To Kill a Mockingbird Plot....
A brief outline of the story...
To Kill a Mockingbird set in a small County called Maycomb County, in Southern Alabama. The main protagonist and narrator Scout Finch (Jean-Louise Finch) lives with her brother Jem (Jeremy) and their father, a lawyer named Atticus Finch. Maycomb is a poor rural town suffering greatly from the Great Depression. The town is surrounded by farmland and settlements for the Negroes to live. The Finch family is reasonably well off for these times.
During their summer break, Jem and Scout befriend a boy name Dill with whom they busy themselves planning role plays and playing games. The trio are fascinated by the Radley Lot, an old house owned by Mr. Nathan Radley and home to a mysterious recluse nicknamed Boo Radley (Arthur Radley). The house and the people in it fascinate the children, leaving them plotting to lure the recluse out of the house.
At the end of the summer Scout goes to school for the first time and really doesn't enjoy it, constantly getting into fights and into trouble with the teachers.
As the months go by, Jem and Scout find gifts for them left in the hollow of an old tree outside the Radley Lot and they assume it's Boo Radley. As the months into summer lead up, the children come to realise that Atticus is defending a Negro named Tom Robinson with rape allegations against Mayella Ewell (who some call 'white-trash'). Dill returns in the summer to again join in the plotting against Boo Radley in trying to lure him from his home.
Against Atticus' warnings the three sneak into the Radley Lot one night, to get a glance in the windows of the battered house. When on the back doorstep the three get shot at by Mr. Nathan Radley. During their escape Jem gets his trousers tangled in the fence forcing him to leave without them. When Jem returned for his pants he found them mended, folded and hanging on the fence where he left them. During the winter on their return from school the pair find more gifts in the tree but one day they arrive to find Mr. Nathan Radley gruffly filling the hollow with cement.
One night a fire breaks out in the neighbourhood and during the rush to extinguish the fire, Scout and Jem find themselves on the footpath overlooking the whole scene. When they turn to return home Scout realises that she's had a blanket placed over her shoulders. They realise it could've only been the mysterious Boo Radley as everyone else was tending to the fire. After all of these events, Jem makes the decision to tell Atticus about the trousers, gifts and blanket.
Atticus' decision to defend a black-man has left Scout and Jem victims of teasing. Scout gets into a fight with a boy named Walter Cunningham after he called Atticus a 'Nigger-Lover'.The Finch Family spend Christmas at Finch's landing with their family, where Scout again gets involved in a fight with her cousin over ridiculing Atticus.
Dill comes to visit, but this time had run away from home because he wasn't fond of his new father. Jem makes the decision to tell Atticus about this and Atticus allows Dill to stay for a few weeks. The Tom Robinson trial begins. Whilst awaiting his trial for accusation of rape against Mayella, Tom is kept in the county jail. A lynch mob gathers to kill Tom. Atticus is standing guard outside the jail and refuses to stand down when the mob arrives. The three children arrive and when they realise Atticus is in danger, they push through the crowd to get to him. A member of the mob grabs Jem and tries to hurt him , but Scout steps in and once again uses violence against this man. After the small ordeal, Scout identifies one of the mob members as Mr. Cunningham, a man whose son goes to school with Scout. She starts to talk to him and by doing this she shames him, this makes the mob stand down and saves Tom and Atticus' well being.Scout's childlike naivety caused her to misunderstand the severity of the situation, this is why she talked to Mr Cunningham.
During the trial, the children sneak away from Calpurnia (their family's hired black help), to join the Negroes on the black balcony and watch the trial. Atticus, by using clever questions and techniques proves Tom Robinson innocent and Bob Ewell (Mayella's father) guilty of abuse. They figure out that Bob Ewell caught Mayella cornering Tom Robinson in a room, after calling him in to help chop wood, and kissing him. To hide the shame of this they accuse him of rape. In spite of significant amounts of evidence pointing to Tom Robinson being innocent, the white Jury still convict him. Days later Tom Robinson is shot dead after going into a fit of despair and running away from the jail yard. He had lost all hope of ever being set free. Atticus, Jem, Scout and many others around Maycomb are very shaken by this incident.
After this, Bob Ewell threatens to take Atticus' life, claiming Atticus and Judge Taylor (the county judge) had made a fool out of him at the trial. He threatens Tom Robinson's recently widowed wife, breaks into Judge Taylor's house and finally attacks Jem and Scout when they were returning from the school Halloween party. With the children unsure who the stranger helping them in their struggle is, Boo Radley stabs Bob Ewell and saves Jem and Scout's lives. In the aftermath of this, Heck Tate (The Town's Sheriff) claims that Mr. Ewell tripped and was fatally wounded due to landing on his knife. He does this to protect the fragile Boo. Scout looks after Boo whilst he's in the household and at the end of the night leads him back to his house. After this Boo is never seen again.
