How does Harper Lee Manage to Draw Together the Stories of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson? Do you find her Way of doing this Effective?

Jessica Scott

10X

There is a strong literary motif running through Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. The stories of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are drawn together by the way they are both mockingbirds in their own way. Both men are on the outskirts of society and are misunderstood by the predominantly white population of Maycomb. In the first part of the novel, there is a very important quote used:

“Shoot all the Bluejays you want if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a novel about a young girl named Jean Louise Finch or Scout growing up in a very prejudiced American town in the 1930’s. Her life is fairly normal until her father, a lawyer named Atticus, is asked to defend a black man charged with the rape of a white girl, Mayella Ewell. Atticus knows there is no chance he can win because his defendant, Tom Robinson is black and therefore guilty but as Atticus said himself:

“Just because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.”

The jury persecutes Tom Robinson in his trial. It would have been impossible for him to abuse Mayella because he cannot use his left arm. Mr Heck-Tate said that she had a black right eye, suggesting her attacker was left-handed. Her father, Bob Ewell, was, suggesting that he beat her up. Because Tom couldn’t punch Mayella with his left fist, it couldn’t have been him. Tom Robinson is an admirable character and very brave. He showed these qualities in the trial by speaking his mind and saying the truth, but this still was not enough to sway the jury into returning the right verdict of Not Guilty. One of the worst examples of prejudice came in the trial. Nobody liked Tom Robinson’s answer when he admits he felt sorry for Mayella, showing how much racism and prejudice there was between the people of Maycomb. Black people were not allowed to feel sorry for white people. It was as if Tom was found guilty in order to teach him where his place in society was. The jury was more sympathetic towards Mayella because she was white. Tom Robinson went against the ‘acceptable’ behaviour of a Negro and dared to feel sorry for a white person. I think that it was ironic that the only thing that stopped Tom from escaping from prison was the one thing that proved he wasn’t guilty, his useless left arm.

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The children develop a fascination with a reclusive man who lives at the bottom of their road. Arthur Radley, or Boo as the children call him is seen as a figure of mystery and fear in the eyes of Scout and Jem. Boo was locked in the house by his father for ‘resisting arrest’ and for ‘stealing a vehicle’. Boo is a monster in the minds of the children. The children learn that when he was thirty-three years he ‘calmly stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors’ and had to be locked in the basement by his father. The Radleys are regarded as outsiders because they never mix with the townspeople, or attend church (Boo isn’t even allowed to go to his mothers funeral). The doors are always kept shut; unlike every other house, there are no screen doors so nobody can see inside. Boo’s affection for the children was the only thing that tempts him outside. At the end of the novel Scout and Jem feel regret because they think they gave him nothing in return. Jem and Scout also realised that they were being prejudiced towards Boo without knowing what he was really like. The people of Maycomb try to exaggerate his activities by spreading vicious rumours about him like poisoning pecan nuts in the schoolyard, eating cats and squirrels raw, terrifying Miss Crawford by staring at her through her window at night, and killing azaleas by breathing on them. Scout and Jem think of Boo Radley as a horrible person just because they have heard rumours, but Boo gradually emerges as a very different person from the one Scout and Jem imagined him to be because he was very kind and shy and he even left presents for Scout and Jem in the tree. This is one of the earliest examples of the prejudice in Maycomb. The children believe what they hear about Boo and therefore presume he is a nasty person, simply because he isn’t ‘normal.’

Tom Robinson and Boo Radley can be compared with mockingbirds because they have done nothing wrong but help others. Tom and Boo are persecuted, one by the jury and the other by the children. Both are discriminated against because they are considered to be beneath the white, middle class citizens of Maycomb. Both were outlawed due to rumours and circumstantial evidence when neither did anything wrong. As both Atticus and Miss Maudie said:

“ Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy… they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That is why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

Tom Robinson doesn’t do anything apart from empathising with Mayella Ewell and being kind to her by dismantling a chiffarobe for her. He was kind to Mayella, the equivalent of singing sweet music for her. The only thing that Tom did was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is an easy person to blame because in some ways he is quite naïve. Boo Radley was always very kind to the children. The presents that Boo leaves show how thoughtful, caring and gentle Boo is. For example he leaves two dolls carved out of soap in the likeness of Jem and Scout. A lot of effort and thought would have gone into those dolls, just to please the children. He has done nothing but try to make the children happy but they are still unkind towards him.

Harper Lee’s way of making both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson mockingbirds is very effective. It gives the reader a parallel to compare each two. Both men are on the outskirts of society and are misunderstood by the predominantly white population of Maycomb. Harper Lee draws the two stories together to give out a very powerful message: you shouldn’t judge people on the colour of their skin or their lifestyle. You never know exactly how that person’s feeling until you climb inside their skin and walk around in it. This is summarised in a quote made by Atticus:

“Were you ever a turtle huh?”