To Kill a Mocking Bird follows Scout through her narration of life and witnesses the events that society produces. As Scout's understanding of the prejudice society she lives in grows her innocence is destroyed in the process. In her novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee symbolically uses Mocking Birds to show the destruction of innocence. A way Harper Lee presented the Mockingbird's role in society, was by asserting in the novel that to destroy its innocence, would be a sin and should not be allowed. By people in the society this view was taken because unlike "blue jays" (119) Atticus says, "…it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird" (119). It is later explained by Miss Maudie the reason why it is a sin to kill a mocking bird was because of their only positive impacts within a society and how they "don't eat up peoples gardens...nest in corn cribs" (119) but instead play a positive role and "sing their hearts out"(119). This gives the reader the notion that the mocking bird plays an innocent role in society and therefore its innocence should not be destroyed. Although as shown in the book, this is not the case. The characters seen as Mockingbirds innocence is greatly affected by the views society has and do not always fit in to society’s norms. Another way the mockingbird was used symbolically for its innocence was when it was used to contrast the prejudice views of society to the uncorrupted interpretations of the mockingbird. Scout and Jem often received prejudice
There is a dominant motif in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, regarding the symbolic importance of the mockingbird and how it relates to some of her characters. In Harper Lee’s portrayed world as well as our present day world mockingbirds represent nothing but pure innocence, thus to kill a mockingbird would be to destroy innocence. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are all perfect examples representing a mockingbird; innocents who have been injured or destroyed through contact with
The prejudice seen in the fictional novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee corresponds with the real narrow-mindedness during this time period. A fair trial would be unlikely during this time period between a white and a black man. Tom Robinson was presumed guilty because of his race.
An instance where the mockingbird is mentioned in the novel is when Atticus tells his children that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird and they consult Miss Maudie about this and she replies with, “‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’” (94). This quote is significant because its meaning is that mockingbirds are generally harmless and shouldn’t be killed because they have done no harm to humans. The theme of the mockingbird can relate more to just the bird, as it can also relate to Tom Robinson because he has done no harm to humans, yet he is being put on trial and has a chance of being executed. It can also relate to Boo Radley because he was kind to Scout by placing the blanket on her, yet the people of Maycomb are frightened by him and spread nasty rumors about him. In brief, the theme of the mockingbird has a deeper meaning than it appears and is an important life lesson in the
“To better understand a person you have to climb up inside their skin and walk around in it.” The quote previously stated by Atticus in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is an unveiling of the upcoming forms of prejudice. The setting for the novel is a fictitious town called Maycomb. This town is situated in Alabama. The racial prejudice shown in the novel has a lot to do with the town being situated in the southern United States. The backwardness and narrow-mindedness of the community fueled racism in Maycomb. These negative qualities account for the social and religious prejudices in the novel. Maycomb people have very inward looking views and so these views are passed on
at all! If a woman wants to be on a jury and meets all the
Prejudice and discrimination is looked down upon, yet people still continue to be judgmental and have preconceived assumptions about others. It is a common thing that still happens in today’s society. To be particular, racial discrimination is one example of prejudice and is based solely on the color of one’s skin. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is a caring individual who tries his hardest to treat everyone he meets with appreciation and respect. However, he is African American, which influences him and the other characters' lives in different ways. All he wants to do is help out another character, Mayella, which inevitably costs him his life in the end. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the character of Tom Robinson to illustrate the fact that innocent people are sometimes victimized to a racist society.
Prejudices are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.
The metaphorical meaning to mockingbirds is that mockingbirds are innocent and defenseless. Therefore, to kill a mockingbird is like taking advantage of someone who is weaker than you, also indicating that mockingbirds are harmless and innocent, yet they are destroyed by forces of evil. The first incident in which Scout learns to not to harm the
Life is like a thrill ride; one never knows what will be in store for them. Many characters in the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee feel the same way about life, having experienced many surprising and unexpected turns of events. This story is about a sleepy southern town filled with prejudice, and a lawyer’s quest, along with his children Scout and Jem, to take steps in ridding the town of its prejudiced attitude. Despite being a white man, a lawyer named Atticus, defends an innocent black man accused of raping a white woman. However, everything does not go as was hoped, and the mindset of the society overpowered Atticus’s fair-minded argument. From this emerges a theme regarding the bigotry and bias overwhelming Maycomb: A
People all over the world, bowing down at your knees, praying to you day and night. These humans, they all look up to you but just seem like pesky little ants scurrying around and with the snap of your finger or the movement of your foot, they’re just a small stain on the ground. Wouldn’t it feel great to have the power of that magnitude? To be in charge of something that large? Well, the gods have control such as this just lying at their fingertips.
The Mockingbird has a very deep and powerful meaning in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. It represents peacefulness, innocence and kindness which is portrayed through the characters of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. The mockingbird's influence can also be applied to the relationships between humans. The Mockingbird is a powerful symbol that echoes a strong meaning throughout the novel.
In the first chapter of the Some of My Best Friends are Black, where they discuss the bus kid, what I found most interesting was the discussion of Brown v. Board of Education. I had forgotten that this took place in 1954 and was in Topeka. I did not know until reading this book that this was one of many Supreme Court cases that would be consolidated one case, from different states. I figured with this court case being one of the landmark decisions of the civil rights movement, I needed to find out more about it. I got online and found out they had made the Monroe school, the segregated elementary school Linda Brown attended, a national historic site. I went and visited this school because that is how much the Colby book moved me to find
The Fall of The House of Usher is Gothic Literature written by Edgar Allen Poe, a famous author that specializes in Gothic literature, in September 1839. The short story follows the perspective of a nameless narrator coming to visit his sick friend Rodrick Usher and his ill-willed sister Madeline, but fate had more in store than a simple visit. Now if you haven’t read the story I recommend you do it is a very good short story coated with a thick mist of paranoia and definitely worth your time. Have you read it yet? Good I was getting bored waiting now that you have read it lets discuss details over this spine-chilling tale shall we?
The idea of mockingbirds in this text carries great symbolic weight, mockingbirds are considered the innocents in the novel. It is considered a sin to kill a mockingbird, which symbolizes the destruction innocence. Tom Robinson, Arthur “Boo” Radley, Jem and Mr. Raymond can all be identified as mockingbirds - innocents who have been injured or destroyed through contact with evil.
The Mockingbird is a symbol of innocence in To Kill a Mockingbird: “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee 90). Ms. Maudie is trying to explain to the kids that it is a sin to kill something innocent. The Mockingbird does nothing harmful to them they just sing songs to the humans . There are many connecting symbols in To Kill a Mockingbird. Not only do many things in the book such as mockingbirds there are things in the book that represent these symbols. A mockingbird is innocent, keeps to itself, makes others happy much like Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Scout Finch throughout the novel.