To+Kill+a+Mockingbird



In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells a story of prejudice and injustice in the 1930’s. The story takes place in a small town in Alabama, through the eyes of a child, Scout Finch. In this town people were judged by their skin color and false rumors people spread. Many of the town’s residents believed everything they heard. They made false accusations more than once because they inferred things about people based on their appearance, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley being some of those people. Tom Robinson was never known as a disrespectful, brutal man until Mayella Ewell accused him of raping her. After that moment everyone in Maycomb saw Tom Robinson in a different light. He was no longer just another face in town; he was a disgrace to many. Boo Radley however was not defined by just a single person; he was defined by many of his neighbors. They all said he was a scary man. A man that only went out in the dark, peeked through people’s windows, and slaughtered their pets. In reality though, he was nothing like they said.

After Mayella Ewell accused Tom Robinson of rape, he became one of the most hated men in Maycomb. Everyone was long awaiting the trail that would determine whether Tom Robinson was guilty or innocent. This case was well known all over town because it was not rape dealing with people of the same colored skin; it was rape dealing with a black man and a white woman. It was a peculiar case many people took interest in. Once it took place the court room was filled with people anxiously waiting for the jury’s verdict. It was predicted by many that Tom would not be treated as well as Mayella because of his skin color. Her word would overshadow his because of her skin color. People of white colored skin were ranked higher than black people in society regardless of how much money they had. It was just the way so society worked. It was unfair and cruel. To them the color of someone skin meant more than the money or talents they had. People of dark colored skin had good personal qualities to them. They were very respectful and generous but people of different colored skin never cared they still and little respect for them. “Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her. But she said he took advantage of her, and when she stood up she looked at him as if he were dirt beneath her feet (Lee 192)”. This part of the book/story proves that people of white colored skin were oblivious when it came to personal characteristics of those with dark colored skin. Tom was a nice man that would not hurt a fly. He had a wife and kids whom he loved and adored and he would never want to set a bad example for his children. He did do harm to Mayella Ewell, but even though he was proven innocent in many occasions he was called guilty by the jury and was sent to jail. He could not take the fact that he would be away from his wife and kids and attempted to run away and was shot, and killed as a result of his action. Whoever caused his death committed a sin, because they killed a mockingbird. Tom Robinson was the mockingbird in this situation. He was an innocent man that did not harm anyone. He was misjudged because of someone’s false accusation.

Tom Robinson however, was not the only man in the town affected by people’s misjudgments, Boo Radley was too. He was accused of many things, all of which were negative. They made him seem like a harmful, revolting man that was always seeking misery for others. “People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people’s azaleas froze in cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them (Lee 9)”. This is an example of some of the terrible things that were being said about Boo Radley all of which were untrue. Boo Radley was a very caring man that wanted only the best for his neighbors. He proved this the day he rescued Scout and Jem Finch from being killed by Bob Ewell. Atticus expressed his gratefulness to him, “Before he went inside the house, he stopped in front of Boo Radley. ‘Thank you for my children, Arthur,’ he said (Lee 276)”. If it wasn’t for Boo Radley Jem and Scout would not have survived Bob Ewell’s forceful attack. After that day it became evident to Jem and Scout that Boo Radley was in fact an amazingly caring man. They found that the reason why he would never leave home was because of his timid ways. He did not enjoy or seek attention from anyone in the town. He was happy being inside his home but it seemed like no one in the neighborhood ever thought of that. They thought the worst of him because he would never show his face. This led them to spread false rumors throughout the town.

It seems like children knew more about the injustice of the town then the adults. They knew how unjust they were to others because of the color of their skin or the rumors people spread. Dill knew Tom Robinson was innocent and cried when the jury announced their verdict, Scout said to Dill, “‘Well, Dill after all he’s just a Negro.’ ‘I don’t care one speck. It ain’t right; somehow it ain’t right to do ’em that way. Hasn’t anybody got any business talkin like that. It just makes me sick (Lee 199).’” Dill was mad because of the way Mr. Gilmer was talking to Tom Robinson. He didn’t care if he was black he still thought he deserved as much respect as everyone else. It shows how much kids knew about injustice and much more aware they were of it than adults.

In conclusion, the 1930’s was filled with injustice and prejudice. People like Tom Robinson were judged by the color of their skin and were seen as dirt people compared to people of white colored skin. Boo Radley was judged by people who never knew him as being a terrible, harmful person when in reality he was nothing like that. He was a caring man that did not like to go outside his house because of his timid ways. Scout, Jem, and Dill knew that what the adults were doing was wrong but their opinions weren’t taken into consideration because of their age. This story really shows the main reasons why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and the many reasons we should always respect people regardless of their appearance.