Examples Of Distrust In To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird shows the prejudice creates distrust within community with how Bob Ewell treated the Finch family after Tom Robinson’s trial. This is shown throughout the book, like after the trials Bob Ewell came up to Atticus Finch and spit in his face because he did not agree with Atticus, “Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life” (290). Bob did this because Atticus stood up for Tom Robinson and Bob did not agree with Atticus for doing so. This proves that Atticus, who was a trustworthy lawyer, had become distrusted by members of the community because he stood up against prejudice. Atticus had two children Jem Finch and Jean Louise

Some members of the black church in Maycomb were not very accepting of the Finch children when they attended a service, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here” (184). The blacks in the community knew what it was like to not be trusted by another race because of their skin color, they felt as if they were not members of the society which created distrust within their community. Also, the blacks felt like outliers and not really members of their community, they had their own neighborhood and worked odd jobs that did not make much money, this forced them into a belief that they were less of people and did not trust the whites because of this. Tom who was put on trial as a black against a white young lady knew the amount of distrust the community had for him, “Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you’d be scared, too” (261). The fact that Tom knew what was happening in the community to be scared of what someone else did to him proves that the distrust in the community was so immense just because of a color. It is astonishing that a community that preaches love with their Christian faith could be so full of hate and distrust for a group just because they are different than the way they are. Distrust is created within the black community for the white community and vice versa, because of the clear appearance of being