Would you ever think that a small bird can be so important, let alone be compared to people? Well this book is based on a mockingbird. A mockingbird is an animal with innocence, and does nothing wrong except minding it’s own buisness. Killing them is wrong and there wouldn't be a reason. Just like in the book, Tom Robinson, Atticus and Boo Radley were known as mockingbirds. In chapter 10 Atticus says, to Scout and Jem, "I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a Mockingbird." In this essay I will talk about what it means to be a Mockingbird and how it influences the characters in the book. To be a Mockingbird or to be known as one, is being represented as being innocent. A Mockingbird is an innocent being. All they do is mind their business and sing in harmony until somebody tries to hurt them after they did nothing. Characters in the book that are considered to be Mockingbirds would be Tom Robinson, Boo Radley and Scout.
Tom Robinson lived a pretty average life for an African American in Alabama. Tom was hard working man despite his arm, he usually spent his days picking cotton in the hot weather of Maycomb and was pretty harmless. In my eyes he was a good example of a literal Mockingbird, an innocent harmless man who is targeted by others. “When they finally saw him, why hadn’t he do any of those things” Tom Robinson was an innocent man who was
Author uses Atticus teach these lessons through his wise words. Atticus teaches these lessons to not only the audience, but Jem and Scout too. Some of the main things he teaches his kids about are understanding people, using the mind instead of the body, the cruel reality of stereotypes, and true
Tom Robinson’s character exemplifies the mockingbird because he is a black man who is denied justice based on racial prejudice. After Mayella Ewell accuses Tom of rape, there is no way for him to be judged fairly because the narrow-minded, white townspeople are unable to get past their prejudices towards blacks. At his trial, Tom’s lawyer, Atticus, argues,
Mockingbirds do not do anything but to make music for everyone to enjoy. In a society where people tend to discriminate another; mockingbirds represent the innocent ones who are being victimizes upon. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, emphasizes the fact that lives are not always equal and also to remind people that it is a sin to accuse someone of a crime based on personal opinion. Everyone likes to gossip, and everyone likes to spread rumors for their own entertainment. For this reason, the town of Maycomb insists to degrade Atticus Finch because he chooses to defend Tom Robinson, an African American worker. Atticus symbolizes a mockingbird in multiple ways, including taking the blame for teaching his child, being a disgrace when trying to defend Tom, having difficulties, discipline Scout and Jem, and constantly
Tom Robinson is another mockingbird figure. He was a genuinely caring person who is destroyed by his willingness to help Mayella Ewell. Just like a mockingbird, Robinson never hurt anyone. Yet, he was also persecuted by society for his kindness and his race. Tom Robinson was killed because of his kindness and the color of his skin; “ a harmless songbird that was shot down by a senseless hunter.” Lee uses the character of Tom as a mockingbird figure to express the innocence of the mockingbird and exhibit the narrow-mindedness and biased opinions of the towns folk.
As the famous American author, Nerburn, says,“It is much easier to become a father than to be one”(http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/fathers-quotes). Nerburn writes about how hard it is to be an eligible father .He proposes the question, “Do people think their father is the person who is able to provide them a lot of guidance or help? In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout live with their father, Atticus, who is a lawyer, and regard him as an excellent example. However, Scout and Jem don’t value Atticus as a father with full diligence because he is elder than most of other students’ father and he is not able to do any sports. Due to the accident with the mad dog, atticus’s educations and the case of Tom Robinson, Jem and Scout come to understand, respect, and finally admire their father.
Mockingbirds will only sing their hearts, not cause any damage or give their lives to pleasing others. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird great examples are shown of different types of mockingbirds. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Arthur (Boo) Radley are great examples of representing a mockingbird.
Growing up is a difficult task, especially when the town around you doesn’t offer to help you understand what’s going on around you. Using many examples of the loss of childhood innocence, Harper Lee shows us that a corrupted society leads to growing up faster and one’s childhood is stripped away. Through Jem, the eldest of the Finch children, and Scout, the youngest, the readers see how a trial in 1930 Alabama takes a toll of young minds. In Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she implies that growing up leads to loss of innocence, especially in troubling times.
