Natalia Cordoba

H English Per.8

Innocence

In Harper Lees To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee represents the themes of good and evil

through the interactions of how Atticus Finch triumphs ethically over the manipulative nature of

bob ewell in the attempt to restore justice to the Maycomb legal systems. Good is when someone

puts others before themselves for the right thing even if it doesn't benefit them in any way while

evil is when someone changes, manipulates or does things for his or her own benefits. Lee

represents good ethics through the actions of Atticus. He shows honesty and he follows good

moral standards by being truthful and fair. Bob Ewell shows how he is manipulative throughout

the story by influencing others to his own advantage. Atticus represents good because he stands

up for others as he did with Tom Robinson and is able to act on the right thing. However, Bob

Ewell represents evil because hes always trying to change things to his advantage even if it hurts

someone, hes uneducated, poor, and rude.

Throughout the story Atticus Finch represents an ethical man by being able to act on the

right thing while still trying to keep the peace in the small town of Maycomb. Even though

Atticus knew that he had a high chance at not winning the Tom Robinson case, he still moves

forward with it because he feels its the right thing to do and he believes in justice and equality.

Atticus knows that he will lose his defense of Tom Robinson. When Scout asked him why he

continued, Atticus answered: Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started
is no reason for us not to try to win. (Lee, p. Ch .) When Atticus said, we were licked a

hundred years before we started hes talking about racism in maycomb and because the man

that was accused of rape against a white woman is black its most likely because of the racism in

Maycomb that they won't win the case. He took the case knowing that people may criticize him

for standing up for a black man. When Atticus sat outside of Toms Jail cell to protect Tom he and

his family got threatened for it. This shows how Atticus is willing to stand up for others, he

believes that there is no reason why he shouldn't try to win because it is the right thing to do.

Atticus wouldnt be able to hold his head up if he didnt, he is setting a moral and good example

for his children and he doesn't want them to catch maycomb's disease of racial bias. Atticus

will try his hardest, knowing that even though they were licked a hundred years before they

started because of his sense of justice and ethics, he does what he believes is right even if it

doesn't benefit him in any way.

Bob Ewell is a racist, child-beating coward who is willing to manipulate the legal system

to satisfy his desire for revenge and to protect his reputation. Bob Ewell is manipulative by

turning to lying to cover up his tracks. Bob Ewell has no respect for the black people in

maycomb for he is willing to let Tom die to cover up a lie. He uses emotion and race to convince

the judge that Tom Robinson is guilty. "I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella!"

(Lee,p. Ch .) Bob said back nigger instead of calling him by his own name or anything more

appropriate to emphasize the fact that Tom's race is black. Ewell manipulates and threatens his

own daughter to lie with him about Tom or else she'd probably get beat again. Ewell even

dehumanizes Tom Robinson but not addressing him by his name or as a person and he uses

ruttin which is often used to describe an animal. Just because Tom Robinson is black he
convinced the court that Tom was guilty using the fact that Judge Taylor and the jury is and can

be racist to his own advantage.

Atticus shows how he is an ethical person by taking actions for what he believes is right

and he does that by defending Tom Robinson to the best of his ability knowing that in the end

they might not win. Bob Ewell is evil in this story because he is willing to let someone die for a

lie to cover up his own actions by being manipulative and using his own race against him. The

main theme is the mockingbird. A mockingbird is one of the things that can be represented as

good, they do no harm and all they do is sing and bring pleasure. The mockingbird in the story is

representing innocence through Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Tom robinson was a mocking

bird because he was only trying to help but then he gets killed after only being kind to Mayella

and because of the color of his skin. After the trial the two children Jem and Scout both are

introduced to evil and they have a strong belief of goodness of all people but they are faced with

true evil as Bob Ewell tries to kill them. But goodness still overcomes as Boo Radley comes and

saves them.