Key events/plot (To Kill A Mockingbird)

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To Kill A Mockingbird **note, this is not my work, but a compilation of works found on this site.

Key events/Plot Background information: Scout is 6, Jem 10 at beginning of book

1. Dill Jem and Scout go over to the Radley property 2. Find the tree hole (find pennies, gum, spelling bee medal and wood figurines) 3. Miss Maudie’s house catches on fire 4. Tom Robinson accused of raping Mayella 5. Mrs Dubose makes Jem come read (uses the reading time to slowly wean herself off morphine addiction) 6. The trial: Atticus still defends Tom

Prejudiced views to black people shown when even Atticus admits "The jury couldn't possible be expected to take TR's word against the Ewells"

The Black community sit on the balcony - a good example of racial segregation in America and the Jim Crow laws

Despite polite manners, Mr Gilmer reffers to Tom R as "boy", making reference to the use of black people as slaves in 19th century America Views also shown by the structure of the trial. The descriptions of the atmosphere before the verdict is given presents a sense of impending doom

Lee uses non-standard English in Tom R's dialect. This reflects on his poor wellbeing and social class, and his Negro accent/upbringing

However he still always stays polite - adressing people as "suh"

Scout: "It occured to me that in their own way, Tom Robinson's manners were as good as Atticus'"

7. The verdict: Guilty - Tom dies

Maycomb was only interested in the death for "about two days", and "To Maybomb, Tom's death was typical" - racist attitudes

On p246, the narrative perspective of the text changes to the Maycomb folk as a whole, lik a chorus - highlighting their prejudiced attitudes to Tom R

The veneer metaphor tells us that Tom's good behaviour was simply appearance, and that he couldn't contain his "nigger" mentality

Jem stops Scout from killing an insect as "they don't bother you"

Moments later news of Tom R death reaches them, what Jem said can link to the death

When hearing the news, Helen Robinson "fell to the ground like a giant with a big foot had stepped on an ant"

Simile perhaps represents the white community stamping their authority on the black community

Although Scout not present when this happens, Lee includes it to show the effects the death has had on people, and the cruelty of it's happening

8. Atticus shoots the mad dog

9. Bob Ewell gets revenge on Atticus (spits at him) 10. Boo Radley saves Jem after Bob Ewell attacks them on the way home from the pageant 11. Boo is seen in a good light after saving Jem 12. Heck Tate insists Bob Ewell killed himself

To Kill A Mockingbird

A Timeline of Events Related to the Novel To Kill a Mockingbird

Year

Time Period

Chapter

Event

1883

Atticus Finch is born

1923

Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch is born

1926

April 28

Nelle Harper Lee is born in Monroeville, Alabama

1927

Jean Louise “Scout” Finch is born

1928

Atticus Finch’s wife, a “Graham from Montgomery,” dies

1929

The Depression begins in the United States

1931

March 25

The “Scottsboro Boys” are arrested

1933

January 30

Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany

Summer

1

Atticus and Calpurnia are raising Scout and Jem. Dill comes to visit his Aunt Rachel. He and the Finch children keep watch on the Radley house.

Late August

1

Dill decides to make Boo come out of the Radley house

September

2

Dill returns home. Scout starts 1st grade.

3

Walter comes to dinner.

4

Boo leaves 2 pieces of chewing gum in the Radley’s oak tree.

1934

Late Spring

4

Jem and Scout find a small box containing two polished pennies

Late August

6

Jem, Scout, and Dill try to look in Boo’s window. Nathan Radley fires a shotgun.

October

7

Scout starts 2nd grade. Jem and Scout find soap carvings of a boy and girl in the knothole

the next week

7

They find a spelling medal

four days later

7

They find a pocket watch, chain, and knife

next morning

7

The knothole is filled with cement

November 21

Tom Robinson arrested

that winter

8

Mrs. Radley dies

the next day

8

Snow. Jem turns the snowman into a caricature of Mr. Avery

1:00 a.m.

8

Miss Maudie’s house burns down; Boo puts a blanket around Scout’s shoulders

before Christmas

Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson

Christmas

9

Cousin Francis calls Atticus a “nigger lover”; Scout fights him

winter

10

Atticus shoots a mad dog in the street

1935

late winter

11

Jem is punished for cutting off Mrs. Dubose’s camellias

2 months later

11

Mrs. Dubose dies

that summer

12

Jem & Scout go to Calpurnia’s church; Aunt Alexandra moves in

14

Dill returns to Maycomb

before the trial

15

Atticus and the children stop a lynch mob at the jail

during the trial

16-21

Scout, Jem, and Dill sit in the balcony. Testimony. Talk with DolphusRaymond. Calpurnia comes to court. Tom R. is found guilty.

next morning

22

Calpurnia discovers gifts of food on the porch

late August

24

Lunching with the ladies of Maycomb

late August

24

Tom Robinson is shot attempting to escape from prison

fall

26

Cecil Jacobs brings in a current events article about Hitler persecuting the Jews in Germany

mid-October

27

Bob Ewell loses his job, leaves a hate note at the judge’s home, and stalks Helen Robinson. Scout prepares for a part in the Halloween pageant.

October 31

28-30

Ewell attacks Scout and Jem; Boo stabs Ewell. Scout sees Boo and escorts him home.

1948

January 27

William Horner is killed and his wife attacked, leading to the roundup and jailing of the “Trenton Six”

1955

August 28

Emmett Till is kidnapped, tortured, and murdered in Money, Miss.

1957

To Kill a Mockingbird is first submitted to publishers.

1960

To Kill a Mockingbird is published, and wins the 1961 Pulitzer Prize

1961

May 4

The Freedom Riders depart on a bus from Washington, D.C.

1962

The film version of To Kill a Mockingbird is released

1963

June 12

Medgar Evers assassinated

1964

June 21

“Freedom Summer” in Mississippi. Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney murdered in Philadelphia, Miss.