(Lee 358). Lastly, Heck Tates said, “For once, if you don't see it my way, there's not much you can do about it. If you want to try, I'll call you a liar to your face.” (Lee 369). Based on my evidence, it seems Sheriff Heck Tate is keen on trying to cover up Bob Ewell's death.
He knew that he was the one who hit his daughter and sent an innocent man to jail for the crime he committed. Lying under oath is already a very bad crime, but lying to hide the crime he committed is even worse. The results of Bob Ewell's actions hurt more people than you may realize. He made her daughter go through court, he lied to everyone around him, he used valuable government resources for this trait, and worse of all Tom Robinson lost his life and his wife had to go through the pain of hearing that she would never see her husband again. The love of her life is dead.
First of all, we see Sheriff Heck Tate taking control and putting his foot down. Atticus thought he was trying to protect Jem, but he is actually trying to protect Arthur Radley. He says, “let the dead bury the dead” which means he wants to just let it go and say that Bob Ewell killed himself. (Lee 369) Tate also says, “I’m not a very good man, sir, but I am sheriff of Maycomb County,” he means that he may not be a good man but he still wants to help Arthur who would hate all of the attention.
The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines courage as the ability to do something that frightens one. Many characters in Harper Lee’s mid 20th century novel To Kill a Mockingbird display courage in numerous ways. One character however, jumps out. When first reading the book, most people would say that courage is displayed by those like Jem, Scout, Tom, or Atticus.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, “Boo” Arthur Radley, a white man who’s elegied “teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” (16) is held equal to Tom Robinson, a black man, in the eyes of the residence of a small, impoverished, Depression struck, county named Maycomb in northern Alabama. However, when a corrupted, controversial lie of elegid rape, shoves Tom Robinson into the limelight, all that we can do is watch as he gets torn apart, all on the fault of Sheriff Tate, who lied on the stand, ultimately killing Tom Robinson. Tate knows this and when “Boo” Radley saves Jem and Scouts lives, by killing Bob Ewell, the man Tate defended on stand, Tate takes it upon himself to try to undo the evil he has committed
For one, Bob Ewell’s family name is low in the social hierarchy. His family isn’t reputable. In addition, he is known to abuse alcohol which causes him to act irrational. Therefore, these factors could lead to Bob Ewell accusing an innocent black man, Tom Robinson of raping his daughter. Meanwhile, the evidence shows that himself was committing these bad crimes to his very own daughter.
To Kill A Mockingbird, also known as to hurt the innocent to seem superior. In some way we are all mockingbirds who sing our songs and thats what makes us unique. Though, we all have faults where we aren’t at our purest. Most of us are mockingbirds going on with our lives and just trying our best to get through life and enjoy it. To be a mockingbird is to act in ways for yourself that cause no harm to others and only betters the world.
Symbolism is truly a magnificent part of literature. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, the author shows plenty of symbolic literary elements. One is the symbolism of the mockingbird. People like Boo Radley, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson all symbolize mockingbirds with their traits and characteristics. In the novel, Atticus Finch is defending a black man accused of raping a white woman, a terrible crime in the racist south.
Bob Ewell was found dead. Likewise, Jem was being accused of killing Bob, when he is an innocent because Bob grabbed him and broke his arm. “Then, all of a sudden something grabbed me and mashed my costume…Jem found me and started pulling me down. Jem hollered… I stopped” (Lee 361).
Not only does he savethe children by killing Mr.Ewell, but also by carrying Jem back to Atticus. This proves that Boo Radley is a mockingbird. Boo Radley life style is affected by rumors people made up about him. People
Imagine being accused of rape by an old racist drunk, that is what happened to Tom Robinson because of Bob Ewell in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Bob Ewell is a very obsessive and dangerous man. Bob lives behind the town dump next to the black community. One of the main traits that describes Bob Ewell is that he is dangerous. One of the first things Bob does after the court case threatens Atticus in front of the post office when he says “Too proud to fight, you n- lovin bastard?”(Lee,217) this quote shows how dangerous Bob Ewell is going through town threatening Atticus Finch and trying to get Atticus to fight him.
In this situation, Bob Ewell can do only so much to try and save face, he also makes good on his threats to harm the people who embarrassed him while in court. He was happy when Tom Robinson died. Bob Ewell is the kind of person who seems to enjoy being mean spirited and cruel. Doing all this, and even before he did all these despicable things, Bob was alienated from the community because to the rest of the town, they were nothing, making no real effort to improve their social status, and the only attempt they made was a false accusation of a man who could’ve lost his life due to this false accusation, by the end of the trial they were exposed, and shamed. This community itself is not a bad one, they are not racist, it was this man who was the bad apple, he represented every bad stereotype of the south, he is a drunk, racist, a gambler and a cheat.
Heck Tate's first and foremost duty was to protect Boo Radley. But because Atticus seemed convinced from the outset that his own son committed great crime and was ready to see him fairly tried. I think a secondary reason for Heck to present this argument was to protect Jem. Obviously Jem was a victim, but knowing Ewell was dead, Atticus jumps to conclusions about how it was done. I think Atticus comes to believe that there was a struggle that resulted in Jem's injury, but that Jem was the victor who actually took the life of Ewell.
This conflict occurs after the incident where Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell in the defense of Scout, where Tate wished to allow Radley to not divulge himself in the court system and to rely upon his own belief rather than the law. This brings into question whether or not morality itself can be considered as “‘good’ justice.” Atticus displays that the law can be bent over morality, he lets his moral values override his justice teaching and job position. As a police officer, he should have apprehended Boo for breaking a law and committing murder.
Because Bob Ewell is insecure about himself,it causes him to lie in court using obscene comments and swaying public opinion with his alleged “charm”. Bob Ewell’s character is foreseen as a snarky, snobby, and mad character. He is often outraged and uses snarky comments in court to sway the public on his side. His actions allow the reader to predict that he is insecure about himself, especially during the trial when Atticus cross-examines him on which hand he writes with. This causes him to be in a state of outrage and is the starting of his hate for Atticus.
