Character Comparison in ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’
Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are contrasting characters in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is a play authored by Harper Lee and published in 1960. The play novel employs a unique way of using humor despite addressing serious issues like rape and racial inequality. Racial injustice and destruction of innocence are among the primary themes discussed in the novel. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are connected because the contrasting features between them revolve about the same societal vices.
Tom Robinson and Boo Radley seem to have similar views concerning racial injustices and face similar fates due to their stands. The first similarity is that both Tom and Boo have faced court trials. Boo Radley faces trial at his teenage age. The combination of trial and the rumors going around about Boo made the Finch children mistake him for a horrible person. Tom Robinson faces trial due to charges of rape of a white woman. The fact that Tom is not white leads him to suffer racial injustice. The second similarity is that both Tom and Boo do not despise people depending on ethnic origin. Tom Robinson decides to help the white lady with house chores. Tom’s pity towards the lady makes him fall into the trap of rape charges. Boo Radley, on the other hand, kills Bob Ewell to protect the lives of the Finch children.
However, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley have their differences as well. One of the differences between the two characters is that Tom suffers directly from the effects of direct racial injustice while Boo is only seeing the impacts on other people. The racist jury sentences Tom to jail just because he was black. According to (McNulty, 2018), Tom was innocent but suffered because of his race. Boo is not directly affected by racial injustice. Boo’s respect for human forces him to kill Ewell to protect the Finch children. Second, Tom and Boo come from different races. Tom is an African-American. Boo is white.
Although Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are two different characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, they are both mockingbirds because they suffer for standing against the racial injustice by the whites. Through the character’s lives and actions, readers can learn about the consequences of racial prejudices and respect for humanity. Both characters are important because they represent both sides of racial injustice.