All kinds of people will feel loneliness and sometimes the innocent feel the loneliest. The importance of life is experiencing loneliness. People do not remember every emotion they have felt but we will always remember the feeling of being lonely. No matter how strong someone is or how happy someone seems to be. Loneliness have infected their lives and changed them. The timeless novel To kill a mockingbird teaches one of the many universal lessons, that everyone experiences loneliness. Harper Lee clearly shows that loneliness exists in the community of Maycomb through the characters Mayella Ewell, Boo Radley, and Mrs. Dubose. First of all the character Mayella Ewell is first revealed as the victim in the case against Tom Robinson but in reality …show more content…
Scout’s child perspective on Boo Radley shows the loneliness in his home life. "Maybe he doesn't have anywhere to run off to..." (Lee, pg. 159) This conversation came up on why Boo cannot run away from home. Most people who run away from home, have a destination to go to. When Dill ran away, he instantly went to the Finch’s home. Dill has people to count on and Boo simply does not. He has no place to go and so he just stays in his home. The aftermath of the Bob Ewell’s murder indicates Boo’s social life afterwards. “... and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again.” (Lee, pg. 278) Even though Boo cares about Scout, his lack of interaction with people prevents him from being close with people. Even though loneliness is what drives people to make friends, he simply is not used to people. In life people who are misunderstood because of the loneliness they have in their life and this applies to the life of Boo Radley. As his loneliness compels him to both reject social environments and to be caring to …show more content…
Dubose is seen by most people of Maycomb to be an old woman who is bitter with her life but is like this because of her feeling of loneliness. The kids believes Mrs. Dubose is cruel women but they sympathizes with her after they found out about her past. “According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew." (Lee, pg. 121) Mrs. Dubose died alone and she has no kin to give her things to. The children believed her to be a harsh women but in reality she was lonely. She was someone who cannot show happiness because she has no one by her side. Mrs. Dubose at one point in her time, was most likely a women with people around her. It might be her morphine addiction that made her push people away. Even though Mrs. Dubose is not innocent, she must have been innocent in some point in her life. The loneliness caused her to lose that innocent and see the cold world she lived in. Sometimes people make strange requests for people and it is just because they want some kind of company, even if it is with someone that hates them. "Atticus [...] she wants me to read to her [...] she wants me to come every afternoon after school and Saturdays and read to her out loud for two hours.” (Lee, pg. 105) Mrs. Dubose makes Jem read to her because she just wants a distraction from her addiction.. She is an old lady close to death and just wants some sense of company before she dies. Sometimes the bitterness someone has is caused by
Dubose. She represents racism which is the main point in the book To Kill a Mockingbird, “‘ Your fathers no better than the niggers and trash he works for!’” (135). Here Mrs. Dubose officially describes her ways of thinking. She believes that black people are nothing and that they worthless. She uses strong diction in order to describe her perspective of Atticus and his work. Through her and her symbolism Jem and Scout learn about racism. Racism is a cruel thing and affects the people who encounter it. “ I had become almost accustomed to hearing insults aimed at Atticus,” (136). Scout has become used to the remarks given about Atticus and their family. Although the children are used to it that does not mean they aren’t annoyed by it. Many people took racism as a way of life whereas the Finches saw it as an injustice. Just like this quote, eventually Jem could not handle Mrs. Dubose and destroyed her garden. He did something about what he viewed as an injustice by Mrs.
Scout understands why Boo isolated himself from the world "Just [by] standing on Radley porch" (page 374). She explains that when she was their, she could experience exact what Boo was going through. He isolated himself from the world because he knows that it is not a safe place and the people around the city like to gossip about a lot of things. He does not want to interfere with the world due to the negative that happens to it. When Scout experienced a rough day at school, it made her think that it was going to be like this from now on.Scout understands that
These factors reflect their perceptions of the social norm. Boo behaviours as a hermit sparks their imagination to create an image of Boo. “...Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained – if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was along jagged scar that ran across his face what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time...”(TKAM, 18). This image of Boo led the children to be extremely curious and eager to see him for themselves. “‘...Let’s try to make him come out,’ said Dill. ‘I’d like to see what he looks like...’” (13) “...Dill and Jem were simply going to peek in the window with the loose shutter to see if they could get a look at Boo Radley...”.() “Dill had hit upon a foolproof plan to make Boo Radley come out at no cost to ourselves (place a trail of lemon drops from the back door to the front yard and he’d follow it, like an ant).”(144). At one point they attempt to contact Boo with a note put through an open window with a fishing pole. Atticus, the father of Jem and Scout, catch them and he teaches them a lesson of respecting privacy as well as treating everyone in an equal and humane manner. “What Mr. Radley did was his own business. If he wanted to come out, he would. If he wanted to
Loneliness is a revolving topic throughout the book. Many characters are impacted by it and this changes the outcome of the book. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, he develops the concept of loneliness through Candy's disability, Crooks unable to fit in, and Curley's wife in order to demonstrate that loneliness impacts people by causing anger and depression.
Personally I believe that this statement is true in every aspect. Loneliness is a big part of the book "Of mice and men." The book shows loneliness in every ones life in the book.
