The Symbolic Nature of Mocking Birds in In To Kill A Mockingbird by Lee Harper

But, Boo Radley is the person who left different kinds of presents for Scout and Jem and even decides to fix Jem’s pants for him. “Some tinfoil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun. I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.” (find page number). In this town of Maycomb, many people believe Boo Radley to be a scary, no one has seen him for years type of person. After doing these kind acts for the kids like giving them presents, he doesn’t seem so much like a threat to society. Near the beginning of the story, Harper Lee expresses the negative feelings of the people in the town of Maycomb toward Boo Radley, but as the story develops, these kids and some people in Maycomb realize he isn’t such a bad guy after all. “Why, we did. We stayed—’ Then whose blanket is that?’ ‘Blanket?’ ‘Yes ma’am, blanket. It isn’t ours.’ I looked down and found myself clutching a brown woolen blanket I was wearing around my shoulders, squaw-fashion.”...“Jem seemed to have lost his mind. He began pouring out our secrets right and left in total disregard for my safety if not for his own, omitting nothing, knot-hole, pants and all. …Mr. Nathan put cement in that tree, Atticus, an‘ he did it to stop us findin’ things—he’s crazy, I reckon, like

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.

The idea of mockingbirds in this text carries great symbolic weight, mockingbirds are considered the innocents in the novel. It is considered a sin to kill a mockingbird, which symbolizes the destruction innocence. Tom Robinson, Arthur “Boo” Radley, Jem and Mr. Raymond can all be identified as mockingbirds - innocents who have been injured or destroyed through contact with evil.

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.

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.

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

In the nineteenth century, mockingbirds were kept in cages so they could sing their beautiful music. Because of this, mockingbirds were nearly almost wiped out of parts of the East Coast. All Mockingbirds do is bring beauty to the world. Mockingbirds symbolize innocence and do not deserve to be wounded by the cruelness of the world. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Dill, Mayella Ewell, Mr. Dolphus Raymond, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are all mockingbirds. They are innocent people that have been harmed or injured in the past and have learned the misery of the world.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird symbolizes Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Boo Radley is symbolized by the mockingbird in two different ways. The first reason that he resembles the mockingbird is that throughout the book, he does not harm Jem or Scout, and actually helps them. This is like a mockingbird because mockingbirds provide beautiful music for us to enjoy, and are not a vicious animal. When Jem, Dill, and Scout snuck into the Radley yard, Boo helped cover up their tracks. After Mr. Nathan Radley shot at Jem, Jem lost his pants. When he returned to get his pants, Jem found them hung neatly on the fence, sewn up by Boo. Boo also gave the children gifts through the tree. He placed items, including soap dolls, chewing gum, a medal, a watch,

A mockingbird symbolizes innocence because they only make music for people to enjoy. They do not harm anyone or anything, which

Even though he kept to himself he was still accused of doing terrible things like driving 'scissors into his parent's leg' and dining 'on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch'. Apart from these completely unfair and unproven accusations he also was subjected to solitary confinement in his 'home'. All this was because he had a mental illness, and all he ever did was do the best that he could with the mind that he had. Boo Radley is a mockingbird because he is kind, gentle and always tries his best. Like Tom, he was thrown into a bad situation by the townsfolk and their biased and inaccurate views. That forced him to to react as best he could which was 'killing' Bob Ewell. He saved Jem and Scout, who where kids who had previously suspected him to be a monster, and that he had even previously left 'perfect miniatures' of them, for them. Although by some peoples standards, killing is never the 'right' option, Boo did what he thought was right, and he saved the kids lives. Boo is a mockingbird because he is innocent, and was put under the burden of the towns out of date views of society.

According to Miss Maudie; “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” (10). Mockingbirds, in Harper Lee’s novel, symbolize the innocence one could have; the innocence that conveys the meaning that if someone doesn’t do anything wrong, why should they be harmed? Boo Radley symbolizes the mockingbird in the story as he was described to be this viscous phantom that was said to have attacked his father, but really, he was just an innocent man that had been given false judgments for being a monster because he was different from the others. To conclude, being different fits with the central idea as people would mostly likely judge knowing not what their characteristics were, whether they were truly labeled as different for being monstrous or for being misunderstood, because there’s always more than what meets the eye.

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.

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

A hardworking, kind father and husband, falsely accused of rape – a situation that perfectly resembles symbolism used in the novel. Essentially, this predicament is used to demonstrate those who are virtuous, but receive unwanted attention. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the birds are used to symbolize those who portray great sincerity but are tormented by others, which is shown through metaphors, dialogue between the Finch family, and characterization. First, metaphors are used in the book to explain to the reader what it means to be a mockingbird.

Music in Maycomb Mockingbirds, Finches, and Bluejays are peaceful and harmless creatures. These wonderful birds are all referenced sometime throughout the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. A Mockingbird is used as symbolism in the novel to show that there is no point to kill one if they are harmless, peaceful, and they sing great music to everyone.. As each bird sings a song each character sing their own unique song that represents them. To compare, the characters can also be seen as birds in a way that songs represent the characters and their characteristics.