美国南部的梅岗镇上住着父亲芬奇(格利高里·派克 Gregory Peck 饰)和他的一对儿女。尽管妻子已经亡故，一家人仍过得乐也融融，芬奇对儿女亦既严格又疼爱有加。父亲平时还对他们说过，不要杀死为人类唱歌的知更鸟，因为她们善良而从不伤害人。 
　　芬奇除了是一个慈父，还是当地一名勇于伸张正义的律师。这天他接到一宗强奸案，被告是黑人罗宾逊（布洛克·皮特Brock Peters 饰），而受害者是一名白人女子。这样一个案件，在那个种族歧视相当严重的年代，罗宾逊的境况堪忧。即使芬奇找到了他没有犯罪的证据，也不足以让人们抛开种族成见。芬奇在法庭上奋力维护事实和法律的公正，然而却没能阻止人们根深蒂固的偏见。更糟糕的是，怀有种族偏见的白人已经把芬奇当作公敌，而罗宾逊也无法洗清罪名，更可悲的命运在等待着他。

Atticus Finch: Scout, what in the world has got into you ?
Scout: Vm not going back.
Atticus Finch: Now, now.
Scout: Atticus, l'm not going back to school anymore-
Atticus Finch: Now, Scout, it 'sjust the first day.
Scout: I don't care. Everything went wrong. The teacher got mad as the devil at me and said you were teaching me to read all wrong and to stop it, then acted like a fool and tried to give Walter Cunningham a quarter when everybody knows Cunninghams won't take nothin' from nobody. Any fool could have totd her that,
Atticus Finch: Well... maybe she's lust nervous. After all, it's her first day teaching school and being new here.
Scout: Oh, Atticus..-
Attrcus Finch: Now, wait a minute If you learn this single trick, Scout, you 'II get aiong a lot better with afl kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.
scout: Sir?
Atticus Finch : Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.
Scout: But if I keep going to school, we can't ever read anymore.
Atticus Finch: Scout, do you know what a compromise is ?
Soout: Bending the law ?
Atticus Finch: Uh... no. lt's an agreement reached by mutual consent. Now... here's the way it Works. You concede the necessity of going to schooV we'lI keep right on reading the same every night just as we always have That a bargain ?

阿提克斯·芬奇：斯科特，你究竟是怎么了？
斯科特：我不去上学了。
阿提克斯·芬奇：别这样。
斯科特：阿提克斯，我再不去上学了。
阿提克斯·芬奇：斯科特，今天才是第一天。
斯科特：我不管，反正一切都糟透了。老师老跟我过不去，说你教我看的书全都不对，叫我别再看下去了，然后又傻瓜似的想给沃特·卡宁汉一个二角五分的硬币。大家都知道卡宁汉家的人谁的东西都不收的，笨蛋都知道。
阿提克斯·芬奇：可能她就是紧张吧，毕竟这是她在这里是第一天上课。
斯科特：哦，阿提克斯．．
阿提克斯·芬奇：等一下，如果你学会了这简单的一招，斯科特，你会和所有人都相处得更好。如果你不站在别人的角度去看待问题，你就无法真正理解他。
斯科特：爸爸？
阿提克斯·芬奇：如果你站在他的位置，像他那样生活的话。
斯科特：但如果我天天上学，我们就不能再看书了D
阿提克斯·芬奇：斯科特，你知道什么叫让步吗？
斯科特：扭曲法律？
阿提克斯·芬奇：不，那是互相达成的协定，它是这样操作的。你必须去上学，我们照样每天晚上看书，和平时一样，好不好？