Like a sword, power comes with tremendous responsibilities. If it lands in the wrong hands, it will be exploited for cruelty instead of good. Powerful people have the ability to harm powerless people before allowing them a chance to help themselves. This choice can either lead to corruption or justice. In Harper Lee’s Bildungsroman To Kill a Mockingbird, those with power tend to take advantage of those without. Maycomb folks believe that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, or to exploit power cruelly. In the town’s society, white people have the upper hand over black people, and the Ewell family utilizes this ideal to accuse a black man of a crime he never commits. Another individual that gets mistreated is Boo Radley because the town perceives …show more content…
He “[does Atticus] and [Maycomb] a great service [and] it’s a sin [to drag] him with his shy ways into the limelight” (276) and punish him. Mr. Radley is a very reserved and hesitant man, which causes the townspeople to assume that he is a malicious being with bad intentions. Contrary to the common belief of Maycomb folks, Boo Radley does not mean harm to anyone. This is shown when all he does is protect Atticus’s children. He commits a crime for the well being of Jem and Scout because he cares for them. If Mr. Ewell had not been killed, the Finch children would be dead instead. Boo is a timid individual who prefers to stay in the dark than to be brought to negative or positive attention. He does not want praise or retribution for preventing murders with a murder. Even though he does not have the courage to defend himself, Heck Tate understands the situation and bends the rules minutely to ensure the safety of others. Arresting Boo Radley is “sort of like [shooting] a mockingbird” (276). He is a moral person who saves two innocent lives by ending a guilty one. Out of the good of his heart, he defends Jem and Scout, killing Bob Ewell as he does so. Boo means well and has the safety of Atticus’s children in his highest regard. He does nothing with bad intentions. Like a mockingbird, Boo does not do anything wrong. He performs exceptionally to save the lives of the innocent, and should not receive punishment in return. It is wrong to castigate and take advantage of Boo Radley for being ethical and for contributing to the greater
Even though Heck Tate is a sheriff, he doesn’t follow the law. Heck Tate states that Tom Robinson is dead and the man who is responsible is dead, so there’s no point of causes anymore troubles for a problem that has solved itself. And encourages Atticus to let Bob Ewell’s death go. Talking the case to court would put to death another innocent man. Boo did the right thing protecting Atticus’s children, which he has been doing throughout the book, and carried Jem home.
Integrity is the quality of being sincere and having powerful high-minded principles. Integrity is shown in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, a book that took place in Maycomb County, Alabama where racism was profoundly entrenched. Atticus Finch, a character in the book, is a lawyer who is assigned the case of Tom Robinson, an African-American, who was unjustifiably accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Arthur “Boo” Radley, his neighbor, is a mysterious person in the beginning of the book but ends up revealing his kindness. His children, Scout and Jem Finch, are following their father’s word of wisdom and learning about integrity throughout their experiences on the way.
One night, as Scout and Jem were walking home in the dark, Bob Ewell tried to attack the two of them. As Bob Ewell attacked Scout and Jem, Boo Radley came outside for the first time in a long time to their rescue. Boo Radley has been staying in his house for many years without going outside, but on this day he went outside with a kitchen knife, and killed Bob Ewell to save Scout and Jem and safely bring them home. Heck Tate, who is the county sheriff, sees what has happened and decides to hide the knife Bob Ewell uses to attack the children. He says to Atticus that Bob has accidentally killed himself as he stumbled onto his own knife, but Atticus doesn't buy it.
