What Is The Evil In To Kill A Mockingbird

There are many destructive forces in this world that may destroy our humanity, crush our beliefs and deplete our morals such as, greed, arrogance, anger, ignorance, etc… but none more powerful than racism. Racism is one of the worst kind of prejudice in society, and as illustrated in “To Kill A Mockingbird” by what occurred to Tom and Helen Robinson, and Bob Ewell, there’s no doubt that racism can ruin people’s lives. In some ways, everyone in Maycomb were more or less affected by racism. An unnecessary evil, it brought misery to all who harbour or are victims to it.

The most apparent victim of racism in “To Kill A Mockingbird” is Tom Robinson, the black man who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Falsely accused of the crime by Mayella

Now widowed, she must raise her children, maintain her household and work to make a living for herself. Because she is black, a woman, and the wife of a man accused of raping a white woman, Helen was not able to find work. The person that hired her and the only person in Maycomb that would do so, was Mr. Link Deas, Tom’s former employer. He did not really need Helen’s services, but felt bad about what happened to Tom and he was one of the few decent people in Maycomb where colored people are concerned. “He doesn’t really need her, but he said he felt right bad about the way things turned out.” (TKAM, pg. 333). However, Helen did not easily escape racism. One morning, Bob Ewell followed Helen closed behind her while she was on her way to work, murmuring foul words at her, for no reason other than that she was Tom’s wife and he was racist. Although he did not attack her, Helen was terrified of him. Mr. Link Deas made Bob Ewell leave Helen alone, but she was still frightened by him. Her life had become very difficult due to the effects of

This is proven in “To Kill A Mockingbird” by the fates of Tom and Helen Robinson and their tormentor, Bob Ewell. It is unfair that prejudices based on a person’s skin color could reduce people to tears, and yet it was once a common place. Although less racism today that in once was, racism still lingers. Though very unnoticeable, if something were to happen such as the terrorist attack on November 13th in Paris, some people showed their true colors towards the Muslim religion. Racism remains just as destructive as