To Kill a Mockingbird: Setting

The Radley Place

The Radley Place is what all of the residents of Maycomb County call the Radley's home. The house is low with a yard that appears to be a gray color and very dull. The perimeter of the yard is lined with a fence of which no one ever enters. The exterior of the house used to be white decorated with once green shutters that have become faded. The yard consists of many oak trees to block the light from the sun. The shingles on the roof are rotted away from the hard pounding rain. The windows are dark just as the rest of the house. The Radley Place creates suspense within the story and also develops a spooky and mysterious mood.

The Jailhouse

Maycomb County School

The Maycomb jail is the ugliest building in the county. It displays a Gothic design that is only one cell wide and two cells tall. The facade is built out of red bricks and the windows are blocked off by thick steel bars. It is located between Tyndal's Hardware Store and The Maycomb Tribune office.

Maycomb County School is were Scout and Jem attend school. The school has a large yard for the students to play in during recess. The inside of the school consists of classrooms, one for each grade. Each classroom has a blackboard, a desk for the teacher at the front of the room, and chairs and desks for the students. The classrooms are small as the Maycomb County population is not very high. Most of the students in the first grade have repeated this grade multiple times because they cannot finish the school year due to the farming season.

The Story's Setting

"To Kill a Mockingbird" has many different settings that are very important to the story. The settings in this book either creates suspense, sadness, happiness, or anger. Although the characters change location multiple times, the time period remains the same throughout the entire book. "To Kill a Mockingbird" takes place in the state of Alabama (within Maycomb County) during the 1930's, a time of racial discrimination and prejudice.

The Finch Residence

The Courthouse

The Finch house is where Scout, Jem, and Atticus live. It is located on the main residential road in Maycomb County and is very old. Although the Finch home has been standing for generations, it is still in good condition. The front porch is fairly large and has chairs and a rocker. The exterior of the porch is lined with shrubbery. The interior of the house has a bedroom each for Atticus, Scout, and Jem. Scout and Jem's rooms join together. There is also a guest room for Aunt Alexandra, a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room. The Finch's also have a backyard in which Jem, Scout, and Dill play in and have a tree house.

The courthouse described in "To Kill a Mockingbird" was not the original courthouse. The original one burned down in 1856. The courthouse represents a clash of historical designs from the Greeks, the nineteenth century, and the concrete pillars from the original courthouse. The interior of the courthouse during the Tom Robinson trial is crowded. The black population is seated in the balcony and the white population is seated on the bottom portion of the courthouse. This separation of race represents the racial segregation that existed during the 19th and 20th Century.

To Kill a Mockingbird: Setting

By Anna Glenn