Why Is Heck Tate's Death In To Kill A Mockingbird

In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, an irrefutable decision is made by county sheriff Heck Tate to disguise the death of Bob Ewell. Ewell, infamous for his contemptible reputation, attacks the Finch children with an intent to kill. Thankfully for the children, Boo Radley kills Ewell before any permanent damage is done. As the sheriff, it is Heck Tate’s job to report the incident and detain all suspects and criminals, but this time he does not. Contrary to the law, Tate decides to cover up Ewell’s death. A factor that leads the sheriff to his final decision is that revealing to the town that Boo killed Ewell would have brought unwanted attention to Boo. Additionally, a trial would have granted no outstanding results, as both the sheriff and

As Heck Tate says to Atticus “Know what’d happen then? All the ladies in Maycomb includin’ my wife’d be knocking on his door bringing angel food cakes”(369). Tate acknowledges that as a result of the trial, all the ladies of Maycomb would have gone flocking to Boo’s house to get a glimpse of the man that rid Maycomb of Bob Ewell. Knowing that Boo is shy, it would be tormenting him to be put under the spotlight like that. Based on the moral of the story, “it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”’ says Scout as she explains to Atticus how the situation really is(369). Boo who is innocent does not deserve to be put under the spotlight, and if he was to be put through a trial, then it would be comparable to shooting a mockingbird, which by the moral of the story, is a sin. Besides forcing him into the spotlight, revealing that Boo killed Ewell and having a trial as a result would put a tremendous amount of pressure on just about anyone. This is extremely mentally taxing, especially for someone who has had very limited contact with people throughout their life. Because revealing Boo as the killer which would result in a trial forces Boo in a way he is uncomfortable with and also harms him mentally, Heck Tate’s reason of covering up Ewell’s death

Based on the “sin to kill a mockingbird” theme presented in the story as well as the futility of a trial and also the role of ethics and personal morales, Heck Tate’s reasons for covering up Bob Ewell’s death are fair and understandable. Maybe it has never affected you directly enough, but things like this happen all the time. The bending, twisting, and breaking of rules, laws, it happens a lot. Sometimes for all the right reasons, and others not so much. In fact, you have probably done something like it before too. Maybe you lied to you parents to protect a sibling, or stayed up past your bedtime to help out a friend. All wrong things, but for the right reasons. A big example is government corruption, and it is happening somewhere in the world right now. Rules that should prevent these things are being twisted and broken all the time, and because not all of these rules are fair and ethical, doing the right thing may mean breaking them. Next time you are faced with a decision that could lead to you breaking a rule, do not make that decision out of fear of the consequences. Takes ethics into account, and remember that breaking rules is fine with the right reasons, because there is