In addition to the themes of racism and loss of childhood innocence , the novel raises the theme of loneliness. We addressed Scout's comment that Mayella Ewell was even lonelier than Boo Radley who has not left his house in 25 years. Bobby elaborated on this observation and ,based on our class discussion ,placed this theme in his notebook ,and outlined how each character reaches out to combat his or her isolation. In Mayella's case, as Bobby noted, she has been abused by her father for years and has no concept of friendship . She reaches out to Tom, an African- American, for solace with fatal consequences for Tom. We also noted how Boo Radley reaches out to Scout and Jem in an effort to find some connection .