Mockingbird Symbolism

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.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a book with several examples of symbolism. Although the story is seen through a child’s perspective, it includes multiple instances of symbolism, some more obvious than others. Mockingbirds, Mayella’s geraniums, and the Radley household are all big symbols in To Kill a Mockingbird.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee shows that innocence needs protecting.  Killing a mockingbird symbolizes a sin because mockingbirds represent innocence.  Tom Robinson’s fate and ultimately guilty verdict during came about because of the words of a white man. In reality, the color of his skin caused this verdict.. Boo Radley did a harmless prank and looked like a monster because his family kept him locked up.  Towards the end, Boo saved the kids from Bob Ewell and risked getting caught in the open.  Disrupting his life represents  killing a mockingbird because his life represents innocence.

Atticus’ children also learn the importance of recognising the innocence of others. Harper Lee has used the continuous motif of the mockingbird to represent innocence of several characters such as Jem and Tom Robinson. Atticus’ exclamation, “…Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” emphasises the harmless nature of mockingbirds, and to kill one would metaphorically be destroying one’s innocence. During the trial, guilt-free Tom Robinson is being punished for a crime he has not committed as Bob Ewell is creating lies to protect himself. During this situation, Jem discovers the evil of racism, damaging his faith in justice and humanity. Jem’s rhetorical questions, “If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other?” clearly start to show his coming of age and influenced behaviour from his father. Scout being younger than Jem, is able to maintain her basic faith in human nature despite Tom’s conviction, remaining naive to the injustice that surrounds her. Through the transformation of perspectives and the relation of the mockingbird to their lives, Jem and Scout learn that necessity to keep innocent things unharmed, teaching them values of respect and fair

Whether it is in literature or even shown in pictures, people use things to represent something with a deeper meaning and that’s called symbolism. In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by author Harper Lee, various different themes or symbols are active throughout the book either directly, or more often, obscurely being tied to the ultimate theme of the book, which is not being able to understand someone until you experience life from their point of view. The most apparent reoccurring theme though is equality because of the fact it’s symbolized through people, birds, and even inanimate objects that Scout and Jem encounter over the course of the book in the tree that turns out to play a bigger part of the story as the story progresses. Sometimes, these symbols are obvious to the reader and other times, they’re not, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not an infinite number of ways to analyze or interpret those same symbols and the meanings behind them. By doing this, the reader is able to get a better and deeper sense of what Lee was truly trying to say and their connections to the story and the way they help make the reader experience being physically at the time of the 1930’s. Equality was and still is a problem as reflected in the book, but it’s the way Lee brings those symbols to our attention that makes us realize how close to the exact same spot we were over 80 years ago that is able to make the reader that much more intrigued.

The author writes, “‘Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’” That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. ‘Your father’s right,’ she said. ‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’” This is when the idea of the mockingbird being a symbol throughout the novel comes into play. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee paints a picture of certain characters being mockingbirds. Many can be identified, such as Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and even Atticus Finch. All three were innocents that were attacked by evil, thus being mockingbirds.

“‘...Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). After having read most of the book, I now see that this is a significant and meaningful symbol in the novel. It represents innocence, like that of Tom Robinson 's. In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, which is based upon a true story, Tom Robinson, a man accused of rape, Scout Finch, a tomboy and lawyer’s daughter that observes occurrences in Maycomb, resists racist comments, and does not always understand things, who is also the narrator of the publication, both in a childish fashion and in an adult like fashion, and Atticus, a lawyer who is intelligent, respected and respecting, and defends Tom Robinson in his time

“Shoot all the blue jays if you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” ( Lee pg 90) In Harper Lee’s famous novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, the author emphasizes the major issue of justice representing the symbol of a mockingbird. Taking place in the 1930s in the Deep South, a time when racial inequality and great intolerance were highly prevalent. The novel comes out as an injustice to the most gracious and thoughtful but unjustly accused citizens from the town of Maycomb. The kind, good natured, African American, Tom Robinson is not fairly put on trial for the “rape” of Mayella Ewell. Regardless of the racial injustices going around, Boo Radley is discriminated by the people of Maycomb, having

In, ‘To Kill A MockingBird’, a novel written by Harper Lee, the use of symbols plays an important role in the unfolding of the main themes and central ideas of the novel. The symbolism within the title and Scout’s overalls are two symbols out of many symbols which Lee uses to represent the theme of inequality and prejudice. MockingBird’s are known to be sweet, tender little creatures, they are put on this Earth in the sense to enlighten beauty, according to Miss Maudie, it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they are such innocent creatures, Lee uses this analogy of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley as mockingbirds, “He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children. ”(Lee 241) Tom Robinson is a friendly gentleman

Mockingbirds, harmless and joyful creatures that do not create havoc among others. Throughout the story mockingbirds are portrayed as a symbol of innocence, representing characters such as; Tom Robinson, Boo Radley and even Scout. The title To Kill A Mockingbird refers to the killing of innocence which relate to the events that occur in the novel such as the death and trial of Tom Robinson, the isolation of Boo Radley and Scout’s sudden realization of the town’s racist/unjust attitude. Tom Robinson is clearly the victim of the novel and although he is labelled as guilty, he is known to be innocent. The text states; “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird” to emphasize that it is a crime to kill innocence and

When you first pick up the classic novel by Harper Lee, you may wonder how the title relates to the story. In the book mockingbirds are a symbol of innocence. It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird because, as Miss Maudie says it, “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” (90). So who does the mockingbird symbolize? There are four people in particular who come to mind: Tom Robinson, Arthur “Boo” Radley, and Jem and Scout Finch.

To be a mockingbird you have to believe in kindness, peace, and equality. In this book there are 2 characters that represent a mockingbird. Their names are Jew and Atticus. The name of this book is call To kill a Mockingbird and it's by Harper Lee.

Many view America as a land of opportunity, a land that preaches freedom and has laws put in place in order to assure this freedom. Back in the 1930’s, however, one of the most controversial topics was racism and the fact whites had more freedom. This topic is shown throughout Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird where she uses the tool of symbolism to intensify the meaning of the story. In the classic novel symbolism is used to portray Lee’s thoughts and reflections about society.She uses the characters of Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and a mad dog to show the narrow-mindedness of the citizens of Maycomb, Alabama.

Does prejudice still exist today? Prejudice certainly existed in the small, rural town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s, towards the end of the Great Depression. To Kill a Mockingbird tells us the story from a young girl named Scout’s perspective as we watch her grow up, spending time with her older brother Jem, her father Atticus, and her friend Dill, Scout learning about morals, racism, perspective, and various life lessons. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee presents the idea that prejudice must not be a means to antagonize others because it will end up harming the innocent, as shown through symbolism and characterization.

In the beginning of the novel, the mockingbird symbolism is introduced as a lesson Atticus teaches the children. He shares his philosophy with Jem that he can “... shoot all the bluejays you want… but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (119). This reveals Atticus’ thought process towards the innocent and the people he represents as a lawyer. He believes the innocent should not be killed. Scout later asks Miss Maudie what Atticus meant and she explains it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they “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”