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Line 1: {{work}} {{Infobox book [[File:to-kill-a-mockingbird2_9855.jpg\|frame]]▼ \| title = To Kill a Mockingbird ▲~~[[File:~~ \| image = to-kill-a-mockingbird2_9855.jpg~~\|frame]]~~ \| caption = \| author = Harper Lee \| central theme = Appearances are not always correct, no matter what everyone around you says. \| elevator pitch = The narrator's father defends a black man in an Alabama court against charges of raping a white woman. The narrator is too young to know why this is important. \| genre = \| publication date = July 11, 1960 \| source page exists = \| wiki URL = \| wiki name = }} {{quote\| ''"'...shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.' That was the only time I ever hear Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. 'Your father's right,' she said. 'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin [[Title Drop\|to kill a mockingbird]].'"'' }}▼ '''''To Kill a Mockingbird''''' is a 1960 novel by Harper Lee set in the [[The Great Depression\|Depression-era]] [[Deep South]] revolving around Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, her brother Jem and their lawyer father Atticus. During the course of the novel Atticus [[Clear Their Name\|defends a black man]], Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of rape. Despite [[Tough Act to Follow\|(or possibly because of)]] its near-universal acclaim and status as a classic, this was the only book Harper Lee ever ~~wrote~~published for a half-century. It was ~~made~~given ~~into~~a faithful adaptation as a film with [[Gregory Peck]] as Atticus Finch, probably his ~~most well~~best-known role today.▼ ▲{{quote\| ''"'...shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.' That was the only time I ever hear Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. 'Your father's right,' she said. 'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin [[Title Drop\|to kill a mockingbird]].'"'' }} ▲''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a 1960 novel by Harper Lee set in the [[The Great Depression\|Depression-era]] [[Deep South]] revolving around Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, her brother Jem and their lawyer father Atticus. During the course of the novel Atticus [[Clear Their Name\|defends a black man]], Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of rape. Despite [[Tough Act to Follow\|(or possibly because of)]] its near-universal acclaim and status as a classic, this was the only book Harper Lee ever wrote. It was made into a film with [[Gregory Peck]] as Atticus Finch, probably his most well-known role today. The number one hero on the 100 heroes listing by the AFI was Atticus Finch, and the film was declared number one in AFI's top ten Court Room Dramas. (Fun Fact: The movie adaption is [[~~Superman (Comic Book)\|~~Superman]]'s favorite movie.) In February 2015, Harper Lee announced that a sequel to ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', entitled ''[[Go Set a Watchman]]'', her first book since ''Mockingbird'', would be published in July 2015. The new novel, which is about the grown Scout's return to Maycomb to see her father Atticus, was actually written before—and is directly responsible for the existence of -- ''Mockingbird'', but the manuscript was lost for six decades. ---- {{tropelist}} ~~=== Tropes: ===~~ * [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The film removes a few sub-plots, but keeps the main plot like it was and is very faithful to the book. Harper Lee herself oversaw the beginning of filming, but after three weeks she [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/books/30lee.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1 "took off when she realized everything would be fine without her"]. * [[Amateur Cast]]: The children in the movie were played by local kids from near the shooting site, none of whom went on to have acting careers. Line 21 ⟶ 34: * [[Badass Bookworm]]: Atticus' surprised children learn he is the best shot in the county when he is asked to kill a rabid dog. * [[Badass Pacifist]]: Atticus. * [[Big Damn Heroes]]: {{spoiler\|Boo Radley saving the siblings!}}▼ ** Whilst not quite as [[Moment of Awesome (Sugar Wiki)\|awesome]] as the above example, Scout and Jem's ~~neighbour~~neighbor Mr. Avery manages to get one when he tries to help when Miss Maudie's house catches fire.▼ * [[Black Comedy]]: Lampshaded by Scout (as narrator) during the attempted lynching. Quote: "A sickeningly comic aspect of an unfunny situation." * [[Black Gal Onon White Guy Drama]]: Dolphus Raymond is a white man who has children with a black woman - although he has to pretend to be the town drunk so that the town can deal with it. Note, a white man fathering children with a black woman was unremarkable, what the other white residents couldn't forgive him for was actually acknowledging his children and living with his family in the black part of town. ▲* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: {{spoiler\|Boo Radley saving the siblings!