In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are two characters who “make music” for others. One of the characters, Arthur (Boo) Radley, is criticized by the whole town because he does not leave his house much. Everyone in town believes that Boo is a villain, when in reality, he is actually a hero. He acts kindly towards others by quietly looking after Scout and her brother throughout the entire book. For example, he gave Scout a blanket during Miss Maudie’s house fire, left gifts in a tree for Scout and Jem to receive, and saved them from Mr. Ewell during the attack. Boo’s choice of acting kindly results in him being criticized by the whole town because people choose to start rumours before actually getting to know him. Another character,Tom Robinson, is a twenty-five year old Negro who chooses to act kindly towards other people. For example, every day after work he would pass by the Ewell residence. Everyday, a Miss Mayella Ewell would ask Tom to do a chore for her, being the polite man he was, Tom kindly did the work without pay. One day, Miss Mayella took advantage of Tom and kissed him. Her father saw this and beat Mayella. When the sheriff came, Mr. Ewell accused Tom of raping Mayella and Tom was convicted and sentenced to prison. While in prison, Tom tried to escape, but was caught by guards …show more content…
For example, in chapter 1, Harper Lee says “Maycomb County had recently been told it had nothing to fear but fear itself.” This is an allusion to when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address. Another allusion is “... nothing to buy and no money to buy it with” (chapter 1, page 5) this is reference to the stock market crash which led to the Great Depression. Also, the allusion "looking like a sleepy old shark, his pilot fish writing rapidly below him" (chapter 16, page 165) is used as a metaphor to describe the relationship between Judge Taylor and the court
" 'Will you take me home?' He almost whispered it, in the voice of a child afraid of the dark", (Lee, 372). In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, it reveals that it is hard to become a strong and productive adult if one is neglected in their childhood, like the character, Boo Radley. It could be extremely difficult to become a strong, productive adult if one had an abusive or neglected childhood because they could still hold a pretty big grudge on whoever was abusing them in their childhood. They could also be still pretty depressed which could cause trouble if you want to be a strong and productive adult because I would still be petty sad if someone were to be abusive towards me in my
Although, Boo and Tom both examples of a mockingbird they are both extremely judged in their county as well. As mentioned before, the readers know that Boo and Tom are very innocent people in the story, but many townspeople tend to make assumptions and gossip when they have no factual evidence of the real truth. Luckily, Atticus is a great example of a non-judgmental person when he advises his daughter to constantly show empathy by putting herself in other people’s shoes and advising her that she will
“[Boo Radley] 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...” (Lee 16), a child frighteningly whispers about the town “monster”, Boo Radley. In, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Arthur “Boo” Radley is a misunderstood adult of whom the entire town is scared of, even though he does not come out of his house. However, when he does come out of the house, he commits a courageous deed that ends up with the Finch Kids, Jem and Scout, indebted to him. Boo Radley is a positive citizen in the town of Maycomb because of his incredible feat of bravery for the children.
In the novel, a mockingbird symbolizes a person that is not seen as threatening, and therefore can be called innocent. Throughout the novel, Boo Radley has proven that he is one of the “mockingbirds.” Society has shot him down by spreading rumors and making him the scariest person in the neighborhood. However, Maycomb County has not understood that he wants to be left alone. He sings by laughing at Jem and Scout and giving them gifts in the knothole of the tree; both of them unknowingly cheer Boo up when he watches them from his window.
In conclusion, the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee has many examples of cruelty in the world, as shown by the characters Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Dolphus Raymond. Boo Radley’s case is more general, throughout the entire world. Because of the cruelty he sees, he decides to stay inside his house, not because he’s forced to, which is common belief in the neighborhood. Tom Robinson’s case is towards black
The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird“ by Harper Lee is one of the most well known books ever written in America. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, also known as Arthur Radley, are two of the most important and symbolic characters in the book. They are important and symbolic because they symbolize a mockingbird. In the book, Tom and Arthur did nothing wrong but people thought of them in a bad way and were hurting them. It is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Mockingbirds are innocent birds and they do hurt people and neither did Arthur Radley or Tom Robinson. This is why Tom and Arthur resemble a mockingbird.
