Examples Of Outsiders In To Kill A Mockingbird

The story of Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson, the second of the two main conflicts in this book also represented the sin of killing a mockingbird. Atticus Finch, the father of Jem and Scout was a lawyer, and in a court case, Atticus was assigned a black man, Tom Robinson. Atticus was tasked with defending Tom from a false conviction of rape by the Ewell family. Atticus was given a very hard time,and was even threatened by Bob Ewell, who was angered that Atticus ruined the reputation and respect he thought he’d gain. . Bob even tried to murder Atticus’ kids. Atticus

Tom Robinson is another mockingbird figure. He was a genuinely caring person who is destroyed by his willingness to help Mayella Ewell. Just like a mockingbird, Robinson never hurt anyone. Yet, he was also persecuted by society for his kindness and his race. Tom Robinson was killed because of his kindness and the color of his skin; “ a harmless songbird that was shot down by a senseless hunter.” Lee uses the character of Tom as a mockingbird figure to express the innocence of the mockingbird and exhibit the narrow-mindedness and biased opinions of the towns folk.

What does it take to not be an outsider and to fit in with everybody else? Ponyboy Curtis in S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders tries to explain that he and his friends, the Greasers, are more than just thugs. They have low external expectations which also leads to low internal expectations. His friends have all grown up in poor conditions. His best friend, Johnny, is constantly beat at home and is only himself when he is with the gang. The Greasers are rivals with the Socs, a rich gang made of rich kids. Ponyboy thought that the Socs had it made, but after he meets Cherry he finds out that they also have external and internal expectations that make their lives not so made. Ponyboy and Cherry are outsiders because they see the world differently than the groups that they are in and have a window to escape stereotype threat and into society where they will be known as an individual, while Dally and Bob have decided that they are what their group is and they won’t have that window.

First of all, Tom Robinson’s family has been greatly affected by the case. After being convicted, in addition to being sent away to jail, his wife Helen also faces discrimination. Jem asks Calpurnia, “I know Tom Robinson’s in jail an’ he’s done somethin’ awful, but why won’t folks hire Helen?” She responds with “It’s because of what folks say Tom’s done,[...]Folks aren’t anxious to—to have anything to do with any of his family”(chap.12). Racism being the reason that Tom goes to jail, and also the reason that no one will hire Helen anymore, proving how despair to the community through racism. Because of this prejudice, an innocent family becomes social outcasts within the town, which would be detrimental because in a small town like Maycomb, people need to stick together to be able to live a good life. Another way in which racism victimizes someone, when Bob Ewell spits on Atticus. He was leaving the post office: “Mr. Ewell approached him, cursed him, spat

Scout and her family were also outsiders. They were made outsiders by the neighbourhood because her father Atticus was Tom Robinson’s Lawyer.

Tom Robinson’s role in this book shows a lot of prejudice. He is a black man convicted of raping a white women. This book is set in the 1930s, during this time period the Jim Crow Laws were still in place and racism was big. ‘You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?’ Mr. Gilmer seemed ready to rise to the ceiling” (Lee, pg 197). Tom Robinson is talking about how he felt sorry for Miss Mayella, who is white. Mr Gilmer gets very upset stating that a nigger should not feel sorry for a white woman. "There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads -- they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the fact of life.” (Lee, pg.220) Atticus is talking to the kids about how Tom Robinson will get the death sentence because of the color of his skin and how the jury looks at him. He talks about there is no court in Alabama that would’ve gave him something less. Basically it was Tom against a town full of white folks. Tom is a big symbol of prejudice in the book.

“Everybody tries to be exactly the same. I think being an outsider is a good thing”- Ethan Embry. What this quote is saying is it’s ok to be an outsider because everyone tries to act the same so standing out isn’t a bad thing.Being an outsider can seem as an negative thing to everyone else but in To kill a mockingbird the author Harper Lee shows that it doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. Being an outsider is not a bad thing and the characters from the story prove that. Scout was an outsider in the story but it in a way helped her grow as a person. Arthur Radley was also an outsider which kept him from the negativity happening in Maycomb. Even Atticus was seen as an outsider because of who was defending. Anyone can be an outsider and that’s okay.

