chapter 11

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

This line is spoken by Scout Finch, the young narrator of the novel, in Chapter 2 as she reflects on her relationship with reading after her new teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, scolds her for already being able to read and write.

Scout Finch (Jean Louise Finch) · Chapter 2

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

This memorable line is delivered by Atticus Finch to his daughter Scout (Jean Louise Finch) early in the story, specifically in Chapter 3, after Scout has a tough first day at school and has a run-in with her new teacher, Miss Caroline.

Atticus Finch · Chapter 3

Mrs. Dubose's Camellias

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Dubose's camellias represent the harsh and often unglamorous reality of true courage.

The Mad Dog (Tim Johnson)

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tim Johnson—the rabid dog stumbling down Maycomb's main street—represents the creeping, irrational evil of racism that infects the town.

The Mockingbird

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird represents innocence, goodness, and the unfairness of harming those who mean no harm.

The Radley House

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the Radley house embodies the fear of the unknown, the dangers of prejudice, and how communities create myths about what they don't understand.

The Snowman

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the snowman that Jem and Scout create represents the illusion of racial separation and the artificial nature of the color line in Maycomb.

The Tree Knothole

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the knothole in the Radley oak tree symbolizes a secret connection, innocence, and the potential for kindness to bridge social divides.

Narrative Poem

The novel is told through Scout Finch's first-person retrospective narration, which creates a kind of double consciousness: the child experiencing events and the adult reflecting on them.

Symbolism

The mockingbird serves as the central symbol of the novel, first mentioned when Atticus tells his children, "Shoot all the blue jays you want... but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Irony

Lee uses irony on multiple levels.

Extended Metaphor

Atticus's closing argument in court crafts a powerful metaphor that positions the court as the one place in America where 'all men are created equal.'

Juxtaposition

Lee divides the novel into two parts that contrast the carefree adventures of childhood with the harsh realities of adulthood.

Imagery

Lee's imagery captures the sensory details of a small Alabama town in the 1930s. The heat is everywhere — 'the streets were deserted, the courtyard was deserted' beneath a 'steaming August' sun — and it serves as a physical representation of the stifling social climate.

Allusion

The title of the novel references a specific moment in the story—Atticus's advice about mockingbirds—but Lee also weaves in broader cultural references.

Metaphor

Lee's most compressed metaphors often come from Scout's child-like reasoning.

Dramatic Monologue

Atticus's closing argument to the jury is a powerful dramatic monologue woven into the novel's narrative.

Motif

The motif of 'climbing into someone else's skin'—viewing empathy as a physical act—appears repeatedly throughout the novel.

Pathetic Fallacy

Lee uses weather and the changing seasons to reflect the emotional and moral climate throughout the novel.

Simile

Lee's similes come from the everyday life of Maycomb and reflect Scout's unique voice.