To kill a mockingbird summary: chapter 1

                The novel to kill a mockingbird is written by Harper lee. In chapter one we get meet the protagonist, Jean Louis Finch or more often called throughout the novel as Scout. At the beginning of the chapter she starts explaining how her older brother, Jem, broke his arm. As background information, she tells about her family history. Scout's first ancestor was a fur-trader and apothecary named Simon Finch. Simon Finch fled from England and migrated to America to escape religious persecution. He established a successful farm on the banks of the Alabama River; Finch’s Landing was called. The members of the family used the farm to make living but the first members of the family who broke this tradition was  Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, who became a lawyer in the nearby town of Maycomb, and his brother, Jack Finch, who went to medical school in Boston. The only one who stayed in the farm was their sister, Alexandra Finch.

                After that short introduction of the family history we get to learn more about Scout's life.  Scout's mother died when she was two and when his brother was four. Scout does not remember his mother, but his brother Jem has memories of her. The role of a mother is taken by Calpurnia. Calpurnia is a black women who cooks for the Finch family and helps raise the children and the house. We are also introduced to Charles Baker Harris or more often called Dill. Dill, Scout and Jem meet in the summer of 1993 when Jem is 10 years old and Scout is 6 years old. Dill comes every summer vacation to stay with his aunt Miss Rachel Haverford, who owns the house next to the Finches. Dill is a talkative, energetic and intelligent boy who becomes very close friends with Scout and Jem. In the summer day act out various stories that they have read as entertainment. When they got too tired of playing games of acting out, Dill suggests to lure Boo Radley to get out of his house.  Boo Radley is mysterious neighbor that lives in the Radley Place. This man has not gone outside in many years because when he was a kid he got into trouble with the law and his father imprisoned him in the house as punishment. He was not heard from until fifteen years later, when he stabbed his father with a pair of scissors. People from the town knew that Boo was crazy but Mr. Radley refused to have his son committed to an asylum. When Mr.  Radley died, Boo's brother, Nathan, came to live with Boo. Dill wants to know more about Boo and sees him as a phantom that never comes outside. At the end of the chapter they starts to a play a game where Jem is dared to touch the house, Jem runs very fast and gets to be with Scout and Dill safely. Scout in the other hand, sees someone move, as if someone was peeking out of the window.