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How Does Arthur Radley Symbolize The Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Picture this, you live in an isolated town where everyone knows each other and gossip is passed around in a matter of seconds. You're accused of a crime that you didn’t commit, and it's clear that you didn’t commit it. You are found guilty because you belong to a racial group that is segregated. You stand no chance of winning the case because of a biased or racist jury. Similarly, in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, she tells a story about a family in Maycomb County, Alabama, where their dad, Atticus, is appointed to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who is being accused of rape. They are both aware that they don’t stand a chance of winning the case, but he still puts his best effort into defending it. His kids, Scout and Jem, have to face …show more content…

Arthur Radley is Finch's neighbor who is imprisoned in his house due to foolish mistakes he made as a kid, first by his father and now by his older brother. Arthur Radley is reserved, tends to keep to himself, and is a helpful neighbor to the finches. For example, "Before he went inside the house, he stopped in front of Boo Radley. ‘Thank you for my children, Arthur," he said (Lee, 147). In this quote, Atticus is thanking Arthur Radley for rescuing his kids from getting almost murdered by Bob Ewell. Throughout the town, Arthur Radley is seen as a troubled person based on his childhood mistakes. Moreover, many citizens still tend to judge him based on his past behavior. In reality, he isn’t; he’s a good citizen, and he looks over the Finch kids as if they were his own. He leaves them gifts in the tree, places a blanket over Scout, and even saves them from getting murdered by Bob Ewell. Besides Arthur Radley being a mockingbird, Calpurnia is also a …show more content…

Calpurnia is the Finch family cook, but in reality, she is way more than that; she is like a mother figure to Scout and Jem. She helps raise the kids when Atticus is at work or away on business, but she is persecuted solely because of her race, especially because at that time segregation was still a big topic. For instance, "Atticus’s voice was even: ‘Alexandra, Calpurnia’s not leaving this house until she wants to. You may think otherwise, but I couldn’t have gotten along without her all these years. She’s a faithful member of this family, and you’ll simply have to accept things the way they are.’ " (Lee, 72). In this quote, Aunt Alexandra frustrates Atticus with the motive of wanting him to fire Calpurnia due to the color of her skin. Calpurnia is a black woman raising white kids, so she is always seen as a lower-class person in Aunt Alexandra’s eyes. Atticus holds his ground and advises Aunt Alexandra that he will not be firing Calpurnia because she is the backbone of the family. Since she does a lot for the kids and plays an active role in raising

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468 Words | 2 Pages

Since their mother pasted away, Atticus seems to not know what to do with the children. Due to this, he hires Calpurnia. She acts almost like the mother figure who dresses Scout. She also disciplines the children and attempts to teach them proper manners. Toward the end of the story, due to life threatening events, Atticus’ becomes closer with his children.

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965 Words | 4 Pages

She was hired to be the Finch’s families cook but she had put more into that job then required, she built a close relationship with these kids over the years of her working there, she became a parental figure to them. This was not very common in this time because most families had mom and a dad and if a white family both were white and if it were a black family both were black. Calpurnia was a black worker and was the closest thing the kids had to a mom in the family. During the time of preparation for the trial Atticus was gone a lot and was not able to take the kids to church one Sunday, Calpurnia decided she would take them to her church.

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454 Words | 2 Pages

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee uses Scout and Arthur Radley to show that “ To understand someone’s perspective, you need to know their point of view”, this reveals that to know someone’s way of doing and thinking you need to view things in their point of view. The author uses characterization to show the perspective of the kids towards Arthur Radley “Boo Radley...dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could find..what teeth he had were yellow and rotten…(16). This is how ARthur was introduced in the beginning of the book. This shows that Scout and Jem have these thoughts of Arthur as a mean guy, but have no actually seen him in person.

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487 Words | 2 Pages

She teaches these kids that it’s not always the right thing to do what everybody else is doing. Calpurnia looks after these children and takes them in as her own when she is told to. Atticus shows the most examples of courage in this story. He teaches his people many lessons, especially his children.

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Calpurnia and Atticus are characters who behave like other people expect them to behave. First, Calpurnia code switches when she goes to church. She says she has to do this because then other will think she is “better” or “too good” for them in a derogatory way. She is expected to behave a certain way to be able to “fit in” and blend among others. Also, when Atticus is speaking to the jurors, he makes himself comfortable to get on the level of others.

