Maturity and personal growth often appear through the experience of successes, failures, tragedies, and most importantly, the loss of childhood innocence. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird presents the ideas of coming of age and the loss of innocence while the Great Depression was occurring in the 1930s. Racism and gender inequality were widespread issues during this time period which gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement. To Kill a Mockingbird teaches its readers that the coexistence of tragedy and the loss of innocence affect personal growth through the way in which several innocent characters suffer the wrath of prejudices, resulting in imprisonment, murder, and near-death experiences. Harper Lee relates many of the characters …show more content…
Harper Lee’s life is manifested through the symbol of the mockingbird which represents innocence in the novel. The illustration of the mockingbird is present in several characters including: Tom Robinson, Arthur “Boo” Radley, Dolphus Raymond, and Atticus Finch. Tom Robinson is accused of the rape of Mayella Ewell. Scout and Jem observe the case from above and hear the verdict, but at this point in the novel, they do not understand the prevalence of racism or what it means. Consequently, a character who has been marked as guilty for the majority of the novel emerges as an innocent man. According to Ruby Wall, who was raised in the Great Depression, “A mockingbird represents communication, being joyful, unity, security, and even purity.” Arthur “Boo” Radley is depicted as a mockingbird in the novel. Accusations of murder constantly spread around about Boo. In reality, Boo never harmed anyone or anything and remains pure. Following the image of a mockingbird, Boo merely wanted to fit into society by being like others. Although he is isolated, Boo continuously tries to benefit others rather than himself. Boo’s selflessness can be seen when he leaves presents for the children as well as when he mends Jem’s pants and leaves them for him on the fence. Another example is when Miss Maudie’s house catches on fire. During the incident, he places a blanket on Scout to ensure a sense of security and warmth for her. Similarly, the other mockingbirds in the novel are merely
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,
As children grow up, they open their eyes to the harsh truths in the world around them that they once did not understand or question. This is experienced by the main characters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is of a girl called Scout and her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when the children’s lawyer father, Atticus, takes the case of an obviously innocent African-American man and they convict him in their hearts before the trial even starts. Through this all, we can see the theme of loss of innocence in the children. Lee uses characterization to portray
Boo Radley is a representation of the mockingbird because of his innocence and acts of kindness. While Miss Maudie's house was burning down, Boo Radley secretly wrapped a blanket around Scout. " 'Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you' " (Lee 60). Scout realizes that Boo Radley is a kind man who wants to protect and take care of her. The residents of Maycomb County know very little about him, but still spread rumors and view
A character that displays many aspects of being a mockingbird is Boo Radley. Boo is a man who initially in the story does not come out of his house due to his fear of being persecuted. He is seen as the town mystery and some people do not even believe he exists. On page 44, two of the the main characters who are children named Jem and Scout are walking home from school when they start finding a gifts inside a tree knot hole outside of the Radley place. The children assume the gifts are from Boo and their assumptions are later proven correct. The act of Boo giving the children gifts makes him appear as he cares for the children. In like manner, Boo exhibits the kindness of a mockingbird is on page 95. While watching Miss Maudie’s house fire someone wraps a blanket around Scout, but she does not realise until she gets back home. She guesses Boo Radley was the one who did it and again her guess was proven correct. This act of kindness models his selflessness. Lastly, throughout the story Boo is described as
He is referred to as a mockingbird because he suffers he is stuck and constantly talked negatively by the town.It's the only form of contact he has with the outside world. Boo (Arthur Radley) is actually a very shy character who is often misjudged by society including scout and jem. As the story goes on, we find Scout beginning to realize Boo radelys true intentions and the situation when she tells Atticus that exposing Boo would be "sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?” Throughout the novel, Scout, Jem, and Dill are curious about the "mysterious" Boo Radley because he never comes outside from his house or associates with anyone in the neighborhood.
In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee, the author has used numerous different methods to portray the themes of innocence, maturity and growing up. These themes were put in so that the audience could become more empathetic towards the characters, especially the protagonists. She depicts these themes through characters, events, using symbolism, imagery and contrast located throughout the book.
