How Does Harper Lee Make the Reader Side with Tom in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

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How does Harper Lee Make the Reader Side with Tom? From the very beginning of “To Kill a Mocking Bird” Harper Lee makes the audience side with Tom in the novel. This isn’t just as to his innocents in the trial but also, his moral make up is seen as a superior version to that of Bob Ewell’s. Tom is mentioned for the first time relatively early in the book. He is simply described by Atticus as “a member of Calpurnia’s church”. These are the first words spoken of him and as they are positive, we immediately feel inclined to portray him ourselves in that light. As he is a “Church” goer we know from times back then that he was probably a good man, as good men went to Church. We know he also has a “family” and that they are “clean living folk”. This implies he is morally correct as well as justified and kind to his family, unlike Bob Ewell. As we know only these characteristics we immediately link him to the only other male character like this in the novel, Atticus. As Atticus is judged as a morally riotous and kind man we assume these qualities upon Tom. Bob Ewell is introduced later in the novel at the court case for the first time. His full name “Bob. Lee Ewell” is given before he speaks. “E. Lee” was a famous southern general in America’s civil war. The fact that he is named after him shows he was brought up in a family who agreed with the Southern ideologies. We immediately therefore before he speaks are prejudice against him. As he walks up to the stand he is described as a “little bantam cock”, this shows that he had a confident smugness to him as he strolls up to the stand. This makes the reader not only agitated at him due to his arrogance but also the fact that that he is smug about beating Atticus, who by now in the novel the reader is loyal to. The novel then goes on to describe him as a “red neck” and therefore a labourer who is not entirely civilised.

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