Evil Relation Of Experience And Maturation Essays -

Evil: Relation of Experience and Maturation "Our greatest evils flow from ourselves" (Tripp 192). This statement, by Rousseau, epitomizes many points of evil that are discussed in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. In our world today, we are stared in the face everyday with many facets of evil. These nefarious things come in several forms, including, but not limited to discrimination of sex, race, ethnicity, physical appearance, and popularity, alcoholism, drug abuse, irresponsibility, and even murder. The occurrences of evil and wrong-doing in To Kill A Mockingbird further along Scout's maturation into a young woman. Three of the most important instances of evil are those of racism, alcoholism, and gossip. Dispersed within To Kill A Mockingbird are numerous illustrations of racism. Statements such as "You father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for" (Lee 108) seem to be common through the entire novel. This seemed to bother people of the common day, and this drove many people to deem Lee's book "banned" from their school. If we look back to the times when the book was written, we can understand the use of the "N-word." During the Great Depression, and at many times during the early twentieth century, the "N-word" was used as commonly as many people today use the word "work." It seems as though people either didn't think, or didn't care, about how demeaning "nigger" was. Eventually, some African-Americans came to accept this word. They became so used to hearing it, they heeded it no attention. Atticus Finch, Scout's father, however, had a different way of thinking. Although Atticus was Caucasian, he realized that the "N-word" (as commonly referred to in the recent! trial of Orenthal James Simpson) was wrong to say. He instructed his children not to use that word either. This courtesy did not catch on. People continued to refer to African-Americans as "niggers" and called anyone who was kind to "niggers" a "nigger-lover." Scout realized this, and as she grew older, she came to realize how wrong the use of the "N-word" actually was. She assumed, as a child, that because everyone else used it, that it was perfectly fine for her to use. As she matured, she began to understand why this was a wrong term, and she learned how wrong it was to use that word. This was only one of the things Scout learned as she grew and matured. Jean Louise, Scout, was also subjected to more evil than racism. Robert Ewell, a violent alcoholic, attempted to murder Scout and Jem in a violent drunken rage. Mr. Ewell appeared in many places throughout the book, and it was his daughter, Mayella Ewell, that pressed false charges against Tom Robinson for the offense of rape and battery. Almost every time Bob is mentioned, he is either violent or severely drunken. He used the welfare checks that he received, not to purchase food for the family, but to buy booze for himself to consume. This, in itself, shows us the evil that drug dependency can inflict not only on one person, but all people that the alcoholic comes into contact with. If anything, Scout learned the dangers of not only the effect that alcohol can have on someone, but the effect that it can have on that person's family as well. Another evil present today, as well as in the 1930's, is one that we don't often think of, gossip. Many people are hurt or improperly represented by other's words and actions. Situations are often exaggerated to make a story more interesting or for a person to give people something to fill their boring lives with. Arthur (Boo) Radley was a victim of such evil. Scout's head was filled with gossip about Boo, who ironically, at the end of the novel, ends up saving her life. She is fed ideas that are illustrated in this series of dialogue between her and Miss Maudie: ". . . do you think Boo Radley is still alive?" "His name's Arthur and he's still alive." "Maybe he died and they stuffed him up in the chimney." "Where did you get such a notion?" "That's what Jem said he thought they did" (Lee 43). Arthur was misrepresented by people who didn't understand the situation that