Keirsten Markgraf
Ron Godzinski
Final Paper
Due 12/16/14
Innocent
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, we are brought in to the 1930s and given
the chance to visit Maycomb County, a fictional district located in southern Alabama. During this
time, the Great Depression was in full swing and the mass majority of the population was facing
unemployment and a poverty-stricken standard of living. We meet many characters throughout
the course of this story, the list headed by a few main characters. Of these people are Jean Louise
(who goes by the name “Scout”) and Jeremy Atticus (who goes by the name “Jem”) Finch, the
daughter and son of Atticus Finch, who is a well-known lawyer in Maycomb with an unpopular
opinion toward people. Atticus believes that people are people- and should be judged on the
content of their character rather than the color of the pigment that makes up their skin tone. He
also believes that everyone has the right to be defended in trial, and refuses to back down from
the challenges that present themselves when he decides to defend Mr. Tom Robinson.
Tom Robinson is a black, humble, respectful field hand who is unfairly ruled guilty in
court and placed in to a prison over a case that has been made up entirely of lies, strictly because
Bob Ewell, the town drunk, put his daughter Mayella up to trial for sexual assault in an effort to
obtain money from the judicial system. As we see throughout the text, Bob Ewell is good at
causing problems. Atticus chooses to defend Tom, and this is where most of his time is taken up.
There is a crabby, sarcastic neighbor lady named Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose. Mrs. Dubose has
a sharp tongue and is the first to get a word in, so long as it’s negatively directed to someone
within earshot. She is incredibly racist, but Atticus admires her for her strength in fighting her
past morphine addiction despite her mass amounts of pain. Calpurnia is the Finch family’s cook.
She responds to “Cal” when Scout and Jem call for her, and is the children’s most stable bridge
to the world of colored people. Arthur Radley (referred to as “Boo” by Scout and Jem throughout
the story) is a reclusive man who lives down the street and never leaves his home. Scout and Jem
let their imaginations wander when they try to understand just who Boo Radley is, and they
come up with many stories concerning his mental state and his criminal record- or lack thereof.
In several places throughout this work Atticus Finch, among others, can be quoted saying
“it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.” It is later explained that a mockingbird does nothing but make
music for people to enjoy. In a more lengthy explanation, it is said that they cause no harm and
