Theme Of Good And Evil In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Good Versus Evil: To Kill A Mockingbird Where there is good there is evil and where there is evil there is good. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, demonstrates the prejudice many faced during that time, and is shown through the eyes of a young girl named Scout. Scout learns through her experiences many life lessons that cause her to mature very quickly. One of the many themes played out in To Kill A Mockingbird is good versus evil. Good versus evil mainly plays out the fact that good and evil live side by side and is shown through the actions of friends or family, the corruption of good men, and from unlikely people. Scout and Atticus are having talk after people had been rude to Atticus because he is defending an African-American …show more content…

He thought that the attorneys had picked the most level headed men. Atticus’ response to the statement is, “Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, Tom’s jury, but you something come between them and reason”(Lee 295;chapter 23). The thing that came between the men’s reason (the good) was prejudice (the evil). Soon Atticus had also stated that when the jury had to faced the decision of believing a white man versus a black man, the white man would always win (Lee 295;chapter 23). In this case evil has corrupted a man’s reason when faced with a very important decision and is an example of how vulnerable one’s blind spots are. This especially can be seen in the case of Mr. Cunningham, Walter Cunningham's dad. The novel firsts introduces Mr. Cunningham as a good man, true to his word, and loyal. However, the second time the novel depicts him he is leading a mob to hurt Tom Robinson and anybody in their way: this means Atticus. Scout was luckily able to stop them but was confused the next morning. Atticus took the liberty of explaining to her that, “Mr. Cunningham’s basically a good man, he just has his blind spots along with the rest of us”(Lee 210;chapter 16). This statement further proves that somethings good people get misguided (corrupted) and do the wrong things. Like all people not everyone is perfect and not everyone who is thought to be bad is …show more content…

After being caught, he was forced to stay in his home his entire life. This lead to people to create rumors about him being crazy, scary, and just all out mean; essentially, evil. However, as the novel unfolds it shows us many things that Boo does that is out of character from what people depict of him. This can especially be shown when Boo gives Scout a blanket when she was freezing, while watch Ms. Maudie’s house burned down (Lee 96;chapter 8). For Boo this is really out of character because according to the people of Maycomb he kills on sight. This act of generosity further proves that good can be found in the worst places. Ever since Boo was young and got in trouble he never got the chance to redeem himself. However, he is trying very hard to prove himself a good person to Jem and Scout. One major act that Boo commits it when he risks his life to save Jem and Scout’s life from Bob Ewell. While the novel does not directly say this it is highly inferred. In the beginning Boo is depicted as a bad person, but by the end of the novel he proves all of the rumors wrong. Its turns out that he was just misguided. Despite him being seen as bad he wasn’t. This supports the thought that not everything we think is bad is truly bad and that if you look close enough you can find the good in

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