To Kill a Mockingbird Quote Essay
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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 Leeâs 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 heâs family and she wouldnât necessarily like to see him in prison. Bob Ewell didnât 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. Heâd 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 itâs tougher for them to do much about it. People like Mayella, Dill, and Boo, who have been abused in their own home canât 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 itâs not just him who is abused and heâs 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 âwas not seen for another fifteen yearsâ (11). Miss Stephanie Crawford reckons that if Boo wasnât taken back, he would have âdied of mold from the dampâ (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 âthe only difference between him and his father was their agesâ (15). That was when his mother started to be abused, and Arthur couldnât leave if he wanted his mother to stay alive much longer. Even if he wanted to leave, he wouldâve had to deal with never seeing his family again, and Dill would think Boo hasnât left because he may not âhave anywhere to run off toâ (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 wouldâve shot the kids if he had better aim, but Scout tripped asâthe roar of a shotgun shattered the neighborhoodâ (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 âplug âem with cement when theyâre sick,â but it was actually because he didnât 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, thereâs 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 mightâve taken him back, and had âridden the train by himselfâ (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 Finchâs, he âate, and ate, and ateâ (189). I think he was still slightly nervous about the thought of seeing Aunt Rachel when he begs, âdonât tell Aunt Rachel, donât make me go backâ (188). If Aunt Rachel had seen Dill, he likely wouldâve been sent home to be abused more, but he wouldâve ârun off again,â if his family didnât stop him (188). He was lucky to have had somewhere to go away from home, seeing as how he likely didnât care for anyone in his family too much. However, I think eventually he wouldâve missed his friends and family, and wouldâve seriously considered giving them another