TKAM: Study Guide Oomung Varma p.

3 2/22/2010

Chapter 1
1. In this chapter we learn that Maycomb County is a small county founded by the Finch’s
ancestor, Simon Finch. Almost everyone in the entire county is related in one way or the other,
and we also are informed that Atticus Finch is the Lawyer of the County. His son Jem and tom-
boy daughter Scout are very close and similar, and Calphurnia is his wife.
2. Dill is small, but has a lot of anger, being seven; he is still smaller than Scout. He lives in
Mississippi but comes to Maycomb every summer to live with his Aunt Rachel.
3.
4. The rumors that were spread about “Boo”, the appearance of the house, the disappearance of
all residents and the old story of Arthur’s attempt to kill his dad, were all reasons the little
children were drawn in and fascinated by the house.
5. The voice of the narrator in this novel speaks from a very mature perspective, this leads me to
believe the main character, Scout, is tell this story about her childhood. Another piece of
evidence pointing to this theory is the fact that everything is in past tense

Chapter 2
1. She had been spying on school children and had seen them playing games, she also had learned
to read on her own and couldn’t wait to test out her skills at school.
2. Jem doesn’t want Scout to play with him like she does at home because she is a girl and if he
was seen playing with a girl, all the little boys and little girls would make fun of Jem, it wouldn’t
matter if they were siblings either, because incest is something that the people of Maycomb
County embrace.
3. I think Miss Fisher is a horrible teacher, the fact that she doesn’t encourage independent
learning is bad, but also her perseverance and dedication to her job to the extent that she can’t
let parents teach is ONE good quality about her.

Chapter 3
1. Calphurnia is Atticus’ wife, her place in the household is an isolated spot, and she is more
regarded as a mistress. She is nowhere even close to a mother for her children, even she refers
to her husband and son and daughter.
2. Walter Cunningham a weak child, who is easily bullied, seems to come from a poor family, his
family might not be able to afford food, yet the county lawyer is a good friend of his father.
3. Atticus treats him like his own son, giving him all the food he needs, also Walter’s dad is treated
like a brother, the two go for a walk.
Chapter 4
1. Scout thinks that the current educational tactics are very outdated and useless. The Dewey
Decimal System that is used “school-wide” was another useless way of punishment and teaching
that Scout feels that no one sees.
2. The children think that everything bad that happens is Arthur Radley’s fault. They think that he
stalks children in their homes during the night, his breath can kill plants, his gaze is horrifying,
and that he can huff, and he can puff, and he can blow your house away.
3. They make fun of Boo’s story, assign everyone characters, and make fun of him, they think that
the family is crazy. They make fun of Boo Radley’s introverted-ness, and make him seem perfect
to set characters to.
4. Each person is given a character and they are taken to the extreme, Mrs. Radley is some slave-
like woman, but Boo Radley is given the role where he just hides under the stairs and shriek.
And I have a pretty sure idea that this is not what actually happens in the Radley household.
5. Boo Radley is laughing from inside the house because he sees how afraid of him these kids are,
for no reason whatsoever. He is harmless, but these kids make him are making things up and are
scared too much.

Chapter 5
1. Miss Maudie is an old woman that hates her house, she is a widow, and she spends most of her
time inside the house. She is a very typical woman in the sense, she was prim and proper, he
talked nicely and “crisply”. She cared a lot about her looks, and she wanted all women to be
“womanly”, even though there’s no such thing.
2. She tells Scout that his real name is Arthur, and that he is alive and well. She disproves all of
Scout’s rumors and theories and tells her that what she believes is completely ridiculous and
that she shouldn’t believe it anymore.

Chapter 6
1. Scout doesn’t want the two to get in trouble again, and this is also seen before the adventure,
when Scout tells Dill to not light up the cigarette, for it might smell and attract attention. She is
always being safe, but not very willing to take risks, despite being brave.
2. Nathan Radley knows that the bad people that were sneaking around his house were white
people, but were behaving like Negroes.
3. Dill fabricates a lie wherein they were playing strip poker down by the lake and Dill won Jem’s
pants, and Miss Maudie doesn’t want him to play those games anymore.

Chapter 7
1. Jem tells Scout that once he had found his once torn and ripped pants, he saw that they were all
sewn up, amateurely too; pointing to the fact that Boo Radley might have had a hand in sewing
up Jem’s pants as an action of good will.
 2. Jem says, “Cant anybody tell what you’re gonna do lest they live in the house with you, and even
I can’t tell sometimes.” He is hinting towards the affirmation of the fact that Boo Radley knows a
little about Jem and that he is a caring man.
3. Jem started off being very skeptic of the tree, the first reason being the fact that it was in the
front yard of the Radley’s. But after he started seeing the Radleys for who they were, he started
saying that it was probably some poor kid’s, maybe Walter Cunningham’s stuff, and they just
kept taking it. But once he saw that no one but them was taking the items, and that the
anonymous person only added items in the knot-hole once the previous item was removed, he
was ok with taking all of those things.

Chapter 8
1. Scout quizzes Atticus about the Radley visit only to learn more about the real Mr. Radley, even
Scout has stopped calling him Boo and says Mr. Arthur. Atticus tells her nothing and simply goes
back to minding his own business.
4. Jem starts to make up stories again about Boo, he says that Boo crept out of his house like a cat
wearing the blanket over him to look like a ghost, and then he put the blanket over Scout.
5. Atticus is telling his son not to take this to the next level, bother Boo, make fun of him, and
spread this kind of rumor his friends. Jem says that he won’t, with sincerity, not only because he
has already satisfied his adventure cravings, but now he realizes that Boo is a nice man.

Chapter 9
1. Atticus thinks that Tom Robinson should be defended 100% and he has the revolutionary idea
that everyone should be treated equally. In times when everyone hates blacks and treats them
unequally, sometimes not even supporting them, we see he isn’t just a nigger-lover, he is just a
lover, and he defends everyone, correctly and equally

2.

3.

Chapter 10
1. When Scout says that her father is feeble, we can clearly see this was her view at the time of
viewing, but later, after the book is over, I’m sure that she would understand her dad was very
strong.
2. He says that all a Mockingbird does is give them pleasure, they sing good songs, but they don’t
do anything bad, like eat up gardens, or nest, all they do is sing.
3. The Sheriff, Heck Tate, doesn’t want to shoot because he isn’t as good a shot as Atticus. He
knows Atticus can take one shot, and he himself cannot.
4. Heck Tate was about to tell Jem about how Atticus was a One-Shot pro at shooting rifles, Jem
recently got an air rifle and Atticus told them he didn’t know squat about guns.