}} ▲** Whilst not quite as [[Moment of Awesome (Sugar Wiki)\|awesome]] as the above example, Scout and Jem's neighbour Mr. Avery manages to get one when he tries to help when Miss Maudie's house catches fire. * [[Bookworm]]: Atticus takes a lamp and a book and sits in front of the jail reading all the night when he wants to defuse the attemps to lynch Robinson. * [[Boyish Short Hair]]: Scout in the movie (her hair is not mentioned in the book). Line 30 ⟶ 43: * [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Chekhov spends roughly 10 chapters boasting about the gun he keeps on his mantle. * [[Childhood Marriage Promise]]: Dill and Scout, most likely not meant to be taken seriously. Well, certainly not once you learn that Dill was based on Harper's childhood friend [[Camp Gay\|Truman Capote]]. * [[Cigar Chomper]]: According to Jem, this was Judge Taylor's "one interesting habit", as he was a pretty boring person otherwise. * [[Clear Their Name]]: The main plot and an iconic example in American literature. * [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Dill. Line 37 ⟶ 51: * [[Cool Old Lady]]: Miss Maudie. * [[The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much]]: After learning how Bob Ewell died ({{spoiler\|killed by Boo Radley when he'd tried to kill Scout and Jem}}), Sheriff Tate tells Atticus that his official story will be that Bob fell and impaled himself on his own knife. Given the nature of Bob's actual killer, Atticus understands the Sheriff's decision, as does Scout. * [[Corrupt Hick]]: Bob Ewell has this trope down to a science, what with accusing Tom Robinson of rape, probably {{spoiler\|responsible for the rape and abuse of his daughter, attempting to kill Scout and Jem}} and being an all-around not-nice person. This is nicely averted by the town sheriff Heck Tate, however, who is quite a kind man. It should be noted that Bob Ewell and his brood were considered the lowest of the low, the townsfolk only took his word instead of Tom Robinson's because Bob is white. * [[Crusading Lawyer]]: Atticus, who works pro-bono some cases. * [[Decoy Protagonist]]: Scout narrates the story from the very beginning, but a few chapters later it becomes evident to everyone that Atticus is the protagonist. * [[Deep South]] * [[Dirty Coward]]: Bob Ewell. {{spoiler\|He can't go after the best shot in Maycomb County, so he'll go after his children when they're walking home in the dark instead.}} * [[Disappeared Dad]]: Alluded to in Dill's case, although at first he lies about it and claims his father is [[Blatant Lies\|president of a railroad]]. * [[The Dreaded]]: Boo Radley. {{spoiler\|Subverted}}. * [[False Rape Accusation]]: All evidence seem to point to that direction. Not that it matters to the jury, anyway. * [[Fanfic]]: Most writers seem to have forgotten that Scout may be a tomboy but she is also a church-going small-towner from pre-1950s Alabama - many of the things that they have her do in fan fiction (especially [[High School AU]]) would give the real Scout a massive attack of the ~~vapours~~vapors. * [[The Film of the Book]]: [[Adaptation Distillation]] to the point that Gregory Peck simply ''is'' Atticus. * [[First Snow]]: Scout's reaction to seeing snow for the first time in Alabama is thinking it's the end of the world. * [[Foregone Conclusion]]: Played with; although it's pretty clear to the adults (and the reader with any awareness of life and racial relations in 1930s Alabama) how Tom Robinson's trial will end, the novel itself is being told from the perspective of innocent and naive children who don't realize this.▼ * [[Follow the Leader]]: The book ''Wish You Well'' by David Baldacci seems ''just'' a little too similar to this one. ▲* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: Played with; although it's pretty clear to the adults (and the reader with any awareness of life and racial relations in 1930s Alabama) how Tom Robinson's trial will end, the novel itself is being told from the perspective of innocent and naive children who don't realize this. * [[Good All Along]]: {{spoiler\|Boo Radley.