To Kill A Mocking Bird Critical Lens Essay

“In literature, evil often triumphs, but never conquers” in famous novels like “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson or “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. The evil is considered the major issues brought upon the protagonists by the antagonists (when comparing these two novels), such as the character of Andy Evans in Speak and Bob Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird. However, the protagonists always found a way to conquer with the good, and will always shine brighter than the evil.

In “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, the evil in this story is Andy Evans, Melinda Sordino’s antagonizer. Because of this, Melinda often fights the indirect pain he causes her and she has to deal with the fact that this specific person took away the good in her year or even her life just from raping her. Many ways she copes with it is my isolation, biting at her lips from the nerves, create a home away from home in an open janitor’s closet and much more. She often talks about how sick the pain makes her feel day by day. “It is getting harder to talk. My throat is always sore, my lips raw… I know my head isn’t screwed on right. I want to leave, transfer, warp myself to another galaxy. I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else… Even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, staining me” (Anderson 50-51). Melinda is constantly fighting the “evil” that
In “Speak,” Melinda struggled with overcoming the evil caused by Andy Evans, but eventually was able to speak for herself (because others refused to) and the good overcame the bad. In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the evil of racism triumphed at it’s peak during Tom Robinson’s court case, however as it was growing worse, the good swept in and defeated the evil, when Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell to protect Atticus’ two