Role of Gossip in "To Kill A Mockingbird"

In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, gossip has a way of affecting every character so far-some on higher degree levels than others. Within the first chapter the reader is painted a picture of how Boo Radley is being portrayed throughout the town as a bad, and disgusting monster of a human being. Most people have their own interpretations of who Boo Radley is, but we do not get to really know who Boo Radley is because he is “stuck” in his house and never comes out. Scout is involved in gossip when she is approached by schoolmates about who her dad is representing, an African American man. Scout is also spreading gossip by asking about Boo Radley to Miss Maudie and other neighbors about what he was really like and if he did those terrible things people say he did. Jem is included in the drama but not as much as his classmates are coming up to him asking him about his father’s work life. But Jem allows himself to gossip about the Radley household, especially when Dill, Scout and Jem decide to impersonate them on what they have heard about that family because none of them have experienced it firsthand. They base this game off of the gossip that has surrounded them explaining why Boo Radley is in “hiding” and why he is never seen by anyone in the county. Even though Atticus is not the one who is spreading or believing the gossip he has, his actions are spreading gossip about him. Atticus is going against the prejudice mindset of most people in all of Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus conducts his life with an open mind free of prejudice, rumors, and other people’s opinions. He is doing the right thing by teaching Jem and Scout to do the same as they learn and grow up.

Doubt is based off of the fact vs. theory. The nuns do not know what specifically happened “behind closed doors” between the priest and the young boy. Just like in “To Kill A Mockingbird” no one really knows what happens behind the closed doors of the Radley household. The nun in doubt is trying so hard to prove that the priest was doing something wrong and inappropriate when the young boy’s mother insists that he was just being nice and being the only friend the young boy had at this school.  Everyone in Maycomb County is trying to prove and portray not only Boo Radley but the rest of the Radley household as “animals” and wrongdoers because of many things they have heard about what goes on in their house, and just because they are different from the rest of Maycomb County. In Doubt when the feathers spread like the gossip is very good symbolism because you never know how far they are going to reach but you know how fast they can spread.

“To Kill A Mockingbird” would not have the same effect it does on people today if there was no gossip. Just like in Maycomb County in the 20^th century, today in the 21^st century, there is gossiping surrounding us and making us judge things we don’t know but only on what we have heard about or have based our opinions on. The gossip that is in “To Kill A Mockingbird” effects the plot, characters, and outcome of the story so far.