The Innocent Victims of Maycomb

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In society, people are wrongly judged by false impressions, social status and race as well as other factors that influence the self-image of an individual. This is highly significant in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird through the characters of Arthur Radley and Tom Robinson who are innocent victims of prejudice by the people of Maycomb. The first character who represents the conception of misjudgment is Arthur Radley, who is misunderstood by others and dubbed as an intimidating person. Through the rumors being about him, it shows that he is an innocent victim because he just chooses not to associate with society, and people do not respect his way of life because it differs from theirs. The other character who represents this conception of misjudgment is Tom Robinson who is looked hatefully upon by the majority of Maycomb’s people. Through the events of his condemnation from the white community, this demonstrates Tom being as an innocent victim; his skin color defines his destiny in court. But truly, these innocent victims are kind people. The people of Maycomb are too judgmental, not understanding that Arthur Radley and Tom Robinson are truly good people; completely disregarding their real personality. Both Arthur Radley and Tom Robinson are innocent victims to judgment by others in Maycomb. Superstitious attributes follow Arthur, while Tom is struck by racism and prejudice. Arthur Radley is thought of as an intimidating, phantom-like person. As Jem is describing Arthur to Dill, he tells him “inside the house lived a malevolent phantom” (Lee 8). Jem’s behavior represents the community’s perception of Arthur. Another way Arthur is misjudged is by the nickname that was given to him; “Boo”. This nickname was developed by the pe... ... middle of paper ... ..., Jem’s pants got caught as they were leaving and they remained there. But Arthur mends his ripped pants to get rid of any evidence that it was Jem, for he knew it was him. These are all good deeds that Arthur has done that really prove that he is a good person, and that there is no reason for anyone to think badly of him. So, the people of Maycomb are prejudice and should really look deeper into someone and understand them better before making assumptions. Both Arthur Radley and Tom Robinson are innocent victims to prejudice and misjudgment. Arthur is truly a good, caring person who would fight for justice. And Tom Robinson is no criminal, and is truly a pure-hearted, kind person. Being prejudice towards other is unkind and misleading. One should learn to look deep into the heart of another, in order to completely understand them.

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