Similarities Between 'To Kill A Mockingbird And If A Clown'

To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written by Harper Lee and published in 1960, is a story of two young children who experience the racism in their quaint town once their father takes on a court case in which he defends a black man. The book shows just how cruel the human race can be towards each other simply based on the differences they choose to create barriers from. “If a Clown”, a poem composed by Stephen Dunn, tells the story of a lost clown who is attempting to find his way to a birthday job he has committed to. However, the clown finds struggle in finding transportation to this party because of how society views him. Characters from both To Kill a Mockingbird and “If a Clown” are forced into situations of pain and fear due to their divergence

of the societal stereotypes and the subsequent hate from society itself.
In the poem, “If a Clown”, the clown figure goes through feelings of fear.

This is because the clown has been treated with hate and disrespect his entire life. Readers are given a glance into his past, assuming one has the knowledge that a history of hate leads to a future of self-torment and angst. It is obvious, however, that the clown continues to do his job no matter how hated he may be. This becomes apparent to the audience when the clown finds a way to the party and entertains the child. One may ask why society would treat a simple man in a costume and makeup differently than if that same man was in normal outerwear, but the answer is easy. Society as a whole creates stereotypes for groups of people and it is these stereotypes that society judges someone’s character on. One’s character cannot simply be marginalized based on the image society gives them, but rather of the actions and thoughts they perform on a daily basis. Because clowns are thought of as creepy and maniacal, this specific clown is untrusted and disliked by

society.
Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, many characters face the prejudice and distrust of the citizens of Maycomb, much like the clown who went through the same situation.

Scout is continuously judged by the ladies of her neighborhood because she refuses to dress and act like a normal girl of her time, but she continues to persevere and live the way she wants. Because the town would rather have Tom Robinson’s case thrown to the dogs, Atticus’s taking of the defense caused many of the people to react negatively to his equal treatment of Tom. When Atticus breaks the stereotype given to people of his calibre, he gives society a chance to hate him. An obvious example of society hating self-thinking people is the situation with Tom Robinson. During his trial, Tom was treated unfairly due to the fact that everyone in Maycomb would trust a white person’s word (no matter how dishonest that white person had been in the past) over a black man’s. In this situation, society refused to think that the stereotypes that they had placed upon Tom were anything but accurate. Boo Radley was another character who faced judgement by other characters within the book. Throughout his lifetime, Boo has been seen as an insane man who is locked up in his house. However, as To Kill a Mockingbird resolves itself, the reader can see that Boo is actually a caring and innocent human being, and that all of the rumors about him were just lies society has told itself. The clown in the aforementioned poem suffered

at the hands of society, much like each of these characters in To Kill a Mockingbird.
All of the characters within To Kill a Mockingbird feel the persecution from society, the obvious target for Harper Lee’s theme. She goes on to show us the negative effects of how shuffling humans into certain stereotypes can lead to the destruction of innocent life, while Stephen Dunn, the author of “If a Clown”, shows the positive effects of giving stereotyped people a chance. In the poem, the narrator's friend helps the clown get to the party, where the clown then begins to show compassion and his helpful nature towards the children. Although the works use different paths to represent this idea, both show the theme of preventing the walls of separation from being built by not creating and applying stereotypes to individuals.