Boo Radley Discrimination

The fictional novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee displayed a wide variety of characters and their characteristics. It was filled with discrimination and at the same time, kindness. Jean Louise Finch, (Scout), was just a girl starting 1st grade when this story began. Her older brother, Jem, and her best friend, Dill, experience many things together. Her dad’s, Atticus, court case between a colored fella, his defendant, named Tom Robinson and a Mayella Ewell. Harper Lee takes you on all Scout’s adventures from the Boo Radley house to school. But it’s not all fine and dandy. This book is full of discrimination. Well obviously this book is going to discriminate blacks because it took place in the 1930’s where racial segregation was normal

and accepted. But that wasn’t the only type of people that were discriminated against. To Kill a Mockingbird reveals that not only black people get mistreated, if someone is different, they also get mistreated.
Let's start off at the court case. Atticus, Scout's dad, is a lawyer who is court assigned to a middle aged black male named Tom Robinson. Tom, who was accused of Raping a white lady named Miss Mayella Ewell, was facing the death sentence. Extremely strong points to help prove Tom’s Innocence were given by Atticus. The opposition weren't giving the best of points and that lead to the favor of the packed audience, in the courthouse, all for Tom while the jury left the room. Hours went by. Everyone praying, hoping, wishing, for Tom to be innocent, the jury walks in. With Tom being indisputably innocent, the Jury said, “Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty… I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each guilty was a separate stab between them” (282). This baffled the audience. Tom gets walked out of the courtroom inaudible. Why would the jury find Tom guilty? Was it because they thought he was guilty? Because he was black? Atticus explains that the jury were plain people. He tells Scout that they couldn’t let a black man walk free from a case like this. (294-298)
Scout and Jem have an extraordinary imagination.

When their friend Dill comes for the summer, their imaginations become eternal. So what happens when they think of the scary Radley house? The Radley house is exactly what it sounds like. But it's much more to the gang. It's a place of eeriness and enjoyment. Nathan and Arthur Radley are the residents in the house. But something is really odd about Arthur. The mysterious Arthur Radley, nicknamed Boo, hasn’t left his house in years. So the kids have one objective. Get Boo out. Why is it so important that they see Boo? Because he is different and Atticus catches onto this and made Scout, Jem and Dill then stop. Later on, the three started playing a new game they made up that requires them to act like the Radleys. After growing up a bit and a few more talks from Atticus, this ceases. On the night of the Pageant, something spectacular happens. Boo Radley, who hasn’t been outside in years, leaves his house to help save Scout and Jem from being murdered by Mr Ewell. After the incident, Boo, Atticus and Heck Tate (The Sheriff) were sitting on Scouts porch. Heck knows Boo killed Mr Ewell but Heck doesn’t want this to go to court. He doesn’t want the whole County to crowd up to watch Boo, Someone who hasn't been seen in years in court. They treated Boo different than how they would treat anyone

else.
As a 12 year old, Jem thinks he has it all figured out.

He Says, “There's four types of folks in this world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors there’s the kile like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes… The thing about it is, our folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the colored folks”(302-303). Not all hate the black people in Macomb County. According to Jem it's just the Ewells. But he just explained a chain of hatred. Everyone in the book gets mistreated, not just blacks and that's why this book is so strong. When Scout was in first grade, she was hated by her teacher because she was different than all the other kids. She could read and that grinded Miss Caroline’s (Scouts teacher) gears. For the rest of the year, Scout gets mistreated by her teacher. Everyone in the classroom was stereotypes by their last name. Walters a Cunningham so he is poor, Burris is an Ewell so he only shows up to school one day and doesn’t shower. All of these stereotypes are what make Maycomb such a discriminating place.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the whole Maycomb county gets mistreated, not just the blacks, but anyone who is different. Obviously, there is Tom Robinson who gets accused of rape and faces his inevitable ugliness no matter how innocent he is. Then, the infamous Boo Radley who the kids always thought was more like a fictional character. Finally,

you have everyone else in Macomb County. The rest of the population who get judged and treated bad while judging and mistreating others.