Acceptance This novel is understandably important since it was published July 11, 1960 and many people are still reading it to this day. It is also taught in countless schools all over the United States. This story is about a small-town Southern lawyer that defended a black man by the name of Tom Robinson who was accused of rape. There is also Arthur Radley who has all sorts of stories made up about him because he doesn’t fit into Maycomb. Throughout this, the story shows racial issues in the South and what it was like to grow up in the 30s while still including a fun story. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is about the acceptance of all people, black and white or living differently than the average person. Maycomb County has a hard time accepting. This is for many reasons including the time and the ideas already set in people’s minds. This is shown in Arthur “Boo” Radley’s case. “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained – if you ate animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” (pg. 14) Stephanie Crawford also says …show more content…
He is accused of raping a girl by the name of Mayella Ewell and Atticus is appointed as his lawyer. Mayella accused Tom because she needed him to disappear after what she’d done “She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man” (Lee, Pg. 204) Atticus said this to Jem after losing the trial. If people of color weren’t viewed as negatively none of this would’ve been an issue. Mayella’s father was likely the one that beat her since the beatings were mostly left hand driven, Tom Robinson’s left arm is severely damaged and he couldn’t have done