To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay

To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay Harper Lee shows in the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird character is not determined by race or social standing but the qualities and traits from which the person possesses. Tom Robinson, Atticus and Boo Radely are portrayed to be the mocking birds in the book. Harper Lee shows that Tom Robinson is a major target of racism throughout his time in the book. Tom’s true character has been overthrown just from the color of his skin. People make decisions to treat Tom in an unfair way because of his race. An example of this is when Tom gets convicted of a fraud crime, which he clearly did not commit, just based on the color of his skin. Tom Robinson is an extremely caring man with many wonderful traits. He shows these things by helping Mayella Ewell when she asked for it, even though she is a Caucasian woman. People did not get a chance to realize how good a man Tom Robinson was before he was killed escaping from prison. If Tom’s skin color were white he would have still been alive. That is why Harper Lee illustrates in the book that character should not be determined through race or social standing. Boo Radely plays a more mysterious role in the novel. Although he is yet another example of a character that is thought of more based on his social standing than his true character. Boo Radely only appears in the novel for a very brief amount of time, yet you learn a large amount about his character. This is a tactic that Harper Lee used to show how easily people can make an impression on someone based on social standings. For example, from continuously hearing different scary stories about Boo Radely without him being introduced, you begin to develop your own interpretation of his character. Yet your idea of his character dramatically changes when you come to find out that Boo saved Scout and Jem. You begin to realize that Boo is not a scary man but a very brave a courageous one for saving the children.