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Why Is Boo Radley Accused In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Something acquired is referred to as a lesson. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, two key figures in Harper Lee's to Kill a Mockingbird, are criticized and falsely accused of committing crimes. Scout, the primary character, learns a valuable lesson from this: Never judge a person by their circumstances or appearance. Boo Radley's inability to exit his house caused the entire town of Maycomb to view him as insane. After meeting him, Scout learns that he was a nice guy and that all the conspiracies had been disproven. Tom Robinson was charged with rape and given a death sentence solely because of his accusations against a white lady. Scout is aware that Tom was never at fault and that the community of Maycomb with its rooted racism that found him guilty. First of all, Tom Radley was a non-actor. Tom was charged with rape and later proved guilty; he was given the death penalty. The author asks "Tom, did you violate Mayella Ewell? on page ___. I didn't do such. This demonstrates how Maycomb was a racist haven. Meaning that Tom lost even though his argument had enough evidence to support it. The fact that individuals shouldn't be judged based on the color of their skin is something Scout is aware of. …show more content…

Tom Radley hires Atticus to represent him as his public defense. As a result, Atticus is threatened and encircled by hooded townies at the prison where Tom is being held. The author states on page 175: He then stood up erect and waved a large paw. He shouted, "Let's get out of here." "Come on, boys, let's go."The men made their way back to their dilapidated vehicles in groups of one and two as they had come. Engines coughed, doors closed, and they vanished. This demonstrates that the gang had split up after intimidating Atticus. They had done this because they had assumed that Tom had raped Mayella based solely on the fact that he was black. They intend to murder Tom by getting past

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The Trial of Tom Robinson In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, racism is explored, and you are able to consider every factor in Tom Robinson’s trial. Tom Robinson, a black male, was accused of raping a white woman in the small county of Maycomb, Alabama. The woman was he was accused of raping is named Mayella Ewell.

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1245 Words | 5 Pages

The significance of this event is that it emphasises to the reader that the prejudices of Maycomb were essentially a death sentence to Tom, or more figuratively to the black community as a whole, long before the Ewell’s ever screamed rape. In the end, not even Atticus’ stirring defence of Tom is enough for the white community to abandon their prejudices. Scout realises the frivolousness of the trial whilst reading Mr Underwood’s editorial - no matter how astounding of a

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, the novel follows the life of the main character, Scout, from ages six to eight. In the book, Scout and her brother, Jem, initially have strange beliefs regarding the mysterious Arthur "Boo" Radley. But, due to various events; that takes place in Jem and Scout's lives, the siblings' beliefs have changed. Scout and Jem's moderately firm ideas of Boo Radley in earlier chapters have come; to deeply contrast their current viewpoints of him.

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It is not being said that Boo Radley’s actions are without justification. He had all the reason to kill Bob Ewell. However, he did commit murder, which is a crime among all other crimes. He was not attacked, the attack did not take place in his home or on his property, and he was the first aggressor on Bob Ewell. Ewell did not attack Radley.

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1033 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Harper Lee’s development of Scout’s character contributes to Scout’s evolving image of Boo Radley from a monster to a kind and gentle man. As an illustration, Scout’s character is a young girl (6-9) who is able to comprehend many things an adult could. However, Scout doesn’t know the image of Boo Radley, Scout has only heard rumors of him from others. Though as Scout’s character learns more and has had interactions with Boo Radley her perception of Boo Radley changes.

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Children are born curious, with curiosity comes judgment and often misconceptions. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ delineates the themes of misunderstanding and prejudice depicted through the characterisation of a villain who is ‘about six and a half feet tall’ with ‘a long jagged scar that ran across his face’ and teeth that was ‘yellow and rotten’. Boo Radley’s reclusiveness led to constant discrimination and mocking, however, through progressive stages of the novel when Boo’s true intentions are revealed, the children’s prejudgment and ongoing fear of the Radley’s change. Boo Radley’s mysterious persona is the basis of community gossip, although he does not physically encounter any characters at the beginning of the story, adults such as the ‘neighbourhood

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Atticus knew that Tom’s life would be at risk if he was left alone at night in his cell, so Atticus brought his lamp and newspaper and waited with Tom during the night. While reading his paper, Walter Cunningham and his lynch mob appear in the darkness, “You know what we want, another man said, get aside from the door Mr. Finch”(Lee 172). Atticus stands his ground, knowing they were going to murder Tom; Atticus explicitly tells Walter and his gang to leave. After a long confrontation, Tom finally speaks, “They gone?,”(Lee 175) and Atticus calmly says, “Get some sleep Tom, they wont bother you anymore”(Lee 175). Atticus’s strength and courage kept Tom Robinson alive that night; without his courageous act there would have been a murder just because of someone’s skin

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His physical disadvantage made his slaughter even more unjust. During the trial, his testimony made it clear that he was always kind to Mayella. So not only was he innocent, he was a kind-hearted man killed only because of the color of his skin. To conclude, Tom Robinson was a good man who didn’t have the means to protect

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871 Words | 4 Pages

Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.

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915 Words | 4 Pages

Tom Robinson was being charged with rape and everyone in the town was against him. Atticus saw the injustice and did his best to defend Tom. “... if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature” (Lee 75). Atticus is explaining to Scout why he couldn’t leave Tom without any help. Atticus is always looking out for his children.

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586 Words | 3 Pages

Rumors swept through the town, ruining a man’s reputation and giving him no reason to step outside of his own home. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Arthur “Boo” Radley is the most complex of Maycomb’s residents. Many say Boo is a killer that should not be trusted near children. However, Scout thinks otherwise as she tries to understand Boo herself. She learns more than she figured, as Boo teaches her numerous lessons without even meeting her.

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1355 Words | 6 Pages

Furthermore, Tom Robinson is mistreated due to his skin color, as a result, he is falsely accused of raping a white girl. No one in town is willing to help him in any way because of the racist mentality of the town, except Atticus. As a lawyer, Atticus supports Tom Robinson and states an important statement that describes the racist minds of the residents of Maycomb, “The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is”(Lee 271).

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889 Words | 4 Pages

The men got out and they gathered around Atticus and hid him from sight. A man in the mob asks, “He in there, Mr. Finch?” (Lee 171) Atticus answered that Tom was in jail. A man from the mob spoke, “ You know what we want,” (Lee 172) another man said.

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822 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee many characters are victims of the harsh conditions of Maycomb County. Often those who are seen to be metaphorical mockingbirds are punished the most. A mockingbird is one who only wants and attempts to do good. Characters such as Boo Radley, Jem Finch and Tom Robinson are exemplars of mockingbirds in Maycomb. In the novel it is explained by Atticus that killing a mockingbird is a sin because they do not do anything to harm to us like nesting in corncribs, or eating up the gardens, they only sing for us.

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830 Words | 4 Pages

Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.

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