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Exposition
In Maycomb Alabama the Finch family is introduced. Although it is not the 1930's, a time of depression this family is not struggling. Atticus, the father, is a prominent lawyer. However, the narrator explains that it is a time of racism and prejudice. -
Conflict
A young black man is accused of raping a white woman and Atticus is asked to defend him. However, this task is not easy due to the people's prejudice and preconceived guilt for Tom Robinson. -
Rising Action
Atticus' children Scout and Jem become the center of attention because their father is representing a black man. Throughout the trial the children go through tribulations of their own as a they learn a valuable lesson about what is right. -
Climax
Tom is found guilty and Atticus' innocent children believe that the people they know could send an innocent man to the electric chair. -
Falling Action
One man in particular that has made his disapproval of Atticus well know has been George Ewell. During the novel he made threats to both Atticus and Tom's wife Helen. The children fear he will do something to hurt their father. -
Resolution
In the end, Ewell goes after Scout and Jem instead of Atticus. In the process, a reclusive neighbor named Boo Radley that the children told stories about was generally considered the haunt of the neighborhood grabs Ewell's knife and kills him.
