Jean Louise “Scout” Finch
Scout is the narrator and one of the protagonists of the film. Scout is fiercely intelligent and, according to Jem, has “been reading since she was born.” Scout is also a tomboy who embarks on rebellious adventures with Jem and Dill, prefers to wear overalls instead of dresses, and gets into fights with boys. At the beginning of the film, Scout seems somewhat solipsistic; she is unable to consider points of view which challenge her own, as seen in her interactions with Walter Jr., Jem, Dill, her off-screen teacher, and even Atticus at times. As the film progresses, though, she begins to mature and develop more empathy for other people’s perspectives.
Atticus Finch
Atticus is one of Maycomb’s defense attorneys and the widowed father of Scout and Jem. As a man of deep moral integrity, he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape, and subsequently handles his received torment and ridicule from Maycomb’s racist residents with extreme grace and calmness. Committed to justice and the fair treatment of others, Atticus never attacks his enemies and urges Scout to do the same. Likewise, he encourages his children to be sympathetic towards others, all the while wishing that he could protect them from forces of evil: intolerance, racism, and selfishness.
Jeremy “Jem” Finch
Scout’s older brother and closest companion. In many ways, Jem conforms to the typical all-American boy archetype, fantasizing about football and never rejecting a dare. Though he often makes fun of Scout, he is very protective of her. Recounting memories of his deceased mother to Scout and showing her the discovered contents from the oak tree, Jem does an eloquent job of explaining more mature ideas and events to her. Jem has a somewhat keen and rational grasp of injustice at the beginning of the film, but he has difficulty resolving his feelings over the trial of Tom Robinson, as his high standards for humanity are tested by the community's response.
Charles Baker “Dill” Harris
Dill is Scout and Jem’s friend who stays with his aunt Stephanie—the Finch family’s neighbors—during the summer. Dill is eccentric, confident, and inquisitive. Like Jem and Scout, he exhibits an active imagination and becomes obsessed with Boo Radley. His family life appears to be more complicated and unpleasant than that of Scout and Jem’s, thereby making his adventures with the Finches serve as a kind of escapism for him.
Calpurnia
A black woman who works at the Finch household as their cook and housekeeper. As one of the few motherly figures in Scout and Jem’s life, Calpurnia is loyal to the Finch family and agrees to stay beyond her scheduled hours (per Atticus’s request) without hesitation. Like Atticus, Calpurnia upholds values of fairness and decency, urging Scout to treat Walter Jr. with respect despite some of his unconventional behavior at dinner.
Arthur “Boo” Radley
A recluse who rarely emerges outside the Radley property, which is close by to Scout’s house. As a young boy, Boo apparently stabbed his cruel father with scissors and never left the house thereafter, which led to him becoming Maycomb’s pariah and the subject of sensationalized gossip among the town. Jem, Scout, and Dill are each obsessed with fantasizing about Boo, believing him to be a deranged, dangerous monster. However, through his leaving of small presents for Scout and Finch and later saving them from Ewell, he becomes a powerful symbol of decency. After Scout meets Boo, he demonstrates a crippling shyness and never utters a word to her or Atticus. Boo is one of the film’s “mockingbirds”—a fundamentally good person threatened by the forces of evil.
Robert E. Lee Ewell
The poor drunkard and father of Mayella. Evidence from the trial implies that he beat his daughter after catching her kiss Tom and then encouraged her to claim Tom raped her. Obnoxious and hateful, Ewell holds a nasty grudge against Atticus—he calls him a “n—er lover,” spits in his face, and even attempts to murder Scout and Jem in a desperate last attempt to hurt him. Obnoxious and hateful, Ewell embodies the darker, more repressed side of the American South: blind racial prejudice, ignorance, and poverty.
Tom Robinson
A black man accused of raping Mayella Ewell and Atticus’s defendant. Tom is unseen for most of the events leading up to the trial, even when a mob attempts to lynch him in jail (it’s not until after they leave that we hear Tom’s disembodied voice). During the trial, Tom presents himself as a morally upright human being with compassion for the impoverished and uneducated Mayella. His greatest crime was not raping Mayella, but merely pitying her, a white woman. Tom is an utterly powerless individual, doomed by the ingrained racism of Maycomb. He is essentially devoid of any real personality or characterization, and his point of view is not seen in the film.
Mayella Ewell
As Ewell’s abused, lonely, and uneducated daughter, Mayella is the supposed victim of rape by Tom, though her contradictory statements and other evidence provided at the trial suggest this is shamefully untrue. It is implied that her father beat her after she attempted to seduce Tom, and she refuses to tell the truth because of fear for her father and shame over her “unspeakable” desire—feeling attracted to a black man. Like Tom, we can’t help but pity Mayella’s poverty and ignorance, but we also cannot excuse her for using her white privilege to indict Tom and indirectly contribute to his unjust death.
Heck Tate
As the sheriff of Maycomb and a witness at Tom Robinson’s trial, Tate is a decent man who makes mistakes throughout the film: he arrests Tom without substantial evidence and he warns Atticus that he might not be able to protect Tom, ultimately leaving Atticus to confront the lynch mob without any backup. Sheriff Tate somewhat redeems his failures and confused morals at the end of the film, choosing to protect an innocent, Boo Radley, from danger.
