2. What Does Pity Mean?

1. Atticus says, “The case is as simple as black and white.” What other issues/events in this story may be considered black and white? Why?

2. What does pity mean?

3. Why does Atticus choose that word to describe his reaction to Mayella?

4. What is a code in this context?

5. How is this “time-honored code” learned?

6. In what ways is Mayella considered unfit?

7. Later, Atticus says, “She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she is white.”

a.  How are poverty and ignorance cruel?

b.  What does the word victim imply?

c.  Why does he call her a victim?

d.  A few moments before, Atticus claims to pity her. Why does he change his mind?

e.  Why does being white mean he can’t pity her?

8. In paragraph four, [“I say guilt, gentlemen…”], Atticus repeats key words.

a.  List the key repetitions and the number of times he uses each word in this paragraph.

b.  Why does he do this?

c.  What is the effect of the repetition?

9. Read paragraph three that starts with “And so a quiet, respectable…” and answer the following:

a.  Why do the State witnesses have “cynical confidence”?

b.  What does Atticus mean when he says “minds of their caliber”? What caliber is that?

10. Why do you think Atticus is perspiring?

11. Atticus claims, “All men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe.” What does that mean?

12. Why is the courtroom the only place to find equality?

13. What draws Atticus to the legal profession?

14. What is an idealist? Is Atticus an idealist despite his denial of it?

15. What is the jury’s duty according to Atticus? Why?

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

end of the novel when Scout meets Boo Radley

As I said it, I half pointed to the man in the corner, but brought my arm down quickly lest Atticus reprimand me for pointing. It was impolite to point.

He was still leaning against the wall. He had been leaning against the wall when I came into the room, his arms folded across his chest. As I pointed, he brought his arms down and pressed the palms of his hands against the wall. They were white hands, sickly white hands that had never seen the sun, so white they stood out garishly against the dull cream wall in the dim light of Jem’s room.

I looked from his hands to his sand-stained khaki pants; my eyes traveled up his thin frame to his torn denim shirt. His face was as white as his hands, but for a shadow on his jutting chin. His cheeks were thin to hollowness; his mouth was wide; there were shallow, almost delicate indentations at his temples, and his gray eyes were so colorless I thought he was blind. His hair was dead and thin, almost feathery on top of his head.

When I pointed to him, his palms slipped slightly, leaving greasy sweat streaks on the wall, and he hooked his thumbs in his belt. A strange small spasm shook him, as if he heard fingernails scrape slate, but as I gazed at him in wonder, the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with my sudden tears.

“Hey, Boo,” I said.

1. Why does Boo “[press] the palms of his hands against the walls”?

2. When describing Boo, the author uses the word “white” three times. Why is it important to emphasize that?

3. What words come to mind when you hear the words “sickly” and “garishly”?

4. Why is Boo described this way?

5. Of what other character(s) does this description remind you? Explain the connection between them. Why is this parallel important?

6. Boo’s body, cheeks, and hair are all called “thin.” What images does this bring to mind?

7. Why do you think he has colorless eyes?

8. Consider the overall picture given to the reader of Boo Radley. Of what does he remind you? How does this affect your opinion him?

9. Why does Scout cry?

10. Scout knows it is not polite to point, yet she rudely calls him “Boo.” What does this tell us about her perception of him?

11. How does her reaction to Boo change over the course of the story?

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Close Reading on Boo Radley

Boo Radley: A First Impression

“Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (13).

1. What do you think of when you hear the word “tracks”?

2. What do you think about a person who eats raw animals?

3. Imagine someone standing in front of you with bloodstained hands. What words or ideas come to your mind?

4. If Boo has a scar across his face, what does that tell us about his past?

5. What would you think about a person who had yellow teeth?

6. What kind of people drool? Which comparison fits Boo the best?

Boo Radley: A Final Impression

“As I pointed he brought his arms down and pressed the palms of his hands against the wall. They were white hands, sickly white hands that had never seen the sun, so white they stood out garishly against the dull cream wall in the dim light of Jem’s room.

I looked from his hands to his sand-stained khaki pants; my eyes traveled up his thin frame to his torn denim shirt. His face was as white as his hands, but for a shadow on his jutting chin. His cheeks were thin to hollowness; his mouth was wide; there were shallow, almost delicate indentations at his temples, and his gray eyes were so colorless I thought he was blind. His hair was dead and thin, almost feathery on top of his head” (270).

1. When describing Boo, the author uses the word “white” three times. Why does she emphasize that?

2. What words come to mind when you hear the words “sickly” and “garishly”?

3. Boo’s body, cheeks, and hair are all called “thin.” What images does this bring to mind?

4. Why do you think he has colorless eyes?

5. Consider this description of Boo Radley. Of what does he remind you? How does this affect your opinion him?

6. How does Scout’s reaction to Boo change over the course of the story?

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Close Reading on Tom Robinson

Attitudes Toward the Trial

“It was a gala occasion. There was no room at the public hitching rail for another animal, mules and wagons were parked under every available tree. The courthouse square was covered with picnic parties sitting on newspapers, washing down biscuit and syrup with warm milk from fruit jars. Some people were gnawing on cold chicken and cold fried pork chops. The more affluent chased their food with drugstore Coca-Cola in bulb-shaped soda glasses. Greasy-faced children popped-the-whip through the crowd, and babies lunched at their mothers’ breasts.

In a far corner of the square, the Negroes sat quietly in the sun, dining on sardines, crackers, and the more vivid flavors of Nehi Cola” (160).

1. Why do you think a crowd has turned out to watch the trial?

2. If people brought food for lunch, what was their intention when they left home in the morning?

3. What kinds of people come to the trial?

4. Consider the food and activities at lunch. How would you describe the atmosphere?

5. The African-Americans sit in a “far corner.” What does that tell us?

6. Do they have them same attitude toward the trial as the white folks do? Why?

Reality of the Trial

“Then Mr. Underwood’s meaning became clear: Atticus has used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.

The name Ewell gave me a queasy feeling. Maycomb had lost no time in getting Mr. Ewell’s views of Tom’s demise and passing them along that English Channel of gossip, Miss Stephanie Crawford. Miss Stephanie told Aunt Alexandra in Jem’s presence (‘Oh foot, he’s old enough to listen.’) that Mr. Ewell said it made one down and about two more to go. Jem told me not to be afraid, Mr. Ewell was more hot gas than anything” (241).

1. What do you think the “secret courts of men’s hearts” are?

2. Why would men find Tom guilty in their hearts before the trial?

3. Mayella’s scream kills Tom. Consider her power. What is wrong with this situation?

4. What can we learn about Scout if “the name Ewell” makes her feel ill?

5. What does it tell us about the townspeople that they all care what Mr. Ewell thinks about Tom’s death?

6. Mr. Ewell wants Tom’s defenders dead. Why?

7. What should we think about Mr. Ewell if he is “hot gas”?