Who Killed Bob Ewell: the Mockingbird Symbolism and the Struggle for Justice

The symbolism of the Mockingbird: A Study of Characters in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird

Mockingbird is a peaceful little bird who doesn’t do anything, just simply fly around and make some music. In the words of Miss Maudie, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs; they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird” (Lee,103).

Many characters in the book To Kill a Mockingbird symbolize this peaceful little bird. These characters include…, and they convey the motifs of.

The Mockingbird Trapped in Prejudice: Who is Tom Robinson?

Tom Robinson was a hardworking father, loving husband, and conflict-free citizen of Maycomb County. Even though Tom Robinson is treated poorly in his community because he is a man of color, he never has the intention to disrespect anybody or make any trouble. He simply goes to work every single day to provide for his family and goes straight home to his loving wife and three children. Just like a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson has never intentionally caused any harm to anyone. In the words of Mr. Link Dean, “I just want the whole lot of you to know one thing right now. That boy’s worked for me eight years, and I ain’t had a speck trouble outa him. Not a speck” (Lee, 222).

Tom Robinson is accused of raping a 19-year-old girl by the name of Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson casually bumps into her on his way to work, respectfully says hello, and continues his way to work. Mayella begins asking Tom for help around her house, in fear of what would happen if he denied Tom says yes. Mayellas father, Bob Ewell, became aware of the interactions between Tom Robinson and his daughter and automatically assumed the worst and blew up with anger. As a consequence, Tom, Bob Ewell, made Mayella make up a lie which has that Tom raped her. Tom Robinson is an innocent man struggling to prove his innocence to the jury. He has one of the best lawyers in town, Mr. Atticus Finch, and is still not being taken seriously just because of the fact that he is a man of color. Tom Robinson is proven guilty of raping Mayella Ewell and is taken to a correction facility, where he tries to escape and gets shot and killed.

Atticus Finch: The Mockingbird Defending Justice

Atticus Finch is a well-known and well-respected man in his community; he is known to be one of the best lawyers in maycomb county. His whole character symbolizes a mockingbird based on the way he raises his children and how he acts in certain situations. Atticus is assigned to defend Tom Robinson; once the community gets word of this, they begin to have a lot of negative comments about Atticus. Atticus tells Jem and Scout that he has a reason for taking on this case. He says, “If I didn’t, I couldn’t hold my head up in this town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (Lee, 86).

Atticus follows this by saying, “Every lawyer has a case that affected him personally. This one’s mine, I guess. You might hear some ugly talk about it at school but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t let them get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change… it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning” (Lee, 86-87). This shows that even though Atticus has friends and family turning against them based on the fact that he is defending Tom Robinson, he’s still willing to stick with what he believes is right and tells his children to try not to show that the community’s negative comments have an effect on them.

The Stifled Song: Who is Mayella Ewell?

The last character, if felt, symbolizes a mockingbird, is Mayella Ewell. Mayella lives behind the town garbage dumb with her alcoholic dad and seven siblings. The Maycomb community looks at the Ewell family as “white trash”; therefore, Mayella doesn’t really have anybody to interact with outside of her family. Whenever Tom Robinson would pass by, she would see it as an opportunity to interact with someone from the outside world. Soon enough, after having tons of small interactions with Tom, Mayella grew feelings for him. When she saw Tom walking home from work, she asked him to help her move something inside her house; she saw her opportunity to make a move on Tom and went for it. At that moment, her father arrived and caught a glimpse of what was going on.

The book reveals that Mayella “never kissed a grown man before” (Lee, 221); she was just a young girl who had a crush on a man and wasn’t able to express it with the people around her because she fancied a black man who was unacceptable in her family. Mayella symbolizes a mockingbird because the whole meaning of the title, To Kill a Mockingbird, is to kill the innocent, and on this day, Mayella loses all her innocence. She was beaten by her father and was forced to make a lie against the only person she felt treated like an actual human being.

The Unanswered Question: Who Killed Bob Ewell?

While the novel explores the symbol of the mockingbird through these characters, the question of ‘Who killed Bob Ewell?’ remains a crucial plot point. This query represents the mystery and the unraveling of truths and lies, underscoring the book’s exploration of innocence, prejudice, and justice.

References:

1. Lee, H. (1960). To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott.

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