To Kill a Mockingbird as Booker’s Seven Basic Plots Analysis: Tragedy Plot

Plot Type :

Anticipation Stage

Tom waits in jail for his trial to begin, knowing that even though he’s got the best defense attorney in Maycomb, he’s still 99.99% sure to be convicted.

Tom’s in a holding pattern – there’s nothing he can do about his situation until the trial starts.

Dream Stage

Atticus, with Scout’s help, protects Tom from a lynch mob.

Scout’s intervention manages to change a man’s mind, raising the hope that Atticus might be able to do the same with the jury.

Frustration Stage

Atticus makes his case in court so strongly that it’s obvious Tom is innocent, but white public opinion is against him.

Atticus puts forth a strong case, but Ewell’s appeal to prejudice has a stronger effect.

Nightmare Stage

Despite Atticus’s best efforts to prove Tom’s innocence, the jury still finds him guilty and sentences him to death.

All hopes are dashed, and the disappointment is sharp. Tom loses hope and falls into despair.

Destruction or Death Wish Stage

Without hope that an appeal will change the verdict, Tom attempts a foolhardy prison break and is killed.

Tom still has a chance on appeal, but is tired of waiting around for others to decide his fate, so, consciously or unconsciously, he decides for himself to end it.