Good and Evil in To Kill a Mockingbird, By Emeline Wu

Summary:

To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb County in Alabama. We meet Jean Finch or Scout, the main character and her family and friends. There is her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem, her friend Dill who came to visit his aunt for the summer, Calpurnia their cook, and Boo Radley. The story begins in the summer with Jem, Scout, and Dill trying to get Boo Radley to come out. Boo Radley was a man who stayed inside the Radley house and never came out for mysterious reasons. Summer ends, Dill leaves, and school starts. Scout's first day at school isn't good; she is punished for things she didn't know she wasn't supposed to do. One day, walking home from school, Scout finds some gum in a tree on the Radley's property. To valuable pennies are found int he same spot the last day of school.

Summer comes along and Dill is back. They attempt to send a note to Boo through a window, but they fail when Atticus catches them and tells them not to bother Boo anymore. They try to take a look at Boo through a window, but cannot when Mr. Radley shoots at them. When school begins again, Jem and Scout find carvings of soap and gum in the Radley tree. They find the hole in the tree filled with cememnt when they try to send a thank-you note to whoever is sending them gifts.

When Atticus takes up the job of defending a black man in court, Scout starts a fight with a classmate and Scout's cousin when they call her father some offensive names. She asks her dad about it and he says that he is defending a man named Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewell's daughter. On night, Scout finds Dill hiding under her bed. He ran away from home and is now allowed to stay in Maycomb for a couple more weeks. Tom's trial is approaching and he is moved to the Maycomb jail. The three sneaks out of the house one night and they find Atticus reading outside the jail. Seconds after the kids arrived, some men came to the jail and demanded that Atticus let them into the jail to hurt Tom. But Scout pops out from hiding and talks to the men. They feel ashamed and leave.

Tom's trial begins and the whole town is in the courthouse. Atticus proves that Tom didn't do anything to her, but a black man has never won a trial against a white man and even though it is obvious that Tom is innocent, the jury delivers a guilty verdict. Atticus thought they could still win, but Tom was doubtful and died when he was shot by guards in a prison trying to stop him from escaping.

Bob Ewell won, but Atticus made him look like a fool and one night when Jem and Scout are walking home alone, he attacks them. Luckily, Boo Radley saves them and kills Bob. Scout finally gets to see Boo and everyone is alright.

515 words

Reflection:
The triumph of evil over good is a theme shown throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson was obviously innocent, but because he is black, the jury concluded that he was guilty. He never raped or hurt Mayella Ewell as he was accused of doing. She was the one who had tried to kiss Tom, and for that, her father had beaten her. Tom Robinson was victimized and he did nothing to deserve something like this. The men who made up the jury all knew the truth, but the good in them was overcome by racial prejudice. In this case, the evil of racism defeated good.

Arthur (Boo) Radley is another symbol of good being hurt by evil. Scout goes to Miss Maudie to talk about Boo Radley and she clears up some neighborhood myths and tells Scout that he was always a nice boy. "'Arthur Radley just stays in the house, that's all,' said Miss Maudie. 'Wouldn't you stay in the house if you didn't want to come out?'" Scout asks why he wouldn't want to come out and Miss Maudie implies that his father did some things to him that hurt him so badly that he wouldn't want to come out anymore. "'"He shoud be (crazy) by now. The things that happen to people we never really know. What happens in houses behind closed doors, what secrets . . .'" Arthur was wrecked by his father and, like Tom Robinson, he did nothing to recieve any kind of harsh treatment. He is victimized once again when his only link to the outside world is harshly cut off by his brother. Boo Radley was able to reach out to two children, Jem and Scout. But his brother, Nathan Radley, finds out about the tree and cements it closed for good.

"'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'" Boo Radley and Tom Robinson were the main mockingbirds of the book. Their stories show how the evil in man can destroy the good. Through the book, we watch Jem and Scout grow up. They are children, innocent and good, and through their summers and years, they find the corruption in the world. They find out that, even in their small town, there is evil in people. It is a hard lesson to learn for them, especially for Jem. After seeing Tom Robinson's trial, he sees the world as a horrible place and man as evil beings. I think that the author wanted us to learn what Scout had learned. The author wants us to realize that people are neither good nor evil, but that they are both and the best thing to do it to see things through other's perspectives. At the end of the book, Scout and readers can see the world that Atticus sees. While Atticus is tucking her into bed, she tells him about the story they just read. She says that the misunderstood character was actually "real nice." He tells her, "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them."

517 words