Scout Finch

• narrator and protagonist; full name Jean Louise Finch, nickname Scout
• lives with her brother Jem, her father Atticus and the cook Calpurnia in Maycomb
• rather unusual girl: fights boys with confidence, learns to read before going to school, wonders about the differences between good and evil, acts with best intentions, feels more comfortable being a tomboy instead of understanding herself as the traditional Southern girl
• does not wear dresses or learns how to behave as a girl: climbs trees, wears overalls, is very straightforward and honest and oftentimes, she does neither think about the consequences she will face when behaving that way nor does she think that she could hurt someone with her forthright manner
• these qualities, skills and that mindset are the product of her being educated and raised by Atticus
• development throughout the novel:
  
  • starts as an innocent, five-year old girl that has never been exposed to the evil world
  • gets in touch with evil in the form of racial prejudice that she can respond to in two ways: by being hurt like Jem or by being optimistic and conscious (the way she actually is at the end of the novel)
  • Scout inherits her positive way of thinking from Atticus and learns that despite the evilness of humanity, goodness can exist and that by being sympathetic and understanding, evil can be avoided
  • still being a child at the end of the novel, her perspective on life has developed into that of an almost grown-up

Jem Finch

• brother of Scout; full name Jeremy Atticus Finch, nickname Jem
• represents the typical American boy: dreams about playing football, adventurous, unabashed
• as he grows older, he abandons his position of being Scout‘s playmate, but is still her companion and her protector
• the incidents surrounding Tom Robinson‘s trial take place when Jem moves into adolescence, and the evil and injustice that come with it have a strong effect on his ideals
  
  • the trial leaves him disillusioned and vulnerable since he sees that the trial of Tom Robinson (supposed to be legal and based on facts) is not conducted with justice but swayed by prejudices
  • still, he maintains his sense of justice throughout the novel (forbids Scout to mash a bug (wants to protect fragile things that are not able to defend themselves)) and is also able to see the good in people (Boo Radley‘s unexpected aid)

Atticus Finch

• father of Scout and Jem, lawyer in Maycomb, widower
• exhibits a strong sense of morality and justice that his children absorb
• despite the Great Depression, he is relatively wealthy due to his prominent status as a lawyer
• Atticus earned the status of being respected by everyone by being intelligent, wise and exemplary which is why a lot of people turn to him when they are in trouble
• committed to racial equality, he defends Tom Robinson and thus directs the anger of the white Maycomb citizens at him and his family
• although this action makes him a little less popular in the eyes of some people in Maycomb, he is too impressive to being held a grudge towards for long
• in fact, he never holds a grudge towards anyone in Maycomb and this ideal of sympathy and understanding is instilled in his children as well
• acknowledges the good and the bad sides of people and admires, nurtures and reinforces the good while forgiving the bad - this moral is passed on to Scout
• although Atticus is respected and somewhat heroic for the people of Maycomb, Scout and Jem‘s view of their father deviates greatly from that picture
  
  • he is older than other fathers and is also different from them in that he does not hunt or fish which is why the children are embarrassed of him (compare the beginning of Chapter 10)
  • they do not understand why he shoots the Mad Dog
  • attitude changes throughout the novel when they come to understand his actions
• fairly consistent character: does not really develop, but stands committed to justice and is empathetic regardless of whether another person is good or bad

Boo (Arthur) Radley

• a recluse living at the Radley Place
• Scout, Jem and Dill imagine him as a phantom
• although being connoted with a certain sense of eeriness, he is the ultimate symbol of goodness, leaving little presents for Scout and Jem and saving them from real danger at the end of the novel
• used to be an intelligent child but was exposed to the cruelness of his father and is thus emotionally damaged
• is an example of what can happen when evil interferes with pureness or innocence
• considered a mockingbird (also see Symbols)

Dill

• full name Charles Baker Harris
• friend and summer neighbor of Scout and Jem
• does not know his biological father
• confident, has a very active imagination, fascinated by Boo Radley
• tells enormous lies and concocts unlikely stories

Miss Maudie Atkinson

• widow, neighbor and friend of the Finches‘
• sharp-tongued, committed to justice, sympathetic, humorous, tolerant
• comfortable both in men‘s overalls when she works in the garden as well as in dresses
• role-model to Scout, helps her make sense of femininity

Aunt Alexandra

• Atticus‘ sister
• strong-willed, dominant, highly devoted to her family
• embodiment of Southern femininity, committed to propriety and tradition
• opposite to Miss Maudie
• conscious of Maycomb‘s social conventions, lives in its constrictions and restrictions
• critical of Atticus‘ parenting style

Calpurnia

• black cook and housekeeper of the Finches‘
• acts as a mother figure to Scout and Jem, taught Scout how to write
• polite, compassionate, disciplined
• bridge between the black and white world of Maycomb

Bob Ewell

• father of eight children
• drunkard who is despised throughout the community and also by his own family
• sexually and physically abusive father who fails to provide for his family
• mostly unemployed member of the poorest family in Maycomb, too lazy to even stay in a WPA program
• wants to better his life situation by gaining respect of the townspeople for accusing Tom Robinson of rape and by therefore protecting the white women of Maycomb
• represents ignorance, poverty, misery and hateful racial prejudice
• lives up to his threats to harm the people who embarrassed him in court
• in the end, his hatefulness results in his own death

Mayella Ewell

• 19 year-old lonely and unhappy daughter of Bob
• surrogate wife for her father and mother for her younger siblings
• wants a better life for herself (evidenced by the fact that she grows the red geraniums in the garden so lovingly and carefully)
• can‘t attend school because she has to take care of her younger siblings
• her future seems set: does not have anywhere to go or escape being abused by her father
• thus, an affair with a black man seems adventurous and exciting and also gives Mayella a certain degree of power
• powerless woman has power over a human being, even over his fate

Tom Robinson

• a black field worker accused of raping Mayella Ewell
• physically handicapped; also, his race can be considered a "disability" in the Maycomb community
• one of the novel‘s mockingbirds since he is destroyed by evil (also see Symbols)

Link Deas

• Tom Robinson‘s employer
• looks past race, praises integrity of Tom

Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose

• elderly woman living close to the Finches
• ill-tempered and racist
• Jem is sent to her for punishment and resents her
• Atticus admires her for her battle with her addiction

Heck Tate

• sheriff of Maycomb, trying to protect the innocent from danger (Jem and Boo Radley after Boo killed Bob Ewell)
• his testimony in Tom Robinson‘s trial supports Atticus‘ defense because his account of Mayella‘s rape indicates that Tom could not have done it due to the fact that Tom can only use his right hand (Mayella had bruises on both sides of her neck and also a black eye on the right side of her face)

Mr. Dolphus Raymond

• wealthy white man, has a black mistress and mulatto children
• pretends to be continuously drunk in order to explain his behaviour to Maycomb citizens
• disgusted by the hypocrisy of white society and thus, he lives among blacks

Nathan Radley

• the older brother of Boo
• treats Boo as badly as their deceased father: he cuts off the delicate friendship between Boo and Scout and Jem by shutting off the knothole of the tree in which Boo leaves little gifts for the children

Mr. Walter Cunningham

• poor farmer, yet he raises his children in the belief that they should never take something from someone else that they can‘t pay back in some form
• part of the mob that wants to lynch Tom Robinson
• essentially good since he is compelled by Scout‘s politeness to disperse the mob