Alienation in Harper Lee’s Novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”

Harper Lee creates characters that contribute to the novels appeal to audiences of all ages. In To Kill a Mockingbird we learn lessons about life from both children and adults. There are three characters that are looked down on by society around them, one because of race and two because of their morals. Society disregarded these people simply because they were afraid that they could be like them and the unknown. Lee uses violence and alienation to help depict the things that are wrong within the small society. Alienation, a feeling that is experienced commonly, stems from society’s intolerance of individual differences in regards to race, gender, class, circumstances, or ideology. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee utilizes the alienation of certain characters to portray the assumptions and moral values of society. This is accomplished through the alienation of Arthur “Boo” Radley, Tom Robinson, and Atticus Finch, who all play a key role in this novel.

Mr. Dolphus Raymond, a man who pretended to be the town drunk so that he could be with the woman that he loved. Mr. Raymond is a white man that happened to fall in love with a black woman. Tom, a black man, is believed guilty because Bob Ewell, a white man, accuses him of raping his daughter; and in 1930s Maycomb, the word of a white man always takes precedent over that of a black man, around Maycomb County with a coke bottle in a paper bag and just drink from that every day. “When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey that’s why he won’t change his ways. He can’t help himself, that’s why he lives the way he lives the way he does” He came from a rich white family that likely had slaves in the past and knew that if he was not acting like a drunk that society would shun him for being with an African American woman and having interracial children with her. However, he figured that if he acted as the town drunk no one would shun him because he would not know any better. Mr. Raymond showed that it was okay to do what was different from what was assumed to be normal.

Arthur “Boo” Radley’s alienation leads to countless wild myths and gossip, which is a result of society’s ignorance. Scout and Jem strongly believe that within the Radley’s house “lived a malevolent phantom… but Jem and I [Scout] had never seen him”. Jem and Scout are one of the numerous people in society who do not know much about Boo Radley, and yet they still assume that Boo is a malevolent phantom. In general, society values gossip and myths because they either gain pleasure from it or a sense of excitement, even though their assumptions may be completely incorrect. The alienation of Boo can also be traced back many years in an incident that shows how behavior is valued. When Jem and Miss Stephanie Crawford converse about Boo Radley, she claims that “Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities”. This incident becomes quite a controversy because according to Boo’s behavior, he appears to be mentally unstable and a possible threat to society. This occurrence illustrates the fact that society values good behavior, and that behavior is what distinguishes a crazy person from a mentally stable one. Thus, society quickly assumes that he must still have problems that need to be dealt with, which they believe explains why he avoids public life.

Tom Robinson is alienated to some extent, he is alienated from the white community, simply due to his race – thus he lives in the slum-area of the town, and he works on plantations rather than getting educated. He is also alienated from the black society in some ways, for his injury has disabled him, and consequentially he cannot be as full a part of the society as he used to be. However, this alienation is negligible; the black community care greatly for him (shown by their collection in the Church, in order to support his wife and children). Some members of the white community give him more rights than most black members of the society – he is kept on even after he injures his hand, and Atticus fights to give him a fair trial. Tom, a black man, is believed guilty because Bob Ewell, a white man, accuses him of raping his daughter; and in 1930s Maycomb, the word of a white man always takes control over that of a black man.