He was a black man, who dared to feel pity for a white woman, and for it he ends up dead. (Lee 264)Harper Lee Contrasts Tom Robinson with the final mockingbird, Arthur Radley, more commonly known as Boo Radley. If a Mockingbird should not be shot because all it does is sing, then Boo Radley is the ultimate mockingbird. He stays away from society and allows them to whisper about him, but when he is needed, first giving Scout a blanket, then giving Jem and Scout things like gum and coins, and finally by saving their lives, he acts as the ultimate mockingbird. It is when Atticus is talking to Scout about the decisions of the sheriff that Harper Lee makes the way that mockingbirds are treated in society clear, “Atticus looked like he needed cheering up. I ran to him and hugged him and kissed him with all my might. “Yes sir, I understand,” I reassured him. “Mr. Tate was right.” Atticus disengaged himself and looked at me. “What do you mean?” “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin‘ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”” (Lee 370) This is one of the aspects of this book that makes it so well written, the ending is very full circle, in the first half Scout learn about mockingbirds, and at the very end she is able to fully understand it. However, the racial status of that time is also something Scout comes to fully understand, Harper Lee even emphasises this racial separation with the mockingbirds, Tom Robinson, a

Undoubtedly, Tom Robinson was one of the most important characters in the novel since he was an innocent man found guilty of raping a white woman. Tom was a victim of prejudice because he was unjustly convicted of a crime he did not commit based solely on the fact that he was a black man. He did not receive a fair chance of winning the case since the outcome was in favour of the woman that charged him with rape, Mayella Ewell. His defence attorney, Atticus Finch, was aware of this and so he exposed the state of mind many people in Maycomb have about black people to the jury: "The evil assumption that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates

After being accused of raping Mayella Ewell, Tom Robinson is put in prison and was moved to the Maycomb County jail. Where he has an encounter with an angry mob which is quickly stopped by Atticus. Even though the men confronting Atticus at the jail only saying,“You know what we want,” and “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch” (Lee 172). It is clear mob is there to kill Tom because they believe he must be guilty and do not want to wait for fair trial. Metaphorically, Tom has never been free in Maycomb, due to the belief that whites are superior to African-Americans, as he can never attend the same schools or have the same jobs as white people. The cycle of racism is impossible to escape because the government believes and condones racism, which leads racism to affect every aspect of the community. An example shown in the society metaphorically seeing them as a minority and less of them has to do with the building where the jail is created. It was originally built to impress white people and meet a white person’s idea of the law it was described as a:“fantasy was heightened by its red brick facade and the thick steel bars at its ecclesiastical windows. It stood on no lonely hill”(170). The aspect of the church soon changes from being called a “good respectable look” to being seen as a horrendous building used to discriminate against African-Americans. From the changing of meanings by just race, it proves that not only Tom but the whole general population of African Americans are in a metaphorical prison as they are not treated by anyone in the community and are seen as a

Firstly, Tom Robinson is just one character that is prejudged in the novel. He is accused of raping a white girl named Mayella and it is a problem to the jury that a black man is trying to defend himself in court. Atticus realizes how Tom is being treated unfairly and that it is uncommon for African Americans and white people to associate with each other. During Atticus’s speech, Mayella is accused of lying in her testimony when “she kissed a black man [which is] something that in our society is unspeakable” (Lee 272). The black man who Atticus refers to is Tom. He is ridiculed and judged by several people in the book and he gets all this

This shows how the society back then killed tom just because they could not stand seeing a free black man. Even with tom Robinsons wife Helen, she was left to fend for herself when tom was murdered. The main problem with the American culture at the time was racial segregation, and people not being able to get along. Even in the court house Tom was being treated unfairly. “In our courts when it’s a white man word against a black mans the white man always wins.”(Lee. 295)

Even though Tom was innocent, he was announced guilty by the court because of his race, and ended up giving up hope. “Good-bye, Mr. Finch, there ain’t nothin’ you can do now so there ain’t no use tryin’” (314). This shows that Tom Robinson became absolutely hopeless, because even though he could appeal in a higher court, he knew he couldn’t win. Knowing the fact that he was captivated by whites, he thought that there was no point living. He decided to die because “[Tom] was tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own” (315).

Throughout the story, Tom Robinson is continually faced with the issue of inequality due to racism. During the trial, Mr. Ewell declares, “---I seen that black nigger yonder, ruttin’ on my Mayella!” (Lee 196). This demonstrates how people talk to blacks, they speak to them like they have no worth, almost like they are animals. In this example, Mr. Ewell seems to be assuming the worst, just like the rest of the court, mainly because Tom is black. Tom and Atticus have all the evidence that he is innocent, but it is all overlooked because of racism. This led to Tom dealing with the consequences of something he did not do, which eventually led to his death due to trying to escape prison. His death was really due to trying to escape the racism that Tom could no longer put up with. Tom

is written in the 1950's but is set in 1933-1935. At the time it was