Similarities Between Othello And To Kill A Mockingbird

The Villain Wars

In Othello by Shakespeare and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there happens to be a villain everybody loves to hate. In Othello there is Iago and in To Kill a Mockingbird there is Bob Ewell. Harm is insinuated by both men, but who is truly the most malevolent villain? Given these two manipulative characters, Iago is more of a villain.

Through Iago’s devious plan to gain the position of lieutenant, with the help

of Roderigo, Iago would kill Cassio without laying a hand on him. Iago came to

the conclusion that whether Roderigo “kills Cassio, or Cassio kills him, every

way makes [his] gain” (Shakespeare 12-14). Iago slowly but surely gained the

trust of Othello,who ironically calls Iago, honest Iago. Bob Ewell seems to be

less of a villain by
taking on the character of a man who takes the anger inside out on the world.
The small action of stopping “Atticus on the post office corner, [spitting] in
his face, and told him he’d get him if it took him the rest of his life” seems
more of a bully (Lee 290). Therefore, because of a small action of this kind Bob Ewell is more
of a bully than a villain. What makes a villain, is the fact that the true
intentions of the person are well hidden and make people believe anything. A bully is someone who uses superior strength to intimidate someone. Therefore Iago is more of a
villain than Bob Ewell.