Francis Hancock

Francis Hancock is a minor character in Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

Character
He was eight-years-old, and he was also the grandson of Aunt Alexandra. Every Christmas, his parents would drop him off at the Finch's Landing, which is essentially the only time when Scout and her brother Jem get to see him. At first, Scout used to get a long very well with her cousin, even though she considered him the most boring child she had ever met in her life. However, on this certain Christmas, he and Scout engaged in hand-to-hand combat. It was brought about by Francis talking badly about Scout's friend Dill (who was wanting to marry her when they got earlier), and then crosses  the line and accuses Scout's father Atticus of being a "nigger-lover." Unknown to her at the time, her father Atticus agreed to take the case of an accused black man named Tom Robinson after he was reported to have raped [[Bob Ewell|Bob Ewell's daughter (even though it's implied that Ewell raped his daughter himself). Because of him agreeing to take the case, he and his children were ostracisized by the residents of Maycomb, Alabama. Scout finally began to beat Francis up when he stated that Atticus was a disgrace to the family, and that he was ruining their name.

Scout's uncle, Jack, enters into the room and discovers Scout beating up Francis. Francis immediately lied about his part in the quarrel, and said that Scout had called him a "whore lady." Jack then takes Scout to the side and whips her, without allowing her to at least tell her part of the story. Later on, Scout confessed everything to Uncle Jack, and he made him promise not to tell Atticus that the fight between her and Francis was for his sake. Jack keeps his part of the promise, and never told Atticus about the reason for the fight. He eventually found out, however.