To Kill a Mockingbird

Since the 1960 publication of To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch has been widely upheld as a role model for real world lawyers, even inspiring many people to pursue the practice of law. Recently, however, critics have argued that Atticus Finch didn’t do as much as he could have to disrupt the climate of racism, sexism, and classism he practiced within. Do you feel Atticus Finch continues to endure as a strong role model, or do you think his practices are outdated?

Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch expresses his strong distaste for violence and assertions of power. Nevertheless, he finds himself in the position where—in order to protect his community from the possibility of attack by a rabid dog—he must shoot Old Tim Johnson, the so-called “pet of Maycomb” (105). What does this scene suggest about Atticus Finch’s complicated role in defending Tom Robinson?

In the scene where Jem’s pants get caught on the Radley’s gate, Nathan Radley fires a shot, believing he is shooting at a prowler. By the end of the novel, Jem is again conflated with another person’s identity when Atticus and Heck Tate discuss whether Jem or Boo Radley should be charged with the murder of Bob Ewell. What is Lee trying to insinuate with these repeated instances of mistaken identity? How do these moments thematically relate to the Tom Robinson case? 

Though Atticus urges Scout to adopt a sympathetic view toward her teachers, To Kill A Mockingbird offers a mostly critical perspective of public education. What are some of the specific critiques the novel provides? What are some of the Finch’s familial alternatives to institutionalized learning?

Maycomb is a town with a definitive caste system, described by Jem (in Chapter 23) as having four tiers: “the ordinary kind like us […] the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes” (258). These groups are generally stratified, keeping to their own respective areas of the community. To Kill A Mockingbird, however, presents a number of exceptional situations wherein different tiers of the community collide with one another, including Walter Cunningham’s dinner at the Finch home, the children’s visit to Calpurnia’s church, and the trial of Tom Robinson. Choose one of these exceptional situations and analyze how the different tiers perform toward their expected roles (and how their typical performances are also disrupted). 

In Chapter 3, Atticus notably urges Scout to “climb into [another’s] skin and walk around in it” (33), suggesting that empathy is derived from imagining what someone else’s life feels like beneath the surface. To Kill A Mockingbird seems to also suggest, however, that much of the human condition is inaccessible to our imaginations, deeply locked away—like Boo Radley— in some territory that cannot be entered. How does the book use Boo Radley as a vehicle for peering into this unknown (or unknowable) interiority? How do you interpret Atticus’s final lines: “Most people are [nice] when you finally see them” (323)?

Processing the confrontation he and his children recently faced with the mob at the county jail, Atticus reflects, “Every mob in every little Southern town is always made up of people you know” (179). How does To Kill A Mockingbird examine the spread of gossip, prejudicial ideas, and other aspects of mob mentality in a small southern community?

How did perspectives on violence, racism, and racial prejudice in the U.S. change (and remain the same) between the Great Depression and To Kill A Mockingbird’s first publication in 1960? How have perspectives changed (and remained the same) between the book’s original publication and present-day American society?