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494 Words | 2 Pages

Arthur Radley, also known as ‘Boo Radley,’ for many years been described as a malevolent, dangerous, and scary man. But as time goes on, is Arthur as bad as the people of Maycomb describe him? The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, is a story told by Scout Finch, a six-year-old living through the great depression in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama where her and her brother must mature fast when they experience the real world face-to-face. Arthur Radley is described as a scary figure by the people of Maycomb, but as the novel progresses, many perceptions of Arthur change for the better.

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596 Words | 3 Pages

After reading 176 pages in To Kill A Mockingbird, I can clearly see that Calpurnia is a better mother figure to the kids than Aunt Alexandra, mostly because Aunt Alexandra shows that she is not very nice. Calpurnia, however, shows that she is a better mother figure because of the daily interactions she has with the kids. The kids, especially Scout, do not really remember their mother very well so Calpurnia tried to fill in by doing some normal things that mothers do. She taught Scout to write very well when she was young so it could benefit her when she got older. Calpurnia also adapted the motherly habit of protecting the children when there was danger.

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Calpurnia helped out not just herself, but Atticus as well by sitting in the back of Atticus’s car instead of the front. Additional factors are operating as to why Calpurnia doesn’t sit in the front of the car with Atticus; As well as history of racism discrimination in the 30’s. Back in the 30’s racial discrimination caused different problems to occur. One additional factor to as why Calpurnia doesn’t sit in the front of the car with Atticus is for protection. Calpurnia wants to protect herself and Atticus from the mobs of people in town that would disprove.

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Changing people's perception of who you are can be challenging, especially when you are troubled and reclusive. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the image of Arthur “Boo” Radley’s character develops from that of a monster to that of a caring, sensitive and brave human being. At the beginning of the book, Arthur, who is nicknamed Boo, is seen as a scary, cruel man, who all the kids in Maycomb county are terrified of. However, throughout the book Jem, Scout and Dill start seeing him differently as a result of some generous gestures as he watches them grow up.

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661 Words | 3 Pages

Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley is used by Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird as a symbol. He is used to show how rumors and prejudice people can destine a life of being an outcast. Arthur Radley represents the misjudgment of people. In the beginning of the novel, Arthur is introduced as a “malevolent phantom”, right from the beginning he is seen as different from everyone else, so they gossip about him (Lee 10).

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620 Words | 3 Pages

Calpurnia serves as an amazing role model and mother figure to the children, and yet Aunt Alexandra wants to fire her. She had raised Jem and Scout, and plays an indispensable part of their lives, showering them with discipline, structure, and love. Aunt Alexandra, however, barely existed in the children 's lives up until she moved into the Finch’s home, yet she inflicts great injustice on Calpurnia by failing to recognize the necessitous part of the family that Calpurnia fills. Scout even overhears Aunt Alexandra saying, "...you 've got to do something about her. You 've let things go on too long Atticus, too long.

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771 Words | 4 Pages

Before the case of Tom Robinson vs Mayella Ewell, Atticus recognizes that both Scout and Jem will have to understand the case in the situation behind it. He doesn't want this for his kids but he understands is going to happen and they should be prepared for it. As Atticus said, “Scout’s got to learn to keep her head and learn soon, with what’s in store for her these next few months. She’s coming along,

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589 Words | 3 Pages

In the end, Arthur Radley even rescues the children from the drunken and loathsome Bob Ewell. The mockingbird of the novel is Arthur Radley because of his heroism and how Harper Lee regards him, despite the crimes he was acquainted with in his youth. Arthur Radley’s kindness makes him fit for the mockingbird role. Scout observed this kindness in the gifts Arthur left for her, “He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives” (Lee 278).

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1131 Words | 5 Pages

Understand?’” (pg.136). The most important or relevant time that Atticus sticks up for his belief that Calpurnia deserves the utmost respect no matter her skin color is when Aunt Alexandra tells him she thinks Calpurnia shouldn't live with them and be around the children. Atticus says: “Alexandra, Calpurina’s not leaving this house until she wants to. You may think otherwise, but I couldn't have got along without her all these years’”

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1095 Words | 5 Pages

Thus, whilst slightly unconventional, Calpurnia has a distinct role in teaching the Finch children respect and responsibility. In conclusion, Atticus Finch and Calpurnia are contrasting characters with the same purpose in To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus maintains a fair, wise character throughout the novel, in comparison to Calpurnia's cogent, blunt personality. What brings them together is how they set the correct example for and give life lessons to Jem and Scout.

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