Many readers see To Kill a Mockingbird as having two parts, one centering on Boo Radley and the other on the trial of Tom Robinson. How were the two stories brought together at the end of the novel? How are these characters different? How are they similar?
In context, Boo and Tom are similar in that they are both mockingbirds..... people who do nothing but give pleasure to other people. Boo is ostracized because of gossip and innuendo; Tom dies because he is a black man in a white world. Boo gives up and stays in his home; Tom gives up and gives up his life. In the end, the two characters are different in that where Sheriff, Atticus, Mr. Deas, and Mr. Underwood do their best to help Tom, they are unable to accomplish their mission. With Boo, however, Sheriff Tate is able to let Boo, who did the right thing, walk home..... because it was the right thing.
To Kill a Mockingbird
