TKM lyrics assingment
When I heard this song I could think of nothing but Boo Radley. I chose the song “Shadow People” by Tom Petty because of how much it relates to Boo Radley and invisibility. This song talks about people living in the shadows, away from all human civilization and people wondering what they think about, and all of these things happen in To Kill a Mockingbird with Boo Radley, Jem, and Scout. In essence, Boo Radley and the Radley family are shadow people.
The very first line of the song starts with a question asking what do shadow people do and what they think about. Jem, Scout, and Dill want an answer to that same question with Boo and why he doesn’t come out of his house. The kids’ first approach is to write a letter to him,asking to come out of the house. “We’re asking him real nice to come out of the house… and we will buy him an ice cream.” The kids are curious about Boo and want to know “what’s in their head...could be thinking of love” while inside that big empty house. Though he may be “scary as h**l”, he remains in the shadows of his house until Scout and Jem really need him. Though you immediately think of Boo Radley for this song, it is not the only thing that can come from it.
Shadow people can also be referred to all of the Radley family. The Radley’s are the faultiest people in regards of being very vague when they speak, having the most well-known psychopath in their family and so on. Nathan Radley is “the meanest man god blew breath into”, he is stern, intimidating and, on some levels, very frightening. Boo Radley, is the person in Maycomb County that sends a chill down people’s spine when they hear his name. At the same time, no one even knows what happened to Boo’s mother, she never comes up in the entire book. The Radleys are the shadow people living in their shadow land house.
This song can also relate to how neutral the Finches are when it comes to racism and segregation. The Finches “ain’t on the left and ain’t on the right” in terms of treating white people better than blacks. There is no coincidence that Atticus was given the case with Tom Robinson, the judge knows that he is the only lawyer who is honorable enough to cheat out a black man because of his skin. “if I didn’t, I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again." All Atticus is doing is “waiting for the sun to be straight over head, ‘til we ain’t got no shadow at all” and the town is not riddled with the disease of Racism.
Living in the shadows is just as menacing as it sounds. You never know what they are thinking. They could be thinking of “Great art, eloquent words, love, and hate” or something worse. As of now we are all just waiting for the sun to be straight overhead until we don’t have any shadows at all.
Though I first had a rocky start, I liked doing the TKM lyrics assignment. I really love music and I liked reading the book TKM, and it was nice blending them two together.