}} * [[The Great Depression]] * [[Groin Attack]]: Scout accidentally kicks some guy in the nuts during {{spoiler\|the attempted lynching}}. * [[Heat Wave]]: Atticus Finch defends an innocent black man on a brutally hot day, accused of rape on a brutally hot day. * [[Heroic Albino]]: While perhaps not in the medical sense, Boo Radley is extremely pale from being kept in his house for many years. Line 58 ⟶ 72: Could have something to do with how Atticus seems to hold himself and his children to equal standards, thus they refer to him as an equal. Could also be because Atticus' wife died when Jem and Scout were quite young: without a mother present to call Atticus 'dad', Jem and Scout would never hear anyone refer to their father but by his name, and they'd probably copy that behaviour. I know my parents always referred to each other by their names, and so my brother and I did as well. * [[Hidden Depths]]: [[Misunderstood Loner ~~With~~with a Heart of Gold\|Boo Radley]] and [[Retired Badass\|Atticus]]. Also several minor ~~characters -- Mrs~~characters—Mrs. Dubose, Aunt Alexandra, Mr. Cunningham, Braxton Underwood, Dolphus Raymond. * [[Hikikomori]]: Boo Radley. * [[Hot Dad]]: The casting of [[Gregory Peck]] in the [[The Film of the Book\|film]] elevated Atticus Finch to this for many women. * [[Humans Are ~~Bastards~~the Real Monsters]]: [[Deconstructed]]. One of the book's many points is to show that while ''some'' people are ''huge'' ([[Fat Bastard\|no pun intended]]) bastards, there are also plenty who are kindhearted and altruistic, such as Atticus Finch. It also shows that [[Heel Face Turn\|people are capable of change]], such as {{spoiler\|Mr. Cunningham, who was implied to be the only member of the jury to originally vote "innocent" before being swayed to the guilty side after several hours}}, and that some humans get a reputation of being bastards when they really are some of the noblest, such as {{spoiler\|Boo Radley.}} * [[I Die Free]]: Mrs. Dubose is determined to break her morphine addiction before she dies, despite adding withdrawal symptoms to her chronic pain. {{quote\| "Did she die free?" asked Jem. ~~<br />~~ "As the mountain air," said Atticus. "...—I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew." }} * [[Innocent Inaccurate]]▼ * [[In Medias Res]]: The novel starts with the sentence: "When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow." That happens at the end of the book. The effect seems to be that of an adult Scout mentioning it in a conversation, then explaining the background with the rest of the book. Which makes it [[How We Got Here]] as well. ▲* [[Innocent Inaccurate]] * [[Insult Backfire]]: When Atticus is called a "nigger-lover.". * [[Karma Houdini]]: Averted thanks to [[Misunderstood Loner ~~With~~with a Heart of Gold\|Boo Radley]]. * [[The Killer Was Left-Handed]]: [[Justified Trope\|Justified this time,]] since the accused could not use his left hand. * [[Kindly Housekeeper]]: Calpurnia. * [[Madwoman in ~~The~~the Attic\|Madman in the Attic]]: Boo Radley. * [[Menace Decay]]: Scout Finch is a tomboy, but by modern standards she's quite feminine. * {{spoiler\|[[Miscarriage of Justice]]: Tom Robinson's fate.}} * [[Missing Mom]]: Scout, Mayella, and Boo all lost their mothers long before the story opens. Since Scout's mom died when she was two, she doesn't remember her, but Jem, who's a few years older, does. * [[Misunderstood Loner ~~With~~with a Heart of Gold]]: Boo Radley is a reclusive not-quite-albino, and reputed to be [[Ax Crazy]]. {{spoiler\|He ends up saving Scout's and Jem's lives.}} * [[Moral Dissonance]]: Tom Robinson implies that Mayella's father sexually abused her in less than a ~~sentence -- one~~sentence—one left out of the film ,<ref> "She says what her pa do to her don't count."</ref>, and it is never brought up again, even though Lee wrote the book in the 1960's. This is because it was considered ''scientific fact'' that parental incest was imaginary on the part of the child, up until about the 70's. Modern readers, especially high schoolers, are often shocked that this aspect wasn't given greater weight. ** It was a common reality in the time and place of the story. Collin Wilcox Paxton stated in ''Fearful Symmetry'' that she deliberately played Mayella this way. She revealed that girls like Mayella were common in rural North Carolina where she grew up, and it was taken for granted that they were molested, usually by a father or uncle. * [[Nightmare Fuel]]: In-universe, Boo Radley to the children. * [[Nostalgic Narrator]]: The story is narrated by the adult Scout. * [[Not Evil, Just Misunderstood]]: {{spoiler\|Boo Radley.