Underdogs In To Kill A Mockingbird

Broken souls, forgotten and abused, tend to pull the most empathy-that is- if anyone cares to try and understand. The theme of Southern Gothic illustrates moral and social conflict in the south. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, our narrator, Scout, takes us on a journey through her life during a difficult time in the 1930’s, the Great Depression. On her journey, she meets some fun characters and some scary ones as well. We are shown the conflicts between characters and how they learn to adapt to new hurdles. Harper Lee effectively shows, in To Kill a Mockingbird, the southern gothic theme. With the authentic voice of characters, and how those underdogs use that voice to either prevent or encourage the violence which has a big influence

The author in some way or another portrays everyone as an underdog. A vague definition of underdog is someone who is considered an outsider and, or, under estimated. Harper Lee does an amazing job in bringing out the underdog that is in everyone. Arthur Radley was very much an underdog. He was an outsider and no one really thought much about him, except to gossip, but Boo turned out to be so much more. “His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with my sudden tears. “Hey, Boo.” I said”(Lee 362). And so, when everyone thought of Boo as no more than a crazy eccentric, maybe even a monster, one little girl saw the real Arthur. Just a nice but shy man. This theme is carried out many times in To Kill a Mockingbird. Another example of an underdog would have to be Atticus. He usually isn’t the first thought when the word underdog is said, but he is. Atticus shows that he really is an underdog when he becomes an outsider by one of his choices. “The court appointed Atticus to defend him. Atticus aimed to defend him. That's what they didn't like about it. It was confusing” (Lee 218). Atticus was serious about his case and that's what made the people dislike him. He knew what would happen, but he kept defending Tom cause the people underestimated

The people usually decided that violence was the easiest choice. They used violence for many different things, especially forced influence or threats. “ “I'll send him home,” a burly man said, and grabbed Jem roughly by the collar. He yanked Jem nearly off his feet” (Lee 203). The men wanted to take out Tom Robinson, and when Atticus said no and went to send his children home the men decided to pick on someone weaker. That was a more public display that was stopped by an eight year old girl, before anything really occurred. There are also more private violence that people get hints at through the this book. Many of the main hints were given during Tom Robinson’s trial. “ “She says she never kissed a grown man before an’ she might as well kiss a nigger. She says that what her papa do to her don't count” ( Lee 260). The clues during the trial paint a disturbing picture of what goes on in the Ewell