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What is an example of an inference in To Kill A Mockingbird?
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An example of inference in To Kill a Mockingbird occurs when Scout hears laughter from the Radley house, suggesting someone—likely Arthur Radley—is watching the children and finds their antics amusing. Another inference involves Tom Robinson's trial; despite clear evidence of his innocence, the jury's guilty verdict can be anticipated due to the racial prejudices highlighted by Dolphus Raymond's comments to Scout and Dill about Maycomb's discriminatory attitudes.
There are many places in To Kill a Mockingbird where the author gives us enough information to draw a conclusion, or infer, something from the text that is not explicitly stated. One example is at the end of Chapter 4. The children have been playing a game that purports to imitate the life of the Radley family as the children understand it. Scout is not keen on the game to begin with, and at the end of the chapter, she gives us two reasons why she wants to quit playing. The first is that Atticus catches them at it, telling them they their game had better not have anything to do with the Radley family. The other reason is that the day Scout ended up rolling into the Radley’s yard inside an old tire, she heard something coming from inside the house. “Someone inside the house was laughing.” (page...
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45) We might infer from this statement that someone inside the house is watching them on a regular basis and found Scout’s predicament funny. Based on what else we know about who lives in the house, we might even infer that it is Arthur Radley who is laughing. Both of these inferences can be supported from the text, especially when we come to understand later in the story that Arthur is leaving gifts for the children in a tree’s knothole.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. HarperPerennial, 2002.
Inference: Tom Robinson will be found guilty because the racist jury members convict him simply because he is black.
In Chapter 19, Scout and Dill have a conversation with Dolphus Raymond. Dolphus tells them why he feigns alcoholism and explains that black people are treated unfairly every day in Maycomb. He tells them that they are children and the community's prejudice against black people hasn't "sunk in." He makes the comment,
"You haven't even seen this town, but all you gotta do is step back inside the courthouse." (Lee 269)
After returning to the courthouse and listening to Atticus' closing remarks, the jury votes Tom Robinson "guilty" of raping and assaulting Mayella Ewell. Despite the lack of evidence and conflicting testimonies from the Ewells the jury convicts Tom Robinson solely because he is black.
In Chapter 19, it is implied that Scout and Dill will witness the true prejudice of Maycomb's community when they return to the courtroom. The jury's ruling in Tom's case was exactly the prejudice Dolphus Raymond was talking about when he told them they would "see" the town for what it was.