Close Reading: To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 1- 4
Part I: Historical Context
Skim through the opening sections of the book.
List five details that indicate history (personal, local, or national) is important in Maycomb.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What do you think this emphasis on history shows about the area?
What do we know about Atticus Finch from his family, his actions, and his work as a lawyer? Give
specific examples.
Part II: Social context
Carefully read the following passage. Highlight the imagery Scout uses.
Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the
streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow,
it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked
flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks in the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the
morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft
teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum. People moved slowly then. They ambled across the
square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything. A day was twentyfour hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy
and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a
time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told it had nothing
to fear but fear itself. (9–10)
What can you infer about the people of Maycomb based on this description?
Which words or images add to that impression?
Close Reading: To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 1- 4
Part III: Allusions
History Connection: The reference to “nothing to fear but fear itself” is an allusion to FDR’s
inaugural speech given on March 4, 1933. The beginning of his address is copied below. Annotate the
speech; then answer the questions that follow.
I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will
address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This
is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we
shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it
has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the
only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which
paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance… I am convinced that you will again
give that support to leadership in these critical days.
In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank
God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability
to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of
exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on
every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of
families are gone.
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an
equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of
the moment. […]
Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill
of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the
mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us
that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow
men.
What issues was America dealing with at the time, according to Roosevelt?
What type of attitude did Roosevelt think people should have? What do you think Roosevelt meant by
his comment about fear?
Why do you think this allusion was used? How does it expand your understanding of the novel?