I do not think Boo Radley is the only innocent in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. While he is a very notable one, there are others who fit into the category. The first two that fit into this category is Scout and Jem. Being children, they already have an air of innocence as they do not often know enough of the world to be anything but innocent. They were attacked by Bob Ewell, who was trying to make their father pay. The kids were innocent in the matter as it was Atticus' actions during the trial that had upset him. Despite them being in no way connected to what really happened being revealed, Bob Ewell still went after them as they were the easier target and it would hurt their father. The other notable innocent is Tom Robinson,
Boo Radley developed with his Almost unnoticeable interaction with Scout at the end of Chapter 8. Scout is watching Miss Maudie's house on fire and when atticus comes back he notices something. Scout is wrapped in a blanket that she didn't have when she left the house.Scout says that she stayed right where he told her to, in front of the Radley Place, but she and Jem saw Mr. Nathan fighting the fire. They Come to the conclusion that it must have been Boo who had put it on her. This would step up the interaction that boo had previously had with the children and now. This also contributes to the Children's Mystery regarding Boo Radley
So he is innocent, and again being the symbolic mockingbird. As a result, Boo Radley could be the symbolic “mockingbird” through the interaction and actions of the characters.
The innocence of Boo Radley, along with the misunderstanding from the kids, alludes to Tom Robinson’s innocence. Although, the “kids”, with reference to the townspeople and jury members, misunderstand the truth about Tom Robinson and persecute him anyway: “‘Son,’ he said to Jem, ‘I’m going to tell you something and tell you this one time: stop tormenting that man’” (65). In this scene, Jem, Dill, and Scout act out what they know about Boo Radley’s life, and Atticus catches and scolds them.Though what makes this scene important is that the only things they really know about Boo’s life have been rumors, rather than proven stories.This is the same for the jury deliberating over Tom Robinson’s case. They have only heard information through Mr. Ewell, an unreliable source.Ass Tom Robinson tries explaining his side, the court does not believe him because he is black. Their years of segregation between the white and black community result
Locked in a dark house, never leaving, lives a man known as Boo Radley. In a small town in Alabama known as Maycomb, the narrator of “To Kill A Mockingbird” a young girl named Scout, her brother Jem, and best friend Dill’s, worlds’ revolved around the mysterious Radley house. Atticus, Jem and Scout’s father was bothered by their obsession with the character Boo Radley. Finally they did leave him alone when their world turned around when Atticus took a court case defending Tom Robinson, who was being tried for the rape of Mayella Ewell. Being a black man, Tom was bound to be found guilty, no matter the evidence. Atticus having good morals took it knowing he’d lose, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself without even defending
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses three men: Arthur Radley, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson, to symbolize mockingbirds, showing why killing a mockingbird is a sin. Arthur Radley, an innocent, is persecuted for his oddities, even though he has hurt no one. Arthur has always been considered by the town to be “a malevolent phantom” that “went out at night” and “peeped in windows” (Lee 10). Arthur’s peculiarities are reported by Scout, who learns throughout the book how cruel the town is being to allow the crucifixion of an innocent. In addition Atticus, an upstanding citizen who is only trying to help and innocent man, is chastised by people attempting to kill his spirit and morals. According to Scout’s cousin, Atticus is “ruinin’ the
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a Mockingbird is one who is innocent and tries to bring no harm to the world but only joy.
James 4:17 declares, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (New American Standard Bible, James 4.17). Sometimes doing the right thing contradicts written law. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus is faced with a similar situation. He has to decide whether to tell the truth that Arthur Radley killed Bob Ewell, or go along with Mr. Tate’s cover story to spare Arthur a trial. Atticus made the right choice to go along with the cover story for three reasons, Arthur is fearful, unhealthy, and innocent.
Arthur Radley and Tom Robinson are both innocent people who are mistreated and misunderstood. As stated in the paragraph above, Arthur and Tom are definitely innocent and honest. These characters are
Innocence, a lesson that Jem and Scout learned about in the trial of Tom Robinson, they learned that innocence is a key factor in the court. In other words, innocence could help you in many ways. In chapter 17 - 20 shows that Tom Robinson’s innocence and Atticus’s statement made Mayella and Bob Ewell show their guilt. But, only the blacks
“It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 90). Mockingbirds symbolize innocence in Maycomb county. They “don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy” (Lee 90). In To Kill a Mockingbird some characters embody that innocence and are symbolically mockingbirds in the story. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are the two main mockingbirds in Maycomb.
Much like the story, the title is not representative of the plot of the story, and it is completely independent to what does happen. Tom, Boo Radley and the children seem to be represented by the mockingbird. Both are innocent, though the kids show this through their naiveté, learning of the evil in the world. Likewise, Tom, a wrongfully convicted man, and Boo Radley, a recluse, both have their share of injustices, despite their innocence. To conclude, the novel To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel written effectively to convey the author’s intended message, while depicting a cohesive
Even though this innocent would most likely represent Tom Robinson, another good person to represent a mockingbird would be Boo Radley. Boo Radley was found out to be an innocent person as the story continued, even though thought to be a crazy person at the beginning. This character Boo Radley, appearing only in some situations, helps develop the theme in this novel of not judging a book by its cover. Boo helps develop this theme because of the rumors that sound very odd and silly about him that were said by some of the people in the town of Maycomb. He also shows that since his name has a negative connotation, it is assumed he is a bad person, but in reality, it’s the opposite. After saving the children from the murderous Bob Ewell, they realized Boo wasn’t crazy and looked like a monster, but he was actually a kind, innocent, and friendly
The next type of “innocence” evident in the novel would be legalistic innocence, which means that this person has not broken any laws of the country. Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are shown as being legalistically innocent in the novel. In fact, they share many similarities even though one is white and the other is black. In my opinion, both of these men are “mockingbirds”, however, in this case one is shot and the other is forced to kill. In addition, Boo and Tom are both handicapped in a way; Harper Lee hints that Boo may be mentally unstable whereas Tom is physically unstable as he is unable to use his left arm. But Tom’s race would be his biggest disability yet.
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird the most commonly identified theme is the loss or destruction of innocence. Innocence has a number of meanings and a lot of these are shown within the story. The main ones represented in the book are, the state, quality, or fact of being innocent of a crime or offense, lack of guile or corruption, having purity, and freedom from guilt or sin especially through lack of knowledge of evil. There are characters who include Jem and Scout, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley who show their definition of innocence through the book. Each of these characters who has their innocence goes down a path where they lose it and they have to take on the world face to face.
He is innocent of all of the claims and stories made up about him. He is robbed of friendship and trust with the entire town and is hurt by the cruel remarks made by the townsfolk. He had never done anything to harm anyone or anything in his lifetime; instead he strove to help people whenever he could, but tried to help them as best he could without being seen or noticed. One cold night when Scout Finch was standing frozen cold outside the Radley house, Boo secretly slipped a blanket over Scout’s shoulders to give her warmth. He also gave the two children, Jem and Scout, a few presents in a knot hole of a tree to show his compassion and warm heart. He even helped to protect the two children when Bob Ewell tried to murder them both. These examples show his innocence and that he is obviously not a monster. Scout comes to realise that he has inner goodness that must be cherished, alike a mockingbird. The town had committed a sin by harming him from the cruel things they had made up about him. And it was a sin when Tom Robinson, an innocent man, was killed when it came to his turn in the novel.