To Kill a Mockingbird Forum

in the last chapters of this FABULOUS book, Heck Tate decides not to reveal that boo killed mr ewell. do you guys think that this was ok or not. personally, i agree with what he did because boo saved scout and jems lives. its not fair to him to put him at the center of attention when he was protecting the two people who ment the most to him

i am totally happy and satisfied with heck tate's decision.
lee'S decision to let boo go scot free was simply fabulous.
ewell truly deserved to die for the ultimate coward he was!
althougH this shows the prejudice blacks face.. the book results in
the subsequent "baby step" of good over evil. lee is wise in not
creating a situation such that a happily ever after situation occurs.
instead the mockingbird and the true villain and coward dies.
to kill a mockingbird is just YUMMY!!!!!!!

Moral or not . . . this is THE big question in the novel.  I always begin class discussion about the end of the novel by asking two questions:
1. Bob Ewell's death was... a) accident    b)suicide       c)homicide
Once the students understand that he was murdered, then I go on:
2. True or false: Justice was served in the death of Bob Ewell.
This incites a rousing discussion of the morality of Heck Tate's decision.  Whole essays could be written about this.

I think Harper Lee intends to see this as a moral decision.  Scout recognizes Tate's action as an attempt to avoid shooting a mockingbird.  For everybody's benefit, the truth is kept quiet.  This is in contrast to Atticus's insistence on telling the whole truth, but we understand Tate's motivation.

uhhh...I think there is quite a serious misconception here.
Firstly, we cant go on killing people even though they've done wrong. The law is suppose to deal with this. Ewell deserved to die but we would be wrong to murder him as well. Try doing what Boo did and telling the court you did it for the good of others, you will still be convicted

The point should be that Boo did it to save the children, it was almost necessary.

There is no clear cut right or wrong thing. Like what Coco says, Heck Tate's decision is understandable. Maycomb is a small town which has a small town mentality, which can thus bend the laws sometimes but i think in our society, its not wise to inflict harm on others because they've done great wrong

cheers, I agree that we canot go around taking justice into our own hands.  This was not a murder, though--it was in defense of the children, so Arthur would not be convicted of any wrongdoing.  If he were taken to trial, he would be in the limelight in a way that Heck Tate recognizes would be agonizing for him, so he just says, "Let the dead bury the dead."