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The True Character Of A Society Exposed In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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As the wise Nelson Mandela once said, “The true character of a society is revealed in how it treats its children.” This means if children aren’t taught or treated the right way, the current and upcoming society will be damaged. This is seen in many cases when fathers neglect their child’s problems and do not want them to change. In the Story, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows this when Bob Ewell manipulates and handles his daughter Mayella which leads to Tom Robinson going to jail and getting shot 17 times. Later Bob attacks Jem and Scout which results in his death. This is further portrayed as child abuse and neglect being ignored due to the economic status of Maycomb, and how future generations will continue this if not taught otherwise. …show more content…

He attacked them after the school play when they were walking home, breaking Jem’s arm and shoving Scout. After he broke Jem’s arm Boo Radley came to help Jem and Scout. Boo stabbed Bob, and he died moments later. Boo rushed Jem to Atticus and explained to him what happened. When Scout got home Sherrif Tate was there asking what happened. After Sherrif Tate investigated the crime scene he came to the conclusion that Mr. Ewell fell on his own knife. The sheriff was protecting Boo from being charged or accused of murder. Harper Lee continues to give reasons for how Bob Ewell is an evil character. She also builds his reputation on how the people of Maycomb view him. Harper Lee also continues to use the cause-and-effect format by negatively affecting Tom …show more content…

When Tom Robinson when to jail Harper Lee wrote, “They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. They got him just as he got over the fence. They said if he’d had two good arms he’s have made it, he was moving fast. Seventeen bullets hit him”. This excerpt portrays what Atticus was told by the racially motivated police that shot Tom 17 times. When Atticus was told Tom would have got away if he had two good arms, they were referring to his arm that was mangled in a cotton mill accident when he was younger. Atticus and Jem went to tell Tom’s family. Tom had been convicted of rape, a crime he did not commit, sent to jail, and shot 17 times. The events of ignoring child abuse in Maycomb negatively affected Tom and his family in many different ways throughout the book. At the end of the trial, the reader receives the verdict. Tom Robinson is convicted of rape and assaulting Mayella, a white woman. Scout says, “I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: “Guilty…guilty…guilty…guilty…” I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them”. Scout describes each “guilty” as a stab. When Harper Lee does this she is portraying how Jem feels to the reader. Many of the people in the court felt the way Jem did, including

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Jem heard some noises as they were walking home and got very scared. At first they both thought that it was just Scout’s dress rustling but they realized someone was chasing them. After escaping the “kidnapper” Scout and Jem ran inside and called the town sheriff Heck Tate. Heck Tate arrived and shortly after he arrived, they found Bob Ewell with a kitchen knife in his chest lying dead on a tree. Boo Radley then knocked on the Finch’s door as he went out of his house for the first time in 20 years.

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Accused of a rape that never happened, Tom was wrongfully sent to jail. After losing the case Tom Robinson is wrongfully sent to jail since it was technically proved in court that he could not have committed the rape, as he is crippled and cannot use his left arm whatsoever. Atticus says, “They fired a few shots in the air, then killed. They got him just as he went over the fence. Seventeen bullet holes in him.

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys that prejudice divides communities and that persecution of innocent people is evil; furthermore; these two minor themes reinforce the major thematic idea that a simple assumption can divide people. When Tom Robinson is put on trial for supposedly raped Mayella Ewell, the racism in Maycomb surfaces and creates conflict. In the novel, a stranger says, “You know what we want,” ‘another man said.’ “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch.”(172). Some drunken men want to harm Tom Robinson for the wrong that he did.

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After Atticus loses his trial, Jem notices that the Maycomb County justice system is broken and it needs help, “Then it all goes back to the jury, then. We oughta do away with juries. ”(294) This shows that Jem now understands that people are racist in everything and racism needs to be fought. On top of realizing that the justice system is in shambles, Jem realized that Tom Robinson’s case was very good at showing that.

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" This loss of innocence can be seen later on in the story, after the verdict of Tom Robinson's trial. Tom's description of what he saw at the scene, as well as his crippled left hand (which could not have inflicted damage to Mayella's right eye or the strangle marks on her neck) both point to his innocence. However, the jury thinks otherwise, and Tom is declared guilty. Despite being told not to, Scout and Jem had gone to the trial with Jem anyway. Witnessing the outcome, Jem becomes upset.

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Harper Lee adds this to help the audience visualize the moral obligation and strong will Atticus has to guard Tom, who is at risk of facing an unfair trial due to his skin color. Moreover, he does not care about how defending Tom will affect his reputation, and this teaches Scout about the difference between the right and the easy decision. Later, Mr. Underwood explains to Scout, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts, Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (Lee 323).

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Boo Radley, a reserved neighbor of the Finch’s, comes to the defense of Jem and Scout by killing Bob Ewell, so Bob Ewell’s need for revenge resulted in his own death. One of the final

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Distraught, Atticus said “‘Seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much’” (235). The reason Tom was shot so many times was the same reason he was convicted of the crime. During the 1930’s racial prejudice was a popular concept, and it ended up being the reason for an innocent man’s death.

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Bob Ewell, who is seeking revenge for Atticus humiliating him, attacks Jem and Scout as they walk home from a Halloween pageant. During the attack, Jem is injured, suffering a broken arm, and Bob Ewell ends up dead after falling on his knife. To continue, there is a riot outside the jail cell holding Tom Robinson, which Scout stops by making the men feel bad. In chapter 15 on page 205, it is said. “I was just sayin’ to Mr. Cunningham that entailments are bad an’ all that, but you said not to worry, it takes a long time sometimes.”

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During the novel, Jem and Scout’s Father, Atticus, is asked to defend a young black man named Tom Robinson. Tom has been accused of raping a white woman, which is a crime punishable by death. Because Atticus is a deferential man of integrity, and pushes for what's right, he agrees to take upon Tom’s case, knowing the criticism and disapproval

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As Sheriff Tate is reading the jury’s votes,”Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty…,”(Lee 240) Scout describes Jem gripping the balcony railing so tight his knuckles turn white and wincing at every “guilty” he heard. The ruling ruling is very unfair. On the other hand , for many reasons, it could have been predicted. Then when Jem makes it outside to Atticus, he is saying,”It ain’t right.”(Lee 242) over and over again.

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While Scout is less knowledgeable of the trial, she sees Jem and how “... his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between them,”(282). Jem is watching his father go against the beliefs of the majority of Maycomb, while trying to prove an innocent man free of his accused actions. Jem puts himself in Tom’s situation, fully able to comprehend the importance of the case. He takes the pain Tom Robinson must be experiencing into himself, knowing how this verdict is changing someone’s life forever. Jem’s mature knowledge and awareness makes him a compassionate person, which is what Atticus had always aspired for his son to be.

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