“It's right hard to say," she said. "Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks' talk at home it'd be out of place, wouldn't it? Now what if I talked white-folks' talk at church, and with my neighbors? They'd think I was puttin' on airs to beat Moses, "But Cal, you know better," I said. “It's not necessary to tell all you know. It's not ladylike—in the second place, folks don't like to have somebody around knowing more than they do. It aggravates 'em. You're not gonna change
He is a black man who wrongly convicted for the raping and abusing Mayella. There is no evidence that Tom Robinson had raped or beaten Mayella and Atticus proves that it was impossible for him to have beaten her when he tells him to stand up to let Mayella identify him as her attacker. “Tom Robinson’s powerful shoulders rippled under his thin shirt. He rose to his feet and stood with his right hand on the back of his chair. He looked oddly off balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him. ‘Scout,’ breathed Jem. ‘Scout, look! Reverend, he’s crippled!’” (p. 248). Because Tom’s left arm is crippled, there is no way that he could have beaten Mayella as she was beaten by a left-handed man. He is innocent yet he is harmed as he is wrongly arrested and killed, making him a symbolic mockingbird. Tom is also a symbolic mockingbird because he is arrested for hurting Mayella even though he is ironically the only person in Maycomb who is able to overlook the fact that she is a Ewell and treat her like a human being. During the trial, when questioned by Mr. Gilmer if he received any money for helping Mayella he replies, “No suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first time. I was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn’t seem to
A Mockingbird is a bird that sits there and sings, mocking the noises it hears making beautiful sounds. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the mockingbird is a black man named Tom Robinson. To Kill a Mockingbird is based in a time where slavery and racism is a huge problem, and when Atticus Finch, the greatest lawyer in Maycomb county and also the father of Scout and Jem Finch, is asked to defend a black man in the Court of Law he puts himself, his family, and his career in danger. Tom Robinson is a black man being accused of beating and raping a white woman named Mayella Violet Ewell.
Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill a Mockingbird details the life of young Scout Finch and brother Jem Finch, who is growing up in a time of racial uniqueness. Jem and Scout Finch are what most would call a typical family growing up in the small Alabama town of Maycomb. They encounter many different obstacles during their childhood missions with many characters making the novel an interesting read. Throughout the book, Lee is showing Jem and Scout grow up and become mature young adults. This novel, written by Harper Lee, demonstrates the themes of growing up, Innocence and most importantly, racism.
Only one character is the clearest representation to a “mockingbird.” Tom Robinson is the most logical example of a “mockingbird”. Not only does Tom Robinson fit the
The theme of prejudice in the novel can be best perceived through the symbolism of the mockingbird. When the Bluejay is first mentioned, the reader may not make the connection that the bird represents the bullies of the world. They act territorial, loud, and bothersome to communities, while the mockingbird suggests simplicity and goodness. Hence, to kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. Throughout the book, several characters can be described as a mockingbird. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley can both be characterized in that manner.
Tom Robinson is the most easily identifiable mockingbird in this story. Although he is a peaceful, respectful man who helps Mayella Ewell without asking for anything in return, he is falsely accused and dies tragically as a result. Mr. Underwood, Maycomb’s newspaper editor, likens Tom’s death to the “senseless slaughter of innocent songbirds by hunters and children” in the editorial he writes immediately after the Negro’s death. As shooting a mockingbird results in the loss of a sweet song-maker, the death of Tom brings no good fruit—it only satisfies the destructive racial prejudice of the South. Tom is also targeted for the same reasons that mockingbirds are targeted
In both the text “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee and the film “A Time to Kill” directed by Joel Schumacher, similar ideas are presented using language devices and stylistic features in differing ways to appeal to their target audience. Each have very similar storylines in which a white lawyer defends a an African-American in a prejudiced court case. Racism is a key idea presented strongly in each due to the eras they are set in. The era and country set in each story provide a strong base for the prominent issue. With the unpleasant happenings in each text and through the racist acts the idea of compassion shines through. As well as compassion being a significant idea, forgiveness is also presented through the racists acts.