After all of these events, Scout has matured and realises what Boo's life must actually be like, she empathises for him. Scout becomes a less judgmental person and becomes more accepting about those around her.
During their summer break, Jem and Scout befriend a boy name Dill with whom they busy themselves planning role plays and playing games. The trio are fascinated by the Radley Lot, an old house owned by Mr. Nathan Radley and home to a mysterious recluse nicknamed Boo Radley (Arthur Radley). The house and the people in it fascinate the children, leaving them plotting to lure the recluse out of the house.
At the end of the summer Scout goes to school for the first time and really doesn't enjoy it, constantly getting into fights and into trouble with the teachers.
As the months go by, Jem and Scout find gifts for them left in the hollow of an old tree outside the Radley Lot and they assume it's Boo Radley. As the months into summer lead up, the children come to realise that Atticus is defending a Negro named Tom Robinson with rape allegations against Mayella Ewell (who some call 'white-trash'). Dill returns in the summer to again join in the plotting against Boo Radley in trying to lure him from his home.
Against Atticus' warnings the three sneak into the Radley Lot one night, to get a glance in the windows of the battered house. When on the back doorstep the three get shot at by Mr. Nathan Radley. During their escape Jem gets his trousers tangled in the fence forcing him to leave without them. When Jem returned for his pants he found them mended, folded and hanging on the fence where he left them. During the winter on their return from school the pair find more gifts in the tree but one day they arrive to find Mr. Nathan Radley gruffly filling the hollow with cement.
One night a fire breaks out in the neighbourhood and during the rush to extinguish the fire, Scout and Jem find themselves on the footpath overlooking the whole scene. When they turn to return home Scout realises that she's had a blanket placed over her shoulders. They realise it could've only been the mysterious Boo Radley as everyone else was tending to the fire. After all of these events, Jem makes the decision to tell Atticus about the trousers, gifts and blanket.
Atticus' decision to defend a black-man has left Scout and Jem victims of teasing. Scout gets into a fight with a boy named Walter Cunningham after he called Atticus a 'Nigger-Lover'.The Finch Family spend Christmas at Finch's landing with their family, where Scout again gets involved in a fight with her cousin over ridiculing Atticus.
Dill comes to visit, but this time had run away from home because he wasn't fond of his new father. Jem makes the decision to tell Atticus about this and Atticus allows Dill to stay for a few weeks. The Tom Robinson trial begins. Whilst awaiting his trial for accusation of rape against Mayella, Tom is kept in the county jail. A lynch mob gathers to kill Tom. Atticus is standing guard outside the jail and refuses to stand down when the mob arrives. The three children arrive and when they realise Atticus is in danger, they push through the crowd to get to him. A member of the mob grabs Jem and tries to hurt him , but Scout steps in and once again uses violence against this man. After the small ordeal, Scout identifies one of the mob members as Mr. Cunningham, a man whose son goes to school with Scout. She starts to talk to him and by doing this she shames him, this makes the mob stand down and saves Tom and Atticus' well being.Scout's childlike naivety caused her to misunderstand the severity of the situation, this is why she talked to Mr Cunningham.
During the trial, the children sneak away from Calpurnia (their family's hired black help), to join the Negroes on the black balcony and watch the trial. Atticus, by using clever questions and techniques proves Tom Robinson innocent and Bob Ewell (Mayella's father) guilty of abuse. They figure out that Bob Ewell caught Mayella cornering Tom Robinson in a room, after calling him in to help chop wood, and kissing him. To hide the shame of this they accuse him of rape. In spite of significant amounts of evidence pointing to Tom Robinson being innocent, the white Jury still convict him. Days later Tom Robinson is shot dead after going into a fit of despair and running away from the jail yard. He had lost all hope of ever being set free. Atticus, Jem, Scout and many others around Maycomb are very shaken by this incident.
After this, Bob Ewell threatens to take Atticus' life, claiming Atticus and Judge Taylor (the county judge) had made a fool out of him at the trial. He threatens Tom Robinson's recently widowed wife, breaks into Judge Taylor's house and finally attacks Jem and Scout when they were returning from the school Halloween party. With the children unsure who the stranger helping them in their struggle is, Boo Radley stabs Bob Ewell and saves Jem and Scout's lives. In the aftermath of this, Heck Tate (The Town's Sheriff) claims that Mr. Ewell tripped and was fatally wounded due to landing on his knife. He does this to protect the fragile Boo. Scout looks after Boo whilst he's in the household and at the end of the night leads him back to his house. After this Boo is never seen again.
After all of these events, Scout has matured and realises what Boo's life must actually be like, she empathises for him. Scout becomes a less judgmental person and becomes more accepting about those around her.