Mockingbird Theme

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

The Mockingbird had become something symbolic in the story. The mockingbird represents innocence and portrays itself through several different characters in the story; such as Scout Finch or Boo Radley. Despite their innocence however, they can be injured with their contact with evil. In the story, it’s explained how Boo Radley’s innocence is tainted because of his abusive father. Thus the extended metaphor or symbolism would explain that killing a mockingbird is tainting innocence. When Scout inquires her, Miss Maudie explains, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but . . . sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” This also links the connection of Scout and Jem both having the last name finch, which is another name for a particularly small (and also harmless) bird.

There is a dominant motif in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, regarding the symbolic importance of the mockingbird and how it relates to some of her characters. In Harper Lee’s portrayed world as well as our present day world mockingbirds represent nothing but pure innocence, thus to kill a mockingbird would be to destroy innocence. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are all perfect examples representing a mockingbird; innocents who have been injured or destroyed through contact with

Throughout the majority of the book, Lee uses a motif related to a mockingbird. This symbolizes how hunting harmless and innocent beings is senseless and the worst crime one can commit against humanity. Mockingbirds are harmless animals who do nothing but bring joy to people with

The Maycomb jury accused Tom Robinson guilty of rape of Mayella Ewell, not because they truly thought he was guilty; he was wrongfully convicted because of our town’s long time “honor code” of our society. Our “honor code” is nothing but a meaningless, unbroken rule saying that all whites are infallible, while all negroes are immoral and can’t be trusted around anyone. If a white person were to break this “code”, that person would be considered an outcast in our town. Of course, as I’ve said before, some whites and negroes are immoral and can’t be trusted around anyone. Take the Ewells, for example. Maycomb despises them, and barely keeps them isolated from the rest of town. They represent Maycomb’s worst side, but their word is still taken over a black man’s word, simply because they’re white. None of the jury members wanted to risk their own reputations and be

In Tom Robinson's trial he says, “No suh, I works in his yard fall an' wintertime. I works pretty steady for him all year round, hes got a lot of pecan trees'n things,” he continues then explaining that while he was walking home from work he had to pass the Ewell place. Mayella Violet Ewell asked him one day to come inside the fence and bust up a chiffarobe for her. Once he helped Mayella said ‘I reckon I’ll hafta give you a nickel, wont I?’ and Tom declined the money and went home (Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. 217). Tom Robinson is just a black man, a respectful black man who did nothing but help people around and worked his hardest. He was an innocent man with a terrible label that doomed him since the beginning. The town of maycomb presents Tom Robinson as a guilty man simply because he is a black man and admitted to being capable of feeling sorry for someone who was

Mayella Ewell, a young white woman, accused Tom Robinson of rape and had him imprisoned. Mayella Ewell and her family lived outside a dump and were vulgar, unpleasant, and ignorant, while Tom Robinson was a genuine, friendly, hard-working father with three children and a wife. Even though the town of Maycomb viewed the Ewell family as filth, because they were white and the Robinsons were black, they respected the Ewells more.

Maycomb, a fictional town in Alabama, is very typical of small towns with most of the citizens in the south in the 1930s are white and their opinions are very derogatory towards black people. Their decisions matter the most because they see themselves as higher, more superior being than the black community. The jury's decisions in Tom’s case affects Tom as a mockingbird because the jury is full of white men with a lot of hatred towards black people, and Tom is one of them. On November, 21, Tom is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, daughter of Bob Ewell. Later on next summer there is a trial that consisted of many witnesses testimony against Tom’s. Through the trial, the jury mainly focuses on the fact the case is a

“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” (90). Mockingbirds symbolize innocence in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The story takes place in Alabama during the Great Depression. The three characters are Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Dolphus Raymond who are mockingbirds.

In this novel I thought it was mostly based on symbolism, I found mockingbirds were one of the most reoccurring symbols. Scout and Jem were told by Atticus, There father “Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” At first, Scout did not understand the meaning of this but was later told by Miss Maudie “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, they don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.”

The mockingbird symbolises the novel by being used as sympathy for the suffering of others and being unwilling to help. When the Mockingbird is referred to in the novel Atticus says "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." This is true because the novel uses this to give the reader an image of innocence and peace.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is all about two children, Jem (Jeremy) and Scout (Jean Louise) Finch growing up with racial inequality in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. The symbol of the mockingbird is discussed throughout the book, portraying it with the characters. Tom Robinson was found guilty, even after he had done nothing but help a woman with manual labour for free. Arthur Radley, who was trapped inside his home for a little teenage fun, and becoming the hero at the end, and finally Jem, a young adult who was full of hope, and the cruelty of the real world took his innocence away. Harper Lee uses the symbol of the mockingbird to show that innocence can be taken away by society and learning about the real world.

Tom Robinson’s case regarding a potential rape of Mayella Ewell justifies the fact that racism is present in Maycomb County. Atticus may be the only lawyer in Maycomb County that would defend a black man. This action shows that when one town's member decides to go off the normal path, the repercussions ripple off of Atticus’s decision. The jury also assumes that Tom is guilty solely because he is African American and does not focus on the facts. Racism and prejudice is obviously prevalent in this way. The idea of overcoming the color of skin is relevant and alive by Atticus's actions, showing how he and others can look on the inside instead of the

In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, there was an African American named Tom Robinson who went to court because he was accused of raping a girl named Mayella Ewell. However, this was all a lie and Mayella’s father had planned the trial to go against Tom. Everyone in Maycomb was convinced that Tom was guilty just because he was an African American. However, one man named Atticus Finch, a white lawyer in Maycomb, was told to be Tom’s lawyer. Atticus believed that Tom didn’t rape Mayella, so he tried to protect Robinson and do all he could during the trial to prove his innocence. Sadly, the jury ruled him guilty and he was sent to prison.

There are many symbolisms in to kill a Mockingbird, such as the Radley place symbolizing the fears of children and the feeling to want to face it, or the mad dog symbolizing the unjust punishment the world gives out to its creatures. But what about the most important, the Mockingbird? In to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee it shows the undeserved treatment to the ‘Mockingbirds’, or Tom Robinson, Boo “Arthur” Radley and the Finch children, Scout and Jem.