The Theme Of Good Vs. Evil In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

When most people think of good vs evil, they think of superheroes and villains but in reality, we see it every day. We see good vs evil in conflicts between different people, two opposing beliefs, and two conflicting sides in an event. There are especially a lot of times in TKAM when good vs evil is represented because of the fact that the book is set during the 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama. In this book, Scout describes her experience growing up with her dad Atticusm, her brother Jem, and her friend Dill. Tom Robinson is introduced as the black man accused of raping Mayella Ewell that Atticus will be defending. Harper Lee demonstrates the theme of good vs evil in the story of To Kill a Mockingbird through the trial and the and the attack. This

When Jem and Scout are walking home after the halloween pageant when they are suddenly attacked by Bob Ewell. Bob was attempting to murder them to get revenge on Atticus, but they were fortunately saved by the one and only, Boo Radley. Boo most likely stabbed Bob in the process although this is not known for certain because Heck Tate thinks he fell on his knife and Atticus is suspicious that it was Jem. For instance, “His stomach was soft but his arms were like steel. He slowly squeezed the breath out of me. I could not move. Suddenly he was jerked backwards and flung on the ground, almost carrying me with him.” Although she does not know it yet, Boo was the man who saved Scout before any permanent injuries were inflicted. This reminded me of a scene in almost every superhero movie where a character is in danger and then the hero comes and saves the day. The theme of good vs evil is clearly represented as Bob is once again the evil antagonist and Boo is the hero. Although this example is a specific event that demonstrates good vs evil, it can also be seen in a difficult decision. After Scout and Jem make it home and call the sheriff, Atticus and Heck Tate get into an argument about Bob Ewell getting stabbed by Jem or Bob falling on his knife accidently. For example, “she said Jem got up and yanked him off her-he probably got hold of Ewell’s knife somehow in the dark… If you wanta try, I’ll call you a liar to your face. Your boy never stabbed Bob Ewell,”(TKAM pgs. 365, 369). Atticus and Mr. Tate cannot decide whether the right thing is to assume that Bob fell on his knife and not make a big deal of the situation or assume that Jem did it in self defense and have a trial so that Jem wouldn’t have to live with the guilt if he did stab him. Mr. Tate argued that it was Bob who was killed because he knew that it was actually Boo who was trying to protect him from being charged. Atticus comprehends this