Compare And Contrast Tom Robinson In To Kill A Mockingbird

Mockingbirds

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, killing a mockingbird is considered committing a sin. Two men are considered metaphorical or figurative mockingbirds in the fact that they are considerate to others but have something that puts them at a disadvantage to other people, these two men are Arthur, Boo, Radley and Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is at a bigger disadvantage because of how he was born then what happened to him later in life. Tom has the disadvantage of being African American, in a racist town, and having a rubber like left hand, he was crippled on the left side. Arthur Radley was a white man but we think he might have had some kind of disease that made him be perceived as a little different than most people. Though,

He was an African American man who was missing part of his left hand. You may think that the biggest disadvantage would be the loss of his left but left hand but, it was not. In a town in the deep south and in Alabama being African American was one of the biggest disadvantages you could have. Tom worked for a white man who treated him well. He had a wife and kids but still found time to stop and help anyone who asked. Tom would walk by the Ewell house everyday. This is how he found himself on trial for rape. He only stopped to help Mayella Ewell, acting like a mockingbird cost him his life but, nobody would know who he really was. “‘She’d call me in, suh. Seemed like every time I passed by yonder she’d have some little somethin’ for me to do-choppin’ kindlin’, totin’ water for her.’ ‘Were you paid for your services?’ ‘No, suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first time. I was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn’t seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun, and I knowed she didn’t have no nickels to spare” (Lee 256). He would do something nice for Mayella most days and in the end it was him who died for doing something that her father did to her, not him. He died in jail, because he didn’t trust the white man

All the ladies in Maycomb includin’ my wife’d be knocking on his door bringing angel food cakes. To my way of thinkin’, Mr. Finch, taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight- to me, that’s a sin. It’s a sin and I’m not about to have it on my head. If it was any other man it’d be different. But not this man, Mr. Finch” (Lee 369-370). The town sheriff knew that Boo was the kind of man that would do anything to help people, especially the two Finch kids. He realized what would happen to Boo if the town knew what he did. The town would shower him with gifts and would try and change who he is. People don’t always know what is going on in someone else’s mind and when something drastic changes it can take toll that no one would expect. By saving the kids lives he didn’t only show his innocence but showed why he was a mockingbird. Thus, Boo shows that he is mockingbird by helping kids and people who cannot always help