Boo Radley saved both of the children's lives from Bob Ewell, but he had to kill him to prevent Scout or Jem from getting seriously hurt. Even though it was Mr. Tates job to take Boo Radley (Or Arthur Radley) into jail. But he decided not to because “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird,” Arthur being the mockingbird in this situation. Besides the important lesson Scout showed us throughout the book, She also showed how her childlike innocence impacted the events around
Boo was victim to injustice that was created by the rumors surrounding him about untrue inhumane acts that he’s allegedly done, painting him to be a monster by the town. Many people got their information about him through gossip, the main culprit being Miss Stephanie Crawford, who told Scout and her brother, “Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.” (p. 12). These
He was convicted for no reason, and Scout compares that to killing an innocent mockingbird. Although Boo Radley stabbed Bob Ewell, he did it to protect Jem and Scout because Ewell was about to stab them to death. Robinson and Radley’s kindness and helpfulness turned them into the mockingbirds of Maycomb. This quote displays Scout’s understanding that taking away someone’s innocence is
Even in a society that, overall, is diverse, people with similar ideas and experiences tend to congregate in small groups, where they are comfortable. It is much easier to remain in homogenous groups, among those who understand each other. When different groups combine, many different life experiences and points of view will be present and will potentially clash. Misunderstanding is bound to occur in some form when individuals of different backgrounds interact. When misunderstandings occur, people tend to respond with violence, fear, or stereotyping.
Everybody wants power. People with no power want to obtain it, and people with a lot of power want to keep it. In Harper Lees book To Kill A Mockingbird power means to consider the amount of control a person has over his or hers own life as well as the lives of others. The novel is set in a fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. This novel is mainly focused on the rape trail, between, Tom Robinson, a black man, and Mayella Ewell, a white woman.
Know what’d happen then? All the ladies in Maycomb indludin’ my wife’d be knocking on his door bringing angel food cakes.” this means that Boo Radley’s actions had consequences that would very much affect him. But he saved Scout and Jem anyway which I believe is not only the most selfless act in the book, but most indefinitely
If not for the major characters, the minor characters have played an equally important role in Maycomb with their contrasting views. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is mainly about Jem and Scout growing up under the difficult situations created in Alabama during The Great Depression. Stereotypes and discrimination are major problems in Maycomb. Scout and Jem Finch are raised by Atticus, with the help of Calpurnia, their maid. In the first part of the book, Scout, Jem and Dill are fascinated by Boo Radley because of the rumors they hear about him, and they try everything to make him come out of his house.
In To Kill a Mockingbird there were many characters who were misjudged such as Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and even Calpernia but the character who was most misjudged was Boo (Arthur) Radley because of the incident that he had with his father as a child, which was when people started viewing him as a monster when in reality he wasn’t. Flash back several years before Scout and Jem were even born, Boo Radley liked to hang out with the Cunningham's, who weren't the best group to hang around with, but he did. They ended up doing some not so good stuff, they were charged for " disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female." So right there people started
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the story of a small town named Maycomb Located in Alabama, highlighting the adventures of the finch children and many other people in the small town. The people in this town are very judgemental and of each other and it often leads to people being labeled with stereotypes and people think they know everything about that person however that is not reality. It is not possible to know the reality of a person 's life by placing a stereotype without seeing it through their own eyes and experiencing the things they experience. This happens often throughout the story with many people in the town. People are labeled as many things such a “monster” a “nigger” and many other things that seem to put them in their
Even though he faced rejection, Boo stilled cared about Scout and Jem even when he was getting teased by them. Boo saved children and he also gave them gift in a knothole so that they could collect. The things that Boo does shows that he is actually a good man and Maycomb is wrong for what they think of him. Maycomb’s society killed a Mockingbird which was Boo Radley, Boo was a good man, but Maycomb thought of him a bad man and he failed to blend into their
The Co-existence Of Good and Evil In Human Morality: To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis Essay Set in the rural southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, To Kill A Mockingbird is seen through the eyes of Scout Finch and her older brother Jem, Maycomb appears to be friendly and peaceful. However the children are exposed to the dangers and the truth of their community. As they mature and learn important lessons from others, they’re exposed to prejudice, inequality, racism, social class and injustice.
Boo Radley represents one of the “mockingbirds” in the book, and a mockingbird is someone that is pure and innocence in the world. He is a good person that is hurt by the evil of mankind. In a lot of ways, Boo Radley might have have wanted to stay shut up in his house after seeing some of the awful acts that the townspeople have committed. But after seeing the Finch kids being attacked by Bob Ewell he had no choice but to leave the comfort of his own home that he has been enclosed in for so long to come out and save them. All though it would have been easier for this man to stay in his house rather than leave and then be drug into court, he did what he knew would be right and rescued the