Innocence in to Kill a Mockingbird

Bob Ewell is a wretched, two-faced, conniving most unworthy person to have the gift of life in all of Alabama. He drinks a lot, does not bother to work, and he just collects welfare checks and spends them on alcohol. Harper Lee wrote, “a little bantam cock of a man . . . A shock of wispy new-washed hair stood up from his forehead; his nose was thin, pointed, and shiny; he had no chin to speak of—it seemed to be part of his crepey neck”(Lee 227) Harper describes Bob Ewell as a apathetic, tipsy, Neanderthal that can’t keep a job to save his skin. During Tom Robinson’s trial Bob Ewell tried to say that he beat his daughter Mayella and then raped her; when in in reality Bob Ewell is the one who beat Mayella. Another reason Bob Ewell is terrible person is at the end of the story when he tried to kill Scout and Jem. Harper Lee had wrote, “What is it, Heck? Said Atticus. Mr. Tate found his neck and rubbed it. Bob Ewell’s lyin’ on the ground under that tree down yonder with a kitchen knife stuck up under his ribs. He’s dead, Mr. Finch. (Lee 357). Mr. Ewell had aimed to kill Scout and Jem but Mr. Author James Radley, more commonly known as Boo Radley, saved their lives. Mr. Ewell was mad at Atticus because he knew that it wasn’t Tom who beat Mayella and raped her, so Bob Ewell saw that he could get back at Atticus by taking the lives if the two most important people in the world to him. Bob Ewell illustrates the dark side of

Tom Robinson is wrongfully convicted of rape and eventually killed in prison, whereas Boo Radley is killed emotionally because he is not accepted by society. Since it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a sin to kill innocent souls like Tom and Boo. When Scout tries to understand why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, Miss Maudie elucidates Atticus’s opinion more clearly by stating, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy...They don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (103). Mockingbirds sing and make beautiful music; however they mimic the songs of other birds, so they are seen through others. Tom and Boo are like mockingbirds because they are subject to the perceptions of the people of Maycomb. The townspeople knew these characters based on what others said about them. Consequently, Tom and Boo do not have their own “song” and are portrayed by others’ views of them. The mockingbird emerges as a metaphor for the wrong in harming innocent and defenseless people.

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

In court, Tom said that the reason he helped Mayella Ewell was because he “felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em ” (Lee, 197). Feeling sorry for Mayella became his only crime. After the trial, Miss Maudie sympathized with Jem, telling him that not everyone was against Tom; in fact, people like Judge Taylor, Heck Tate, and of course Atticus were for him. When Tom was shot, most of Maycomb didn’t care, but Mr. Underwood of The Maycomb Tribune “likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children” (Lee, 241). He recognized that Tom was innocent and his death was undeserved. Sheriff Heck Tate showed empathy for Boo Radley after Mr. Ewell attacked the Finch children. He says, “To my way of thinkin’, Mr. Finch, taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight—to me, that’s a sin. It’s a sin and I’m not about to have it on my head” (Lee, 276). He knew Boo wouldn’t be able to cope with the stress of being the town’s celebrity, so he decided to pretend that Mr. Ewell fell on his own knife and the children got away by themselves. Several people in Maycomb cared for each other and looked at things from another’s point of view.

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.

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird innocence is spread throughout the novel. Innocence is connected to the mockingbird because they do nothing but sing. There are three examples of innocence within the novel; Boo Radley, Mayella Ewell, and Tom Robinson.

Mockingbirds are only here to sing their songs and to bring us joy. A Mockingbird is innocent, without fault and only here to help. “To kill a Mockingbird is a sin.”(119) This is because a Mockingbird is an animal that doesn’t cause harm and has proved to only have a pure heart. Tom Robinson is the predominant Mockingbird. “Tom’s death was like the senseless killing of songbirds.”(241) Since another word for mockingbird is a songbird, this quote is telling us that Tom is like a Mockingbird and that his death wasn’t supposed to happen. The unexpected Mockingbird is Boo Radley. “Atticus looked like he needed cheering up I ran to him and said ‘yes sir, I understand Mr. Tate was right’ he looked at me and said ‘what do you mean’ well it’d sort of be like shooting a Mockingbird.”(318) Clearly Scout is saying that if Maycome were to find out that Boo killed Bob it would probably kill him because Boo delights in being alone. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are the representation of the Mockingbird.

Scout, Jem, and Dill then discuss why Boo stays hidden. This is when Dill explained, “Maybe he doesn’t have anywhere to runoff too” (Lee 192). Dill suggest that Boo might have been through a l;ot and doesn’t have any loved ones to go to. We then realize Boo symbolizes innocence being destroyed because when he was little he has had no one to care for or love. One of the most memorable scenes is when Atticus and Heck Tate realize that Boo killed Bob Ewell. They discuss whether or not to expose him but Scout comes in and states “well, it’d be sort of like shootin a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” (Lee 370). Scout believes that by exposing Boo to the public after all these years of him locked in his house, it would be like killing an innocent mockingbird. At this moment Boo Radley officially becomes a mockingbird.

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

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.

However, Tom Robinson is not the only mockingbird in the story. Boo Radley is another harmless creature who falls victim of cruelty. He is unjustly regarded as an evil person and used as the scapegoat for all the bad happenings around town. Women are afraid of him and so are children. When the sheriff decided that he would not arrest Boo Radley for killing Bob Ewell and that would present his death as an accident, Atticus asked Scout if she understood the meaning of this decision. Scout replied that she did. Her exact words were: "Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?" (282). Boo here is also compared to the gentle bird and again it would be a 'sin' to punish him. The symbol of the mockingbird can be applied to Boo Radley from another point of view as well. The mockingbird has no song of its own. It just imitates other birds. Therefore it makes itself present and is seen through other birds. In the same way, Boo Radley is seen through the eyes of other people. He does not have a character of his own. What the reader knows about him is what other people say. He is believed to " dine on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, his hands were

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird a major theme is the loss of innocence. Whether from emotional abuse, racial prejudice or learning, Boo, Tom, and Scout all lose their innocence in one sense or another. The prejudice that each character endures leads to their loss. Through the responses of Boo, Tom, and Scout, Harper Lee shows how each character responded differently to their loss of innocence.

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.

Another mockingbird in the story was Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was just like Boo Radley nice and loving to others especially Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson was very kind to Mayella he always did we she wanted him to do and he always did it with pride. When Bob Ewell accused Tom Robinson of raping Mayella it was like a mockingbird that just stops singing or died because Tom Robinson would never rape Mayella. Bob Ewell said that Tom Robinson was kissing and touching Mayella. Mr. Ewell thinks now that Tom Robinson is an animal who was taking advantage of his daughter. Tom Robinson is a man who helped Mayella Ewell everyday when he would walk by her house, she

Tom Robinson becomes a mockingbird by only helping everyone and dying for his actions. Boo Radley is a recluse with an abusive father that earned mockingbird status through giving gifts, a blanket, and 2 kids lives. “when they finally saw him, why he hadn’t done any of those things. Atticus, he was real nice.” “Most people are when you finally see them” These two quotes refer to the misunderstood nature of these two hardcore mockingbirds. The emotion added by this connection adds a lasting impact on the