Alienation, a feeling that is experienced commonly, stems from society's intolerance of individual differences in regards to race, gender, class, circumstances, or ideology. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee utilizes the alienation of certain characters to portray the assumptions and moral values of society. This is accomplished through the alienation of Arthur "Boo" Radley, Tom Robinson, and Atticus Finch, who all play a key role in this novel.
             Arthur "Boo" Radley's alienation leads to countless wild myths and gossip, which is a result of society's ignorance. Scout and Jem strongly believe that within the Radley's house "lived a malevolent phantom... but Jem and I [Scout] had never seen him" (8-9). Jem and Scout are one of the numerous people in society who do not know much about Boo Radley, and yet they still assume that Boo is a malevolent phantom. In general, society values gossip and myths because they either gain pleasure from it or a sense of excitement, even though their assumptions may be completely incorrect. The alienation of Boo can also be traced back many years in an incident that shows how behavior is valued. When Jem and Miss Stephanie Crawford converse about Boo Radley, she claims that "Boo drove the scissors into his parent's leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities" (11). This incident becomes quite a controversy because according to Boo's behavior, he appears to be mentally unstable and a possible threat to society. This occurrence illustrates the fact that society values good behavior, and that behavior is what distinguishes a crazy person from a mentally stable one. Thus, society quickly assumes that he must still have problems that need to be dealt with, which they believe explains why he avoids public life. Unlike the alienation of Boo Radley's, Tom Robinson's segregation...