After Jem reflects back on the events that have happened in Maycomb he says, “ Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because he wants to stay inside” (Lee 227). The labels that were given to Boo could have made him feel isolated, causing him to want to stay in his house. Boo must have been saddened by theses labels, and the hurtful words could have caused him to not want to go outside. At the beginning of the story Scout is talking about Boo and begins to describes the rumors she heard about Boo. She acknowledges that, “ According to Miss Stephanie Crawford … as Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the sissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities” (Lee 11). Not only can labels affect people but the rumors about some one can hurt them as well. This is another reason why Boo could have decided to stay in his house, he may have known what people were saying and was discouraged by their words. Boo is affected by labels, causing him to feel lonley and
Jem hates Mrs.Dubose because of the mean things that she says about Atticus and the trial. After she dies they all learn that she was a morphine addict and that’s why she was always so hostile and negative (for the most part). “ … Son, didn’t you know know what here fits were?’. Jem shook his head ‘Mrs.Dubose was a morphine addict,” (Lee 147). Atticus helps Jem step into Mrs.Dubose shoes as he tries to understand what she was going through. “She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Jem, when you’re sick as she was, it’s all right to take anything to make it easier, but it wasn’t all right for her. She said meant to break herself of it before she died, and that’s what she did,” (Lee 148). Now that Jem has this information, he has a chance to really internalize it. Next Atticus’s influence helps Scout to empathy for Mayella during the
Lee uses the character of Atticus to teach his kids the importance of empathy with Mrs.Dubose.. Dubose is a character who is mean to everyone. But Atticus treats her with respect. Jem,Scout and Dill all hate Mrs.Dubose because of the comments she makes about Atticus. “She’s an old lady and she’s ill. You just hold your head high and be a gentleman. Whatever she says to you, it’s your job not to let her make you mad” (Lee 132). Mrs. Dubose is addicted to morphine, which makes her say weird things and be very mean.Atticus is trying to tell them that no matter what happens or what Mrs.Dubose says leave it to yourself, don't take it out on others. Jem rages about what Mrs.Dubose says about Atticus. Atticus is trying to tell them not to let words hurt you. Every afternoon after Atticus comes home work he makes a complaint like “good evening, Mrs. Dubose! You look like a picture this evening” (Lee 132). Atticus is being very nice to Mrs. Dubose even though she is not nice to others. Atticus does not
Tom Robinson is one character who is judged extremely harshly by Maycomb society. Tom is a victim of racism and is falsely accused of the rape of Mayella Ewell. As a result the accusations are directly linked to the effects of racism. When on trial, the Ewell’s testimony about Tom stereotypes him as an aggressive sex offender. During her testimony (Chapter
She was introduced as “ a mean lady”(132), she instilled an aura of fear in the kids through her callous comments towards Atticus which the children took to heart. They did not understand that Ms. Dubose was a “morphine addict”(147), which was the reason she said those mean comments without knowing. They walked away from her comments without knowing the reason why she said them. Later, Jem destroyed her garden after some of her mean remarks, he was then told to by Atticus to go to her house every day and read to her. After a few weeks of reading to her, he realized that she was sick. He then felt the slightest of sorries for her, but he still hated her. The ignorance towards her by Jem before he knew of her illness caused them to think of her as a monster. In addition to Ms.Dubose, Tom Robinson continues to emphasize how ignorance leads to
Dubose was one of the examples Atticus used to teach scout how to be empathetic. Scout herself described Mrs. Dubose as “plain hell” (Lee 7). Every single time Jem, Scouts older brother, and Scout passed Mrs. Dubose’s house on their way to the city they would be verbally harassed. One day when Jem and scout were on their way back from the city they passed Mrs. Dubose’s house and Jem got fed up by all her rude and unnecessary comments so he ruined her garden. As a punishment she asked that Jem come to read to her every day after school. Although “Jem and I (Scout) hated her (Mrs. Dubose)” (133), Atticus still made them both go to read a book to her every day because he “wanted you (Them) to see what real courage is” (146). What the kids don’t know is that Mrs. Dubose is actually a morphine addict who was coming clean right before her death. Mrs. Dubose could have just been on medications until she died but she wanted to “die beholden to nothing and nobody” (146) which is what Atticus wanted to show the kids. Even though she was considered an “Old-hell devil” (145) she was actually just fighting a greater battle which was making her come across as unpleasant and rude. Scout starts to realize how she misjudged Mrs. Dubose which helps her become more
Mini Research Paper Acts of courage are everywhere but no one really pays attention them. Courage is a recurring theme in the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus, Jem, and Boo are some of the characters in the story that continuously show acts of courage throughout. Atticus defends a colored man in the court of law, Jem laying hands on the terrifying and dreaded Radley house, and last but certainly not least Boo Radley Shows the most courage when he ends a man's life to save Jem and Scout.
Boo is like a monster to Dill, Jem and Scout throughout the beginning of the novel although once the children see that he leaves them gifts inside a knothole in the tree in between their houses. He is only seen on one occasion in the novel, although he is talked about many times because Scout and Jem take an interest in him once they start to find out who he really is as a person. Boo Radley never really left his house even when he could simply because
To Kill A Mockingbird is a classic piece of American literature, written by Harper Lee, it is very significant because it deals with countless issues, such as prejudice, growing up, and courage. This commendably written novel contains a variety of unique characters that have their own set of values and beliefs. In the book there is one particular character named Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose is an elderly, woman who lives near the Finch family. Mrs. Dubose targets Atticus Finch, who is defending a black man, and torments his children, Scout and Jem. Mrs. Dubose may deserve pity because of her condition, but she is still completely in the wrong due to the fact that she instills fear in everyone around her solely through the power of her words.
He stabbed his father, which resulted in him being locked up in his house for 15 years and him being looked at as a scary person. As Scout and Jem were telling Dill about the story of the Radley family, Scout recalls, “As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.” (13). After stabbing his father, he “resumed his activities” which shows how his mood changes very quickly and how little he cared. As a result of the stabbing, his father locked him up in the house for 15 years. Scout’s story is based off of what Miss Stephanie said. When Jem and Scout were younger, they viewed Boo differently than when they were older. Boo has changed throughout the time that he had been locked up. He seemed to change his way and started to display acts of kindness. When Miss Maudie’s house is burning down, people rush to help her, including Atticus. Jem and Scout go to watch and end