Outcasts In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the south there is a certain “code” that is in place that leads as a social standing, but it especially plays a role in how people get treated in Maycomb county. Maycomb county's people have their own way of living, with their own standards and unwritten rules already in place.There are different groups of people and it ranks from highest to lowest in social standing. Boo and Tom have had this unwritten law pushed upon them everyday of their lives just so they are reminded who they are and what Maycomb thinks they are. The citizens of Maycomb consider them to be “outcasts’ in their society because Boo has some “problems” and Tom is a different skin colour. Despite these very different reasons on why Maycomb has put this title on them, these

Boo and Tom are kind throughout their lives, what they do as kindness is seen by others as redundant or bizarre. Bizarre that people like Boo or Tom would even suggest or think about being kind to people who are more superior to them as Maycomb County would say. Maycomb's “code” is seen as Boo and Tom need to stay where they are and to not get into anyone else's business. The lesson shown in this is even though no one expects or even cares that Boo and Tom are kind, but it shows how they are people and helping someone does not depend on the colour of one's skin or the joke of the town. Harper Lee does not even make the kindness of these characters stand out because being kind is a common courtesy thing to do as a human, the thing that stand out is how quickly the society is to judge them on it. This is shown in to Kill a Mockingbird when Boo leaves a blanket on Scout while she and Jem watch the fire. Harper Lee states “ Boo Radley, you were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know when he put the blanket around you.” (Page 172, To Kill a Mockingbird) This shows how Boo came outside when the fire was happening because he knew perhaps no one would be able to see him, but even with that knowledge he takes the risk because he cares about Scout and wants to make sure she stays warm. This is another human

This is something that Maycomb believes Boo and Tom possibly could not have because it is a human emotion. When in reality it is the town who does not have any genuine people in it except for a few. The lesson is that Tom and Boo both are genuine people, and how they treat people does not depend on one's story or problems, but with the knowledge of that this a person who gets treated with respect. Maycomb people seem to bring out the worst in people, but not with Boo and Tom they keep to who they truly are and do not let the awful things the town has said about them get to them. This is presented in To Kill a Mockingbird at the beginning of the novel when Boo laughs inside of his house at Scout rolling in the tire. Harper Lee states “I could not have heard it from the sidewalk. Someone inside the house was laughing”(Page 41, To Kill a Mockingbird) When this happens, it is a mystery for Scout for a little bit until she realises that it was indeed Boo laughing at her from the inside. This is showing how he is in fact alive in the house and that he is actually capable of a human feeling unlike all the stories that they have heard about Boo Radley. Another example, in To Kill a Mockingbird would be when Tom says that he