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to kill a mockingbird
Empathy for others and understanding different perspectives are very important thematic topics in To Kill a Mockingbird. In the story Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are both ridiculed for being different. Tom Robison is ridiculed for being black. Many people assume he raped Mayella Ewell just because he is black. Boo Radley is often ridiculed because he rarely leaves his house. Since he rarely leaves his house people assume that he is a terrible person. Although these characters are assumed to be awful, in this story we find out that they are both good men.

In this book characters such as Scout learn to empathize for Boo Radley since they know he is actually a good man. Everyone thought Boo Radley was a bad person just because they had heard rumors that most likely were not true. After the death of Bob Ewell, Boo Radley was assumed to be the murderer. Mr. Tate believes Boo Radley is the murderer but he knows that Boo is still a good man. “Mr. Tate was right… Well, it would be sort of like shooting a Mockingbird wouldn’t it” (Lee,317) Since people already think Boo is a terrifying person, if they find out he killed Bob Ewell, he will be even more ridiculed and he most likely will not get a fair trial. When he says it would be like shooting a Mockingbird, he means that it would be like hurting something that never means any harm to anyone.

In this book Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white girl. Since the story takes place in the South many people are against African American people, and assume that Mr. Robinson is guilty just because he is black. Atticus knows Tom is guilty and defends him in court, but he is still convicted and sent to prison. “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (Lee 275). This quote means that Atticus tried his hardest to defend Tom
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