Examples Of Human Conflict In To Kill A Mockingbird

Tony Robbins once said, “To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” This connects to Harper Lee’s book because not only does it relate to the major theme, but it relates to the conflicts that arise throughout the novel. To Kill A Mockingbird is narrated by a young girl named Jean Louise Finch who also goes by her nickname, Scout. She tells the story about how her brother, Jem, broke his arm. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird the theme that is present throughout the novel is human conflict comes from the inability to understand one another through the characters Mayella Ewell, Jeremy Finch, and Arthur Radley.

Mayella Ewell is a 19 year-old girl who basically acts as a mother figure towards her younger siblings because her father, Bob Ewell, is always out hunting or doing his own thing away from the family. She’s a very unhappy and lonely person because of her unpleasant father and also because of the family’s reputation around Maycomb. During Tom’s testimony in court, he says, “Seemed like every time I passed by yonder she’d have some little somethin’ for me to do…” (Lee 256). Mayella was having Tom Robinson do some little jobs around the Ewell’s property because she was lonely. She could’ve easily done the jobs by herself, but she wanted Tom to do them because she knows he’s a person that will help others because it’s his natural nature. Also, he’s one of few to walk past and help her since she’s an Ewell. Mayella was being very rude to Tom even though he’s the only nice person to her. “Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her[Mayella]. But… when she stood up she looked at him as if he were dirt beneath her feet” (Lee 257). Mayella was very impolite to Tom and acted as if he’s the worst person in the town, let alone the courtroom. The way she looked at him implies that she doesn’t care what happens to him and she wishes she never laid eyes on him. But she’s only acting this way because they’re in the courtroom and she claims he raped her, therefore she must follow out with what she said. She really doesn’t view Tom as dirt because she kissed him and did the unspeakable, she broke a code and it came crashing down on her afterwards. Mr. Gilmer is the prosecutor and was questioning Tom about how he does these small jobs for Mayella for no price at all. Tom replies to this by saying, “I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em--” (Lee 264). Tom is the only one who notices how much Mayella is struggling with her family and responsibilities around the house. He helps her out sometimes because he cares about others and is really the only person who’s noticing her besides the family. Mayella is trying very hard to make sure her siblings have something to eat and that they’re safe, but she doesn’t want to be a Ewell because she isn’t free to do what she wants and she doesn’t have a father that is there for her when she needs him. While Mayella was being questioned by Atticus, she’s afraid to tell the truth because her father is in the room and she doesn’t want to say something wrong around him for fear of being hurt. “Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. He sat up straight and waited for her to answer. ‘Except when nothin’ ” (Lee 245). She keeps her eye on her father while she’s being questioned because she is afraid of saying something wrong that will irritate her father. Bob is very interested in seeing how his daughter answers the questions she’s asked by Mr. Gilmer and Atticus because he doesn’t necessarily listen to what she has to say about anything, especially if the topic is about him. Mayella knows what really happened to her on November 21, but she’s scared to tell the truth for fear of her father beating her again and that’s why she isn’t being fully honest when answering Atticus’s questions. Mayella Ewell is a very depressed 19 year-old who doesn’t want to live up to the family name because of the reputation they have. She wants to be a normal teen who is liked around Maycomb and wants to become a friend to many of the folks around the town. She’s motivated by seeing how her father lives and is realizing that she doesn’t want to live like that. Mayella doesn’t want the folks of Maycomb to be against her and she doesn’t want to follow in her fathers foot-steps.

Jeremy Finch is also known in the novel as Jem.

He is the son of Atticus Finch and Scout’s older brother. He faces many difficult issues throughout the story and doesn’t understand why other folks in Maycomb do the things they do. One example is when Jem and Scout were on there way to school with the note they wrote about the items they were finding in the knot hole. When they got to the tree where the gifts were being placed, they realized that someone filled the hole with cement. The next day Jem asks, “ ‘Mr. Radley ah---did you put cement in that hole in that tree down yonder?’ ‘Yes,’ he [Mr. Radley] said. ‘I filled it up...tree’s dying’ ”(Lee 83). At first Jem couldn’t understand why someone would do that because it was Jem and Scouts way of communicating with whoever is leaving them these gifts. He also didn’t know what Mr. Radley meant when he said that the tree’s dying because it looks perfectly healthy. Mr. Radley says that when a tree’s dying you fill it with cement and he says it because he doesn’t want Jem and Scout to become curious about Boo (Arthur). When the folks started talking about the trial and how Atticus is defending a black man, Jem and Scout got a lot of insults about their father whether it’s from neighbors, classmates or other folks in town. Normally Scout is the one who has troubles dealing with the insults, but one day someone got in Jem’s head and he snapped. Jem and Scout were on there way to town when Mrs. Dubose stopped them and gave them insults about Atticus and Jem had had enough. “...Jem snatched my baton and ran flailing wildly up the steps into Mrs. Dubose’s front yard...He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned…” (Lee 137). Jem is the one that Atticus didn’t think would get caught up in the insults, but he was wrong. This time Jem couldn’t hold it in any longer and let all his anger out on Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes. He understood what and why he did what he did, but

what he didn’t understand was why Mrs. Dubose said that to him instead of Atticus. Jem normally handles the insults from others fairly well, but this one in particular got in his head and he couldn’t stop himself because what she said to him was not only discourteous, but wrong. Another time that Jem was having difficulty understanding another was when him and Reverend Sykes were talking about the trial. Jem gets over confident about Tom Robinson winning the case, so Sykes tells Jem what he’s seen before. Reverend Sykes says, “Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…” (Lee 279). Reverend Sykes is explaining to Jem what he’s seen before in other cases that have taken place in the past between a black man and a white man. Not once has he seen the jury chose a black man over a white man, no matter what the case is about. When Jem gets over confident about winning the case, Sykes has to reassure him and Jem doesn’t understand why the jury is so racist. But what he doesn’t realize is is that Maycomb is a very racist town. Lastly, one day Jem, Scout, and Dill were over at Miss Maudie’s house. They were talking about the trial and specifically about Judge Taylor while indulging in Miss Maudie’s homemade cakes that she made for the kids. Miss Maudie says, “Did it ever strike you that Judge Taylor naming Atticus to defend that boy was no accident? That Judge Taylor might have had his reasons for naming him?” (Lee 289). After Miss Maudie asked the kids these questions, Jem takes them into consideration when he’s trying to get a better understanding about the trial. He starts to think about these questions and is wondering if it really wasn’t an accident that Judge Taylor named Atticus to defend Tom Robinson. Miss Maudie raises curiosity in Jem and he really starts to think about the possible answers to the questions. Jem Finch is a very curious boy who is misunderstood by others for the way he handles certain situations, like what happened at Mrs. Dubose house. He is a great kid who handles most situations as if he were an adult even though others misunderstand the way he does things.