The hero in the story is Boo Radley. At the ending of the book the school was having a Halloween pageant and a haunted house and places where you can buy candy. When Jem and Scout were walking home that night from the patent, it was really dark out and Jem heard a noise. At first he thought it was Cecil Jacobs pranking them again but slowly the footsteps came when they walked and stopped when they stopped. They almost make it to the road when they hear the person running after them, Jem screams for Scout to run, but in the dark Scout fall and trips over her costume, something tears her costume, she hears Jem freaking out behind her, but he gets free and drags Scout to the road. But right before they make it to the road the attacker pulls Jem
Throughout To kill a Mockingbird many characters have showed growth, maturity, and empathy. 2 main characters that have showed empathy are Scout and Atticus finch. Scout thinks that Boo Radley is a monster, later on in the book he ends up saving Jem and Scout and Scout realizes that there was more to Boo Radley than just a monster. Atticus Finch was the lawyer for Tom Robinson on his trial; even though they lost the trial due to racism it proves how Atticus has empathy for not only white people but black people as well. Overall, Harper Lee is trying to tell us that you should not judge people by what you hear about them, you should judge them on how you feel about them and their qualities based on your perspective.
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, has characters who resemble a mockingbird. Characters in the novel are sometimes confronted as ignorant people, but we, as the readers, see that those characters are innocent mockingbirds and have done nothing wrong. Jem and Scout find it creepy that their neighbor never comes out of his house. Miss Stephanie Crawford explains to Jem and Scout that their neighbor, Boo Radley has done horrific things like when he “[stabbed a pair of scissors] into his [father’s] leg” (Lee 13). The rumor has been spreading throughout Maycomb County and now everyone thinks Boo Radley is a dangerous man.
The definition of a hero is “A person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or nobel qualities” as said by google, but what is the role of the hero within a culture. When defining what the role of hero is in a culture, then the answer can very between opinions, which can cause others to see certain outcomes or answers to be wrong. Much how the kids saw Jem as a hero, or how Boo had saved the kids from Bob Ewell, and mostly when Atticus defends Tom Robinson. A hero is someone who you can look up to, someone who can change the way you look at things and someone who can defend those who can’t defend themselves.
The mockingbird also extends to relationships between human beings. Some people are gentle and would never harm anyone, like a mockingbird. Yet, there are people who unjustly see past the kindness and simply see what they want to see or what society tell them to see, this leads to issues about race and sex among others. These people then become prejudice towards certain people and may even ‘kill’ the people who are genuinely kind human beings simply because they are different in their opinions, looks or behaviors’, therefore not diseased like everyone else. Lee reveals the ruthless and cruel views, reactions and opinions that the town hold toward Tom and Boo to illustrate the prejudice relationships that occur between
Allusions are vital to any work of literature. Ray Bradbury used allusions frequently in Fahrenheit 451. An allusion may be defined as a reference to another piece of literature, historical event, or cultural icon. It is commonly used by many successful authors to catch the reader's attention. Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a small American city in the future.
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the characters, Boo Radley, has a specific role. Boo Radley’s role shows us what effect rumors have on people, and how powerful rumors can be. In addition, it teaches us a moral of not believing every rumor that people pass on, because most of the time it's a lie. At the beginning of the book, Scout and Jem, two of the main characters, discuss the rumors that they heard about Boo, what he did, and his family. Boo does not have a positive reputation in his town. Boo doesn’t go out of his house very often , which leads people to make up rumors and spread these untruthful lies to the town. Harper Lee leaves us, the readers, without really knowing who Boo Radley is and whether or not these
In this book Atticus is the good that lives alongside the evil of Bob Ewell. Atticus Finch is an honorable man who thinks of everyone as equals and does his best to do what is right at all times. He simply explains to his daughter Scout that he is doing the best he can with the Tom Robinson case, “I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody...I’m hard put, sometimes-baby, it’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name,” (Lee 144). Atticus chooses to believe that there is good in everyone. This includes Arthur Radley, who saves his children from evil, “‘Mr.Arthur, honey,’ said Atticus, gently correcting me. ‘Jean Louise, this is Mr.Arthur Radley. I believe he already knows you,’” (Lee 363). Boo saves Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell’s attack. Most people in Maycomb would not think that Boo was capable of such good, but in this case, he is seen doing good just like Atticus. Boo and Atticus would be considered the protagonists in this situation because they do good throughout the book. There are just as many examples of good as there are bad in To kill a Mockingbird if it is looked at in the right way. In the real world, people do random acts of kindness every day, including a school that aims to perform 10 thousand acts of kindness. Another example of good would be the charities that people donate to every day including Super Bowl winner Chris Long who donated his 2017 salary to
In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are symbols of both the mockingbird, stereotypes, and prejudice. The story shows many ways of how these characters fit into those few categories such as Tom Robinson through the whole trial and Boo Radley basically throughout the entire book. Tom had been nothing but kind and caring to Ms. Mayella Ewell but since he was African American he was accused of something he was not guilty of. Nobody had ever seen Boo Radley but they already had this made up conception of what they think he is like. Nobody even considered these two people in any way other than how they think that they act or what they have done.