Imagine yourself going on trial for your life for sexual assault when you’re not guilty and there is no chance that the jury will take your side. Sounds scary right? Well in the book To Kill a Mockingbird this really happened. Southern Gothic literature has often commented on society’s negatives or weaknesses; it is often disturbing but realistic (Southern Gothic Literature, Jackson, pg. 1). Harper Lee brings us the book To Kill a Mockingbird. This book is from the point of view of a girl named Scout Finch. She tells us about a man who will get wrongfully accused with sexual assault.The black man named Tom Robinson, has to go to court and it’s his word against a white man’s. Harper Lee utilizes the Gothic archetypes of the hero, monster, and the innocents to portray Maycomb’s crisis of conscience during the trial. First and foremost the hero represents morality and reason. In this story our main hero goes by the name of Atticus Finch. Two men are talking about how Atticus didn’t take up the job of defending Tom Robinson. They’re both upset …show more content…
Atticus represents the hero because he always believes in fighting even when there’s no chance of winning, Bob is the monster because he is willing to hurt everyone around him, both physically and mentally, and Tom is the innocence because he was destroyed by the trial and everything that Bob did to him. In the world, there are always people who are willing to fight until the end for a cause that they believe in. There is always someone who will hurt anyone who gets in their way and they feel no guilt whatsoever. There is always someone innocent that get in the crossfires of the monsters. They will get hurt in unbelievable ways. To Kill a Mockingbird shows Southern Gothic Literature in different archetypes that include hero, monster, and the