}} * [[One-Book Author]]: Lee was so afraid that following books wouldn't be as good that she never wrote again. She had a second novel in the works, ''The Long Goodbye'', and a nonfiction book based on the Willie Jo Maxwell killings, but nothing ever came of it. She contributed substantially to Truman Capote's ''In Cold Blood''; this is her only other work to see the light of publication. ** Or perhaps she simply didn't want to write another book. As she once said: "I've said all I have to say. Why say more?" Line 88 ⟶ 102: * [[Papa Wolf]] Atticus and his rifle. {{spoiler\|Boo Radley}} * [[Playing a Tree]]: Scout is made to dress up as a leg of ham for a community pageant, but she falls asleep and fails to appear when she should. She's so ashamed, that she doesn't take off the costume while going home, {{spoiler\|and this probably saves her life}}.▼ * [[Pet the Dog]]: According to Tom, Mayella saved up a lot of money so her siblings could all go to town and get ice cream. Then again she also did it {{spoiler\|to get the house empty, so she could try to seduce Tom}}. * [[The Pig Pen]]: Burris Ewell. Really, all the Ewells but Mayella go here. Their home also contains the [[Trash of the Titans]]. ▲* [[Playing a Tree]]: Scout is made to dress up as a leg of ham for a community pageant, but she falls asleep and fails to appear when she should. She's so ashamed, that she doesn't take off the costume while going home, {{spoiler\|and this probably saves her life}}. * [[Playing Drunk]]: Dolphus Raymond pretends to be a drunk so he doesn't suffer backlash from the fact he's in love with a black girl (and fathered a mulatto). * [[Pro Bono Barter]]: Atticus Finch accepts vegetables from Mr. Cunningham as payment for legal services. * [[Red Right Hand]]: Averted: Tom has a mangled arm from a childhood accident, but while he's treated as if he has one, he is a good guy. It is actually important evidence that he didn't commit the crime he was accused of. * [[Retired Badass]]: Again, Atticus. * [[Revenge Byby Proxy]]: After Atticus Finch defends a black man whom Bob Ewell's daughter accused of raping her, Ewell is infuriated, and attempts to punish Atticus by {{spoiler\|attempting to murder the latter's children}}. * [[Rousseau Was Right]]: At the end, when Scout is talking about a story read to her: {{quote\| '''Scout:''' An' they chased him 'n' never could catch him 'cause they didn't know what he looked like, an' Atticus, when they finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of those things... Atticus, he was real nice...~~<br />~~ '''Atticus:''' Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them. }} * [[Scary Black Man]]: The falsely accused Tom Robinson. * [[Shaming the Mob]]: Scout's [[Moment of Awesome (Sugar Wiki)\|Moment of Awesome]], where she got a lynch mob to disperse by speaking calmly to them, [[Innocent Inaccurate\|apparently oblivious to the seriousness of the situation]]. * [[Simple Country Lawyer]]: Subverted: Atticus was a well-educated man who abhorred the opinions of his neighbors, but incompetent parodies make him into a [[Simple Country Lawyer]]. * [[Smart People Wear Glasses]]: So naturally, Atticus wears them. * [[Sympathy for ~~The~~the Devil]]: How Scout feels regarding Mayella, who is [[All of the Other Reindeer\|mocked and rejected by the rest of the town]] and {{spoiler\|has been assaulted, possibly [[Parental Incest\|sexually]], by Bob Ewell}}. Tom Robinson also states during his testimony that, even though Mayella is basically trying to destroy him, he feels sorry for her, which shocks the jury. * [[Take That]]: Scout's misery with her school system should sound... familiar. * [[Three Amigos]]: Scout, Jem, Dill. * [[Title Drop]]: "Remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." * [[Tomboy]]: Scout is one. Of course, the book is set in the 1930s when girls and women wore dresses and skirts a lot more than they do now, so being a tomboy and wearing boys clothes was more of a meaningful statement. * [[Trash of the Titans]]: The Ewells, who live in a garbage dump. * [[Turn the Other Cheek]]: Atticus ''tries'' this on Bob Ewell. Since Bob is a monster, [[Revenge Byby Proxy\|it backfires.]] * [[Walk Like an Egyptian]] : Jem and Scout. * [[Wham! Line]]: {{spoiler\|"Hey, Boo."}} Line 115 ⟶ 130: {{reflist}} {{Pulitzer Prize for Fiction}} {{The Big Read}} {{AFI's 100 Years 100 Heroes and Villains}} {{Top 100 Banned Books 1990s}} {{Top 100 Banned Books 2000s}} {{Top 100 Banned Books 2010s}} [[Category:~~The Sixties~~{{PAGENAME}}]]▼ [[Category:Academy Award]]▼ [[Category:Film]] [[Category:Films ofBased ~~the~~on ~~1960s0s~~Novels]]▼ [[Category:Films of the 1960s]] [[Category:Trial film]] [[Category:The Great American Read]] [[Category:The Great Depression]] [[Category:Historical Fiction Literature]] [[Category:Law Procedural]] ▲[[Category:Films of the 1960s0s]] [[Category:Lit Fic]] [[Category:Literature of the 1960s]] [[Category:National Film Registry]] ▲[[Category:Academy Award]] ▲[[Category:The Sixties]] [[Category:School Study Media]] [[Category:The ~~Great Depression~~Sixties]] [[Category:ToPages ~~Kill~~with aworking ~~Mockingbird~~Wikipedia tabs]]