To Kill a Mockingbird Quote Essay

Nick Carey

Mr. Deagle

English II

April 14, 2016

What Should I Do?

Child abuse was a real problem in America until around the decade Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird, was released in 1961. It was considered an uncommon sight at the time, but it actually affected millions of people, and this novel helped notify us of that problem. Boo is a strong man, having to deal with his mother being abused and the disease he has to take care of every night. He stays because he cares for his family and his mother may have died immediately if he left. Mayella, although clearly beaten by Bob Ewell, decided to protect him, possibly due to the fact that he’s family and she wouldn’t necessarily like to see him in prison. Bob Ewell didn’t have many redeemable qualities, and Mayella knows that Tom is innocent, so why protect Bob Ewell? Dill is no exception when he decided to leave his home and run all the way to Maycomb. He’d rather deal with the outside world than in his home and run all the way to Maycomb, and he also may think his family would be better off without him there. The ones beaten at home have it worse because abuse is bad but leaving might be worse, and it’s tougher for them to do much about it. People like Mayella, Dill, and Boo, who have been abused in their own home can’t fix everything, even when it stops or the choice to leave is made.

Boo would have the hardest time leaving because he cares for his family, but it’s not just him who is abused and he’s had to deal with it every day, even after it stops occurring. Boo was abused by his father, as he was put in a small underground part of a house to live and “was not seen for another fifteen years” (11). Miss Stephanie Crawford reckons that if Boo wasn’t taken back, he would have “died of mold from the damp” (14). Unfortunately, death was right around the corner due to the tuberculosis and fear of people that he had developed while down there. Even when he was taken out of there, Boo still had to deal with his brother, Nathan, and “the only difference between him and his father was their ages” (15). That was when his mother started to be abused, and Arthur couldn’t leave if he wanted his mother to stay alive much longer. Even if he wanted to leave, he would’ve had to deal with never seeing his family again, and Dill would think Boo hasn’t left because he may not “have anywhere to run off to” (192). Boo has to stop Nathan from doing certain things in the same ways that he had to stop his father from doing bad things. He would’ve shot the kids if he had better aim, but Scout tripped as”the roar of a shotgun shattered the neighborhood” (71). Nathan also cemented the holes in the tree that Boo put gum and Indian pennies in. He claimed that the tree was dying, and that you “plug ‘em with cement when they’re sick,” but it was actually because he didn’t want the kids, whom Boo cared for, to have any sort of connection to him (83). Overall, I believe that Boo fought through the abuse of himself and of his mother because he loves his family and, in his case especially, there’s no place like home.

Dill is the only one who had somewhere else to run to, but he still needs to be able to live without seeing his family. Dill was abused so much in his home that he ran away over 300 miles to Maycomb. He hid from anyone that might’ve taken him back, and had “ridden the train by himself” (47). When he had gotten to Maycomb, he was dirty, hungry, and clearly was not in the mood to see his family. Maybe he was starved back home or maybe the travel took all the energy out of him, but when he arrived at the Finch’s, he “ate, and ate, and ate” (189). I think he was still slightly nervous about the thought of seeing Aunt Rachel when he begs, “don’t tell Aunt Rachel, don’t make me go back” (188). If Aunt Rachel had seen Dill, he likely would’ve been sent home to be abused more, but he would’ve “run off again,” if his family didn’t stop him (188). He was lucky to have had somewhere to go away from home, seeing as how he likely didn’t care for anyone in his family too much. However, I think eventually he would’ve missed his friends and family, and would’ve seriously considered giving them another