Examples Of Being Misunderstood In To Kill A Mockingbird

Intro “Being misunderstood doesn't mean you're the issue sometimes it's the people that misunderstand you with all the issues.” (unknown) Being misunderstood is preventing people from knowing who the person truly is and making them feel all alone and like they are the problem. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the people in Maycomb make inferences on who the misjudged are. In Maycomb, people are judged by their actions, appearances, and what everybody thinks the people have done, but in reality, these false accusations set up a barrier between the misunderstood and everyone else. The people in Maycomb misjudge others based on their appearances, but in reality, those misunderstood prove, through their actions, who they

Atticus is asking Mayella a question about the night that Tom Robinson raped her. “All right. He choked you, he hit you, then he raped you, that right?” (chapter 18) On the night that Tom Robinson attacks Mayella, she is telling the jury that “he [chokes her]” proving that Tom is a vicious man who does not care about attacking a young girl. Furthermore, when he hits Mayella, Tom is intending on hurting her and abusing her. Tom goes as far as raping Mayella which shows that he has no respect for women. He feels the need to attack and take advantage of women even though it is wrong, disrespectful and illegal. Scout is obscuring the trial with Tom Robinson after Atticus has asked Tom to stand up. Atticus is trying to prove the Mayella and Bob Ewell's’ testimony against Tom raping and a hitting Mayella with his left arm is false “[he] stood with his right hand on the back of his chair…..but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side…. I could see that it was no use to him” (Lee, 185-186) This passage reveals that Tom Robinson is actually not guilty and does not rape and beat Mayella, when Scout notices that “his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right" proving that Tom is not able to choke and hold Mayella like she tells Atticus.

Scout is listening to Miss Stephanie talk about Boo Radley. “Boo was sitting in the living room cutting some items from The Maycomb Tribune to paste in his scrapbook. His father entered the room. 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.” (Lee, 11) When Boo Radley “[drives] the scissors into his parent’s leg” this indicates that he has intentions of hurting his father or else he would not stab his father that hard. After stabbing his father, Boo gives no further thought about what he has done when he “[resumes] his activities,” showing he doesn't care about what he has done and who he has hurt. Furthermore, Boo’s actions toward his father indicate that he is mentally unstable. He feels the need to injure his father so drastically and then after stabbing him, goes back to what he was doing before like nothing never happened. Jem is telling Scout, after the fire, how she came upon having a blanket “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.” (Lee, 72) Boo is able to prove that he is caring when he puts the “blanket around [Scout]” and he is thinking about the wellbeing of Scout when does not want her to be cold. He does a nice thing by giving her the blanket out of kindness.