To Kill a Mockingbird is narrated by Scout, a six-year old girl who lives with her father, the lawyer Atticus Finch, and her brother, Jem, in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Jem and Scout, together with their friend Dill, are fascinated by their neighbor, a recluse called Boo Radley, whom they have never seen but who seems to be leaving them gifts in a tree outside his house.
When a black man, Tom Robinson, is accused of raping a white woman, Atticus agrees to defend him, even though this means disapproval and even violence against him and his family from the white citizens of Maycomb, some of whom come close to lynching Tom. During the trial, which is witnessed by Scout, Atticus proves that Tom's accuser, Mayella Ewell is lying but Tom is convicted anyway and later dies while attempting to escape from prison.
Mayella's father, Bob Ewell, feels humiliated by his daughter's treatment during the trial and embarks on a campaign of violence and intimidation against the...
(The entire section contains 8 answers and 973 words.)
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