Background

 Atticus’s great grandfather migrated to Alabama to escape persecution of

being a Methodist
 Simon Finch was a fur trapping apothecary from Cromwell
 He prospered and established his own estate called the Finchs Landing
 Atticus went to Montgomery to study law and his brother Jack to Boston
to study Medicine
 Atticus became a lawyer, moved to Maycomb and helped his brother
become a doctor
 Their sister Alexandra stayed at the Landing
 Maycomb was a tired old town. It was reeling from the effects of the great
depression, hence jobs were rare.
 Reading page 6
 Atticus as a father was kind but unemotional
 He was fair minded ,was not influenced by what others said
 He treated his black maid as a family member and entrusted her
with
The upbringing of his children
 Scout’s mother passed away when she was two and Jem was six
 Page 7
 Family and neighbours of the Finchs
 Mrs Dubose who was ill tempered
 The Radley residence were an “unknown entity”
  Seven year old Dill, who was full of stories
 The children spent their summer enacting plays
 Page 9
 The Radley looked like a haunted place
 Inside the house lived an evil ghost
 Horrid rumours were spread about him
 The unusual Radleys
 They lived quietly with their two sons
 Did not attend church on Sundays
 Mrs Radley seldom socialized
 Mr Radley, ”bought cotton” meaning did not have a job
 They kept their doors closed on Sundays when everyone socialized
 The younger Radley got mixed up with unfavourable Cunninghams
 He was detained along with the other boys
 The judge decided to send the other boys to industrial school
 Boo’s father found it a disgrace and kept him locked in the house for15
years
 Miss Stephanie Crawford is the neighbourhood scold and is responsible for
all the vicious rumours about Boo.