Boo Radley

Boo Radley may seem to be a secondary character, seeing as he disappears in the middle part of the book, but he remains a powerful symbol in the story. He is shut up in his house all day long, and is portrayed as a creepy and dangerous man. But that is just the way that people make him out, not truly who he is. Although nobody knows how he really is, he saves Scout and Jem at the end of the book from being killed by Bob Ewell. Despite what people in the book may think, Boo Radley is a symbol for goodness that was damaged by evil.

Mockingbirds are a big symbol in the story, although there aren't many physical ones. Killing a mockingbird is said to be a sin because all mockingbirds do is sing, and do nothing to harm us. Going along with this, there are people in the book that are "mockingbirds". Tom Robinson is an obvious one, as he was completely innocent and probably never harmed anyone in his life, but he was killed. Boo Radley was also a mockingbird. He was innocent and never did anything that bad, but was damaged by his father and kept away from society. Because of this, people were never able to know who he really was, and made up images of him being some weird psycho.

There are many theories about Boo Radley that people have invented. Some say he is some weird religion that has to stay inside and pray all day. Some people think he is insane and chained up inside of the house, and others think he only goes out at night to kill animals and look in windows. But that is just because people don't understand, just like they don't understand racism. People are quick to hate things that are different, and believe that what is different doesn't belong. Lots of people hate black people, and lots of people assume bad things of Boo, with one similarity: they are different.

Boo Radley actually reflects the racism that is going on in the story. Tom Robinson is killed although he is innocent, and Boo Radley is said to be evil when he is not. Just because black people are different, people think they are inferior to whites when they are not; just because Boo is kept away from everyone, people think he is a psychopath when he is not. Boo Radley is a mockingbird and is symbolically "killed" by his father, who forces him away from civilization. He is as innocent as can be, yet is destroyed by evil.

Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are mockingbirds, and both are hurt by evil. Tom Robinson is put to death for a crime he didn't commit. Boo Radley is shut up inside all day for reasons not quite known. And the one similarity is that they are both different from everyone else. The crazy person is not who everyone think he is, but because of the evil in the world he is said to be. He is a symbol for innocence that was harmed by evil, like a mockingbird that was sinned upon and killed.

Tom Robinson

Author's Note: This is a piece from the perspective of Tom Robinson from To Kill a Mockingbird. 

I do what I'm am told to do, that's the way I was raised. So when young miss Mayella wanted my help, I obliged. I felt sorry for the lady, she didn't seem to have any friends. She was always alone when I passed by her house, with no help to do all those chores that needed to be done. So when I passed by her house this morning, she wanted my help as usual, and she invited me into her home to fix her door. I intended to do so, but the door seemed fine to me, so I got to wondering what was going on. She took me into the bedroom, and wanted me to get something down, and I tried, and the next thing I knew her arms were around me, babblin about something, and I tried to run but I didn't want to hurt the poor woman. I started to panic, not quite sure what was happening, when I saw Mr. Ewell in the window, and heard young miss Mayella scream. I booked it, not wanting to stay around any longer. Poor old Mayella, she'll probably in some hot water with her father.

To Kill a Mockingbird Scene Analysis

"If you shouldn't be defendin' him, then why are you doin' it?"

"For a number of reasons," said Atticus. "The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again." […]

"Atticus, are we going to win it?"

"No, honey."

"Then why-"

"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win," Atticus said (84).

This quote takes place when Scout is not understanding why Atticus is defending a black man. Atticus tries to explain it to her that he couldn't respect himself enough to hold up his head or even tell Scout or Jem not to do something. He knows that he has to try, because it is the right thing to do no matter what anybody says. So when Scout asks him if he is going to win the case, he simply says no, because he knows it is hopeless, yet he has to try. He says we already got licked a hundred years ago, referring to slavery and the racial prejudices that have been going on for a long time. But that doesn't mean that it is right even if it has been going on for a hundred years, and he still needs to try to change it, even if he is ahead of his time and knows it is hopeless. I think this scene describes the hopelessness of the novel; knowing that Atticus is doing the right thing, and people seem blind to that fact. You as a reader know that Atticus is doing what is right and it is frustrating that he has no power to change anything.