How Does Tom Robinson Use Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

748 Words3 Pages

In the fiction novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a young girl learns about her racist community as she grows up and past her childhood and witnessing cruelty due to race. Some characters in the novel represent a mockingbird like Arthur Radley who stays inside all day and is rarely seen by anyone. There is also Tom Robinson who is a laborer and did many kind acts just out of pity, both of these characters made the community better and haven’t disrupted or hurt anyone. They all have moments where it is clear that they represent a mockingbird as their actions show kindness even with no reward. One instance in which Tom Robinson is a mockingbird is when he commonly helps out Mayella Ewell even with no pay and a crippled arm. During the trial it is revealed that Tom resisted Mayella even though the common stereotype was that all black men rape white women if they had a chance, which supports the idea that he’s a mockingbird. This gives off the idea that Tom doesn’t want to harm Mayella’s standing by having her …show more content…

The reason Boo was able to save them from being killed was because he could see well in the dark along with rushing to help as soon as he could even though he was not armed and Bob was. One quote in the book is where Mr. Tate says “Draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight-to me, that’s a sin.”(Lee 370) as he realizes bring Boo to testify what had occurred would be akin to shooting a mockingbird. Mr. Tate comes to this conclusion as bringing him to court would cause significant gossip and fame, which Boo has been avoiding and figures out that Boo only killed Bob out of kindness, and like a mockingbird all they do is help the community. That is why Boo is considered a mockingbird in this situation as he risks danger to protect two children and asks for nothing in

Open Document