Atticus in "To Kill a Mockingbird" Quiz

Answer: They were hanged.

The Haverfords were hanged. Atticus wanted them to plead guilty to second-degree murder but they were too stubborn. Atticus had studied law but Scout believes that he soon developed a distaste for the criminal rather than the civil side of law.

Answer: He met her in Montgomery when he was elected to the legislature.

Atticus was fifteen years older than his wife. She was a Graham from Montgomery. Scout could not remember her mother enough to miss her. Jem sometimes had to go off and play by himself when he thought about her.

Answer: Atticus gave Jem some money so Jem would take her.

Possibly Jem would have looked after Scout anyway but the money jingling in his pockets meant that Atticus had given him some encouragement. Jem has to warn Scout not to try to play games with him like they did when they were at home.

Answer: Every evening as he read the papers.

It was every evening when Scout would crawl into his lap and watch his moving finger as he read aloud. For Scout reading became as important as breathing.

Answer: All the farmers were poor and had no money to pay them.

It is typical of Atticus that he takes the time to give a full explanation of the community in which Scout and Jem live. Mr. Cunningham can't pay him in money but he will eventually try to pay him in "kind".

Answer: He was taught at home by his father.

Amidst the trauma of her first day at school Scout remembers that her father and her Uncle Jack had been educated at home by her grandfather. She wonders why Atticus can't teach her in the same way.

Answer: He talks about the Ewell children's hunger pains.

Scout has been brought up to respect the letter of the law. She tries to turn this in her favour by pointing out that Burris Ewell only ever has to go to the first day of school. Atticus uses the example of Mr. Ewell being able to get away with illegal hunting to show how some circumstances can change the way you feel about the law.

Answer: He tells Scout to pay no attention to him and he will come down.

Atticus reveals that he has a pretty good grasp of child psychology. He also maintains his dignity by not resorting to either bribes or threats.

Answer: "on the public streets."

There are no mysteries or unpleasant secrets about Atticus that he keeps concealed. Unlike the Radleys where everything is shrouded in mystery and rumour and gossip can create wild stories, Atticus' life is an open book.

Answer: Building the snowman by using soil and snow.

Atticus is pleased at Jem's inventiveness in using the soil as the base for the snow-man figure. Later he warns him he ought not to make a caricature of any of the neighbours.

Answer: He decided it was a phase she was going through and ignored it.

The contrast between Atticus's and Uncle Jack's attitude to swearing shows that Atticus has learned to be extremely patient and long-suffering as a parent. He doesn't get annoyed when Jack hits Scout even though she has been provoked. He rightly concludes that she "had it coming".

Answer: He told Scout he didn't mind her much the way she was.

Atticus would never be discourteous to his sister but he didn't really want to try to turn Scout in to something that she wasn't. He neither praised Scout nor scolded her but merely pointed out that he considered there were already enough rays of sunshine in the family.

Answer: He merely said he had no influence because he was a guest.

Again Atticus apparently tries to take the heat out of a situation which he knows Scout finds irksome. There is no good scolding Scout or protesting to his sister about the seating arrangements. He uses instead the rules of courtesy to deflect the argument.

Answer: Atticus always listens to both sides of the story.

Atticus's sense of fairplay has been passed on to his children. Though Scout has been on the receiving end of punishment by her father, she usually comes to see that he had treated her justly. This has been particularly true when she has been in dispute with Jem.

Answer: That her father intended her to hear it.

Uncle Jack does not tell Atticus why Scout hit Francis. Atticus has already told Scout and Jem that they are going to lose the case. Why he wants Scout to overhear this conversation is because he's trying to get across that he knows how much she is trying to keep her head and stay out of trouble whilst the case is on.

Answer: He could make people's will so airtight they couldn't be changed.

Jem and Scout try hard to find something about their father that they can be proud about. Miss Maudie's compliment does not mean much when they considered the sporting achievements of their friends' parents.

Answer: proud of the fact that his father never boasted about being a dead shot.

Jem understands that the most important thing about the incident is the way his father takes no pride in what he has done. His father is a crack-shot and yet never mentioned it, even when his children were disappointed in him compared with other fathers. Jem tells Scout that they must never boast about what Atticus has done.

Answer: "hold your head high and be a gentleman".

The way in which Atticus could speak politely to Mrs.Dubose and tell her all the latest news convinced Scout that her father was one of the bravest men who ever lived. Atticus uses the whole episode to show his children the different sort of courage that Mrs. Dubose possessed when she fought to clear herself of the morphine addiction.

Answer: He seemed to enjoy what he heard.

It is Aunt Alexandra who makes the biggest fuss over what had happened. Atticus has total trust in Calpurnia and defends her from all of Aunt Alexandra's comments.

Answer: He asks him whether he is hungry.

Atticus retains his composure at all times. He deals with the practical things first of all as means of reassuring Dill that he has nothing to fear. Jem has proved himself responsible by breaking the childhood code of never informing on another child. Jem knew that Dill's mother would be suffering if she didn't know where he was.

Answer: He massaged Jem's hair.

Earlier Atticus had tried to make his children go home because he didn't want them caught up in the violence outside the jail. Jem had defied him and refused to obey orders. As they walk home Atticus massaged Jem's hair to indicate that all was understood and forgiven. Of course we should also mention that Scout used to crawl into his lap each night as he read the papers.

Answer: That he was left-handed and the person who hit Mayella on the face.

Atticus spends a lot of time getting Heck Tate to descibe Mayella's injuries and which side of her face was most hurt. He then makes sure that Bob Ewell declares he agrees with this evidence. When Bob Ewell shows he is left-handed it is obvious that the right-hand side of her face is the side most likely to show the bruising.

Answer: They send him chicken, ham and lots of other food as gifts.

Any money in the coloured community was actually used to help out Tom's wife Helen and her little children. Atticus is overwhelmed by the gifts of food that arrive at his house and tells Calpurnia to tell her people that times are too hard for them to give him gifts.

Answer: "No, too old..."

Miss Stephanie Crawford regards Atticus's reaction as a "dry" or witty response. Atticus tells Jem and Scout that he would rather Bob Ewell took his anger out on him than on Mayella and any of the other children. He didn't have any deep-seated fears about what Ewell might do in the future. He is too civilised to suspect what actually happens.

Answer: "It'd be sort of like shootin' a mocking-bird, wouldn't it?"

Scout has understood that Boo Radley saved her life and killed Bob Ewell in the fight. To expose him to publicity and a trial or enquiry would be the last thing he could stand. She understands that her father, who never lies and who would have put Jem through a court case, is willing to let the lie go unchallenged for the sake of Boo.