In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell accuses Tom Robinson, a black man, of raping her even though her father is abusing her. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson’s defender, was a local attorney who Mr. Ewell hated because he was going against him and his daughter. To get revenge on Atticus, Mr. Ewell attempted to murder Jem and Scout, Atticus’ children. Boo Radley, a local shut-in, saved the children and stabbed Mr Ewell. Sheriff Tate lied and said that Mr. Ewell fell on his own knife.
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
Boo Radley is just a quiet guy, who wants peace and quiet because he just to be left alone and in the book Scout, Jem and Dill try to make Boo come out with a fishing pole with a note at the end. Boo does nothing to harm anybody just like a mockingbird, mockingbirds just make music for people to enjoy and they don’t eat people’s gardens and Boo is just quiet and enjoys being inside away from the world outside. Boo just helps people out when they need it like when Jem and Scout went to his house they had to escape so they decided to go under the fence and Jem had got stuck and his pants had ripped and then Jem went backed his pants and they were sewed up like someone was knowing he was coming back.
Scout, Jem, and Dill work many summers to try to get Boo to come out of the Radley house for the first time in many years. Jem had been told many things about Boo in his short years in Maycomb, and he tells his sister Scout about the ‘monster’, saying, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (chap. 1). Jem’s ideas about Boo are very biased toward rumors that can be heard around Maycomb. This shows how Maycomb’s people often judge before they know, seeing as no one has seen Boo Radley in over twenty years and people are prejudiced to believing the unknown is always bad. Prejudice and rumors can often not be trusted and Boo Radley is no exception. After Miss Maudie’s house catches fire and half the town rushes outside to watch it burn, Atticus tells Scout, “someday you should thank him for covering you up” then Scout asks, “Thank Who?” And gets a response from Atticus, “Boo Radley. You were too busy looking at the fire, you didn’t even notice when he put the blanket around you” (chap. 8). Boo Radley is not really a bad person, he
Harper Lee’s capability to symbolize important ideas in her novel To Kill A Mockingbird amaze readers and it has led her novel to selling millions of copies worldwide. The ideas of racism and the separation between black and white people in the 1930's were very significant to Harper Lee's contribution for the work of her novel. Symbolism is evident throughout To Kill A Mockingbird by most prominent in mockingbirds, blue jays, and camellias. In Lee’s novel, a reoccurring symbol that has so much significance to it would be a mockingbird. A mockingbird symbolizes all the innocent people of Maycomb County that have only done good but have been attacked by evil.
did not allow anyone to visit him or have the slightest contact with him. Eventually Boo's mental state triggers him to stabbed his father with a pair of scissors. Boo's fathers causes Boo to suffer innocently by stealing his childhood experiences away from him. This indicates that Boo is a mockingbird because he did very little to deserve this torment and isolation that his father inflicted upon him. Then, Jem and Scout from the beginning of the story never fully understood Boo's past life at all, yet they judged him on things they hear about. They suspect he was basically an evil monster that never comes out of his house. Scout starts the stereotyping by creating a nickname “Boo” for the innocent Arthur Radley. This nickname robs Arthur of his true name and identity, causing him to suffer. Furthermore, Jem and Scout constantly pester Boo in an attempt to discover his actual identity. They tell their best friend Dill that Boo is like a zombie. Jem describes Boo as being: “About six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cat he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained-if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 13). The stereotypical image created by Jem completely robs Boo
The book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, written by Harper Lee, is a very impactful novel that acutely connects an intricate plot and story to American history itself, specifically the time of the Great Depression, where racial oppression was rather common, and sadly, accepted. This novel dives into the harsh times of the Great Depression and gives readers a rather sufficient understanding of what life was like back then. In this novel, there are a plethora of archetypes, those being symbols, motifs, themes, myths, and characters that have a deep impact on the story’s development.
At the end of To Kill a Mockingbird Scout and Jem were almost brutally stabbed and suffocated by Bob Ewell. However, Boo came out of his house them. This took him so much courage as he was afraid of the world outside of his “prison”. His love for the children drove him to do this. Even though in the beginning he did a small bit of bad, he is truly a“mockingbird”. Boo was even referenced by Scout as a mockingbird after he saved Jem and her’s life by killing their attacker. When Boo’s actions were to be covered up, she stated, “Well it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird (by giving Boo undesired attention), wouldn’t it?” (Lee 370). Miss Maudie's quote morphed into describing Boo, just one of many ways it was seen in the book.
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.