Book club questions to kill a mockingbird

It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results.

Language is a powerful tool in this novel. The language of the children, the eloquence of Atticus and the language of the townspeople reflect their attitudes and often their prejudices. What lessons does Atticus attempt to teach Scout about the use of racial slurs?

Character

1. Many of the characters in the novel hold stereotypes about how individuals will behave as a result of their age, gender, race, social status, etc. Which characters are the victims of stereotyping? Do any of them break through the behavior expected of them, showing individuality and exposing the falseness of labeling people?
2. In failing to arrest Boo Radley at the end, Sheriff Tate is breaking the law, as is Atticus, who knows the truth of Ewell’s murder. Do you agree with some critics that Atticus’ actions are “wrong” as well as illegal?

Point of View

1. The novel begins as the voice of a mature adult recalling events from childhood and sometimes shifts to the point of view of a 6-year-old. Did you notice the shifts occurring? If so, did you find them distracting? What advantages did the author have as a result of being able to move from one perspective to the other?

Setting

1. Compare the city of Maycomb to the place where you grew up, noting similarities and differences.
2. The story is set in a small town in southern Alabama during the Depression of the 1930s. What aspects of the story seem to be particular to that place and time? What aspects of the story are universal, cutting across time and place? In what ways are the people you know today similar to and different from those in Maycomb?

Plot

1. Did To Kill a Mockingbird hold your interest? What parts of the story held your interest most strongly? Why? What parts seemed less interesting? Why?
2. Many readers see To Kill a Mockingbird as having two parts, one centering on Boo Radley and the other on the trial of Tom Robinson. How were the two stories brought together at the end of the novel?
3. Harper Lee called her novel “a love story.” Is this an accurate characterization of the novel?

Symbolism

A central symbol in the novel is the mockingbird, described by Miss Maudie as a creature that should never be killed because it is harmless and even provides song for the enjoyment of others. Both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are basically blameless individuals who are at the mercy of society, yet society is cruel to Boo and ultimately Tom is murdered. The symbol of the mockingbird also points to Scout, both as an innocent child and as the grown-up narrator, who “sings a song” in telling the story. Can you think of additional ways in which the following function as symbols in To Kill a Mockingbird?

At the age of eight, Scout Finch is an entrenched free-thinker. She can accept her father's warning that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because mockingbirds harm no one and give great pleasure. The benefits said to be gained from going to school and keeping her temper elude her.

The place of this enchanting, intensely moving story is Maycomb, Alabama. The time is the Depression, but Scout and her brother, Jem, are seldom depressed. They have appalling gifts for entertaining themselves—appalling, that is, to almost everyone except their wise lawyer father, Atticus.

Atticus is a man of unfaltering good will and humor, and partly because of this, the children become involved in some disturbing adult mysteries: fascinating Boo Radley, who never leaves his house; the terrible temper of Mrs. Dubose down the street; the fine distinctions that make the Finch family "quality"; the forces that cause the people of Maycomb to show compassion in one crisis and unreasoning cruelty in another.

Also because Atticus is what he is, and because he lives where he does, he and his children are plunged into a conflict that indelibly marks their lives—and gives Scout some basis for thinking she knows just about as much about the world as she needs to. (From Barnes and Noble.)

Somewhere between changing high schools three times, I missed the required To Kill a Mockingbird reading. It wasn’t until after college that I decided to read it and see what all the fuss was about.

So, if you haven’t read it yet, there’s no shame!

I’m going to guess that even those in your book club who have read it will be delighted to read it again.

It’s one of those books you can read multiple times and still turn the last page with a smile and that nostalgic feeling that comes after you’ve enjoyed a good visit with old friends.

What are the 3 main themes of To Kill a Mockingbird?

What are the 5 main themes of To Kill a Mockingbird?

What is the most important message in To Kill a Mockingbird?

What are 3 words that describe Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird?