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Deceptive Appearance In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

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“they put on a false front to appear to be what our society values as signs of success - such as making a lot of money, living in a big luxurious house, having a high status job, and the like” (Scott). In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the story of two young children becoming older and losing childlike innocence. Countless examples of deceptive appearances are shown through many characters. Many people tend to put forward an appearance that they want others to see, and hide all the sadness and anger. But some are just misunderstood, appearances being twisted by cruel rumors and opinions. Arthur Radley is one of the most famous examples of having a deceptive appearance. The children in Maycomb think he is evil and scary because he stays in his house all the time, creating dozens of rumours, when in reality he is a nice man that is just shy and misunderstood. As Scout and Atticus have a conversation at the end of the book, Scout says “‘Atticus, he was real nice’....’Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them’” (Lee 376). Arthur Radley is misunderstood by Scout until she finally meets him, seeing that he is a nice man. She thinks he is nice because he saved her and Jem’s lives, and if he had been “evil”, he would not have helped them. He also gave them small gifts in a hole in a tree, which, at the time, was his only connection to them. “Before [Atticus] went inside the house, he stopped in front of Boo Radley. ‘Thank you for my children, Arthur,’ he said” (Lee

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