Courageto Kill A Mockingbird Essay Example

the town drunk.

But, really, even though it was a small act of kindness, it was an act of kindness nonetheless, which showed that the “town drunk” was actually a nice man who knewthe townspeople would never understand him or look beyond his appearance. Dolphus Raymond is the first person I think of when I associate To Kill a Mockingbird with looking beyond appearance, but you can't forget an important character that is the reason for the conflict in this novel: Tom Robinson. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. ” (To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 18 pg. 248)

Now, Tom Robinson isn't really seen rather than imagined up until he is described in court. With the “nigger lover” insults being thrown at Atticus over and over again, it's not hard to imagine what Scout was thinking this Tom Robinson who was ruining her father's name looked like. The typical thing to think is a “dirty negro. ” As in a mischievous looking, ugly, despicable, beady eyed black man.

Just because he is black and going to court for something, that was what was thought of Tom Robinson before and maybe even still during the trial. The guy was crippled though! By the time he stood up to defend his life, it is pretty obvious Tom Robinson couldn't hurt a fly. Yet, even if the townspeople realized he wasn't what they had imagined, the repeating “Guilty”s were still muttered. This only happened because of the color of his skin. Just because Tom Robinson was black, he was guilty of a crime he obviously did not commit.

The evidence ALL

pointed to Mr. Bob Ewell, yet Tom Robinson was still found guilty. There was no explanation for it other than the shade of his skin. If the jury could have just looked past his skin color, then maybe Tom Robinson would have been a free man, and this novel would've been different. But, their stereotypes for blacks stuck with them, and they sent an innocent man to his death. I can't even begin to imagine cases like Tom's in real life just because of race. There are so many ways to say it, but to make it simple, looking beyond appearance stops evil like stereotyping and racism.

Unfortunately, not many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are capable of this. It led to lies, crying, and an innocent man's death. In the end, if the people of Maycomb could have just looked past Tom Robinson's skin, maybe this story would have had a much happier ending, and maybe we as humans could imagine that nobody judges others by appearances. Unfortunately, this is not true, but novels are this are helping the cause. There's beauty in everything, but sometimes people just can't see it.