I read To Kill a Mockingbird for fun in eighth grade, so I never looked at it from an analytical perspective before, much less looking at the portrayal of disabilities. When I saw it on the book list for this course, I initially wondered why we were reading it in a course about disability in literature. My question was answered when, in the very first paragraph, Scout tells us of her brother Jem’s injury that left one arm slightly shorter than the other, and at an angle when he walked (Lee 3). Jem seems very accepting of his disability, and it might not even be argued to be a disability, as he can still play football like he wanted and it doesn’t seem to impair him much aside from looking slightly different. Nobody seems to treat him differently for having a slightly shorter or bent arm. Jem’s disability is, so far, the only positive portrayal of disability in the book. To Kill a Mockingbird portrays people with mental illness and disfigurement as dangerous and frightening.
The reader is also told that “Crazy Addie” mutilated people’s pets and chickens, but that Boo Radley was initially presumed to be the culprit (Lee 9). “Crazy Addie” reinforces the incorrect assumption that “mad” people are dangerous to others and should be regarded with terror. He eventually drowned himself, and seeing as suicide is usually associated with mental illness, only furthers the message that being mad makes someone bad (Lee, 9).
Despite Jem’s shorter arm being mentioned in the first paragraph and Crazy Addie, the main focus of disability in To Kill a Mockingbird is not on Jem, but on Boo Radley. Boo Radley almost never leaves his house, and the house is closed off to everyone. The entire family is regarded as strange, but especially Boo himself. Much like the creation in Frankenstein, Boo Radley is treated as a monster and regarded with wariness, fear and suspicion. He is treated as so monstrous that people refuse to go in his yard, and even after it was proven that “Crazy Addie” was the one mutilating animals, the old rumor that it was really Boo Radley still stuck in the townspeople’s minds.
Boo Radley reportedly stabbed his mother with scissors and then, showing no remorse, continued cutting pictures for a scrapbook (Lee, 12). This makes him appear to be a sociopath who does not show remorse for his actions, yet at the trial, it was argued that he was not crazy and should not be sent to an asylum (Lee 12). Nevertheless, the town continues to regard Boo Radley as a sort of monster similar to that of the creation in Frankenstein. He is described as hideous like a skeleton with bugging eyes that drools, and Jem spreads rumors that he sneaks out at night and eats animals (Lee 14). Thus, at least according to rumors, he is also disfigured as well as dangerous, which reinforces the negative view of the appearance of disfigured people being something to be feared.
Scout, Jem and Dill regard Boo Radley not only as a monster to be feared, but as a sort of “freak”, such as the ones people gaped at in circuses. Being both horrified and fascinated by his oddities, they continually try to sneak peeks at his life, as if he is not a person but an interesting exhibit to be viewed. This is a commonly dehumanizing portrayal of disabled people Jem and Scout’s father, Atticus, is so far person who most humanizes Boo Radley. He tells his children to mind their own business and let the Radley family mind theirs, though of course his children do not listen (Lee 11).
Word Count: 614
I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work. Clark Baranoski
