Examples Of Outcasts In To Kill A Mockingbird

The mockingbird, a harmless beautiful bird, is a symbol of innocence with its pure white belly, making music to please others. To kill a mockingbird is to kill the innocence. In To Kill a Mockingbird , written by Harper Lee, she tells a story of a community in Maycomb with pure (symbolism:white) and impure (symbolism:black) characteristics. In this town, there are many outcasts, among them we have a couple special ones. Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. Boo Radley, recently placed in jail for stabbing his father with scissors. Last but not least, Mayella Ewell, part of a troublesome family, even an outcast in her own family. They are each an outcast of the community; although there are many differences in the way

their stories are told, such as their social status, there are also many similarities; they are all isolated by the community and they are the black sheep of the community.

The treatment of community members in Maycomb, solely relies on their social status and the reputations they have set for themselves. Scout gives examples of some of the names that are given to families; “ They took for granted attitudes, character shadings, even gestures, as having been repeated in each generation and refined by time.... No Crawford Minds His Own Business, Every Third Merriweather Is Morbid…(they) were simply guides to daily living” (175). Tom Robinson is already at the bottom of the social class. Everybody isolates the black people, the city of Maycomb despises them. But more so than anyone, the Ewell’s do; “The thing about it is, our kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewell’s and the Ewell’s hate and despise the coloured folks.” Jem to Scout (302-303). In the same passage,