Theme Of Innocence In Lord Of The Flies And To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is best known as a literary classic, telling the tale of a young girl named Jean Louise “Scout” Finch’s childhood in a southern Alabama town during the great depression. While the fate of a black male convicted of rape still looms in the synopsis. To Kill a Mockingbird the title of the novel, refers to a quote on page 119. Both said by Atticus Finch the town of Maycomb's lawyer and Miss Maudie his neighbor, “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”. As said by Miss Maudie “ 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” (Lee 119). The title of this novel isn’t only referencing this quote,

A principle of growing up is that at some point, every child goes through a loss of innocence. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, it is easy to see the young characters growing up and beginning to notice things they never noticed before. One character in particular being Jem. He goes through the maturing stage throughout the book and it recognizes how he did so. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem faces a loss of innocence causing him to see from a more mature point of view.

They are lost and alone, no one around, just them, the ocean and a tropical paradise. With no civilization, no regulations, or even mild things like a place to sleep, the young boys will find find out what they must do to survive alone in the unknown. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding the theme loss of innocence is clearly demonstrated throughout the book. The proper British boys were on a plane that crashed onto a tropical island. Without adults and the oldest boy being twelve, the boys must learn to survive themselves. Without civilization and authority to guide them, they turn to savagery and violence. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding portrays loss of innocence by exhibiting how people change when they realize what they

Within the novel innocence is progressively lost through the boys. The boys were placed in a situation where they had no other choice but to grow up, and grow up fast. These boys were put in a very traumatic situation and they had to learn on their own and from each other how to survive and almost create a thriving society all on their own. Slowly they learn that their needs to be a leader, but there are no adults to precede the role of authority. Therefore the children resume power and take the role of authority. All these things make the boys lose their innocence and become very violent. No one is completely innocent and everyone has the ability to turn violent, this is demonstrated in William

In this novel, innocence is represented from all ages yet all still contribute to the mockingbird factor. Charles Baker “Dill” Harris doesn’t develop and mature throughout the story. In this way, he is seen as a mocking bird because he’s innocent by his childish actions. His childish actions flow throughout To Kill A Mockingbird and he never changes this lifestyle, because that’s all he knows how to do. An example of this is in the court scene when we wasn’t aware of what’s going on, “Dill leaned across me and asked Jem what Atticus was doing”(Lee 254). In this scene the children snuck into the courthouse to listen to Atticus defend Tom Robinson, and Dill is questioning what is happening in the court.This scene is an example of

Evil on the innocent affects them to a manner in which they lose their innocence. This is seen when the innocents of The Lord Of The Flies and To Kill A Mockingbird encounter injustice and evil. Firstly, the injustice and evil actions can cause the innocents to lose their innocence by making the innocents question what they have known and been taught by revealing them to the harsh truth. It is seen in The Lord Of The Flies when the audience and Simon make a revelation. The beast haunting the children on the island is nothing more than the children’s own inner instinct and that which is made clear when the physical manifestation of the beast, which was the head of the pig surrounded in flies, talks to Simon in his clearing. The beast states that “QUOTE HERE INTERTWINE WELL PLZ”. This revelation, although a prior thought to Simon when he believes that the beast is “only us”(QUOTE CITE PLZ), shocks Simon into disbelief and later, unfortunately, faces the harsh truthfulness of the beast’s words as he dies to the hands of boys and their inner savagery. The harsh truth can also be seen in To Kill a Mockingbird with the character Jem. Jem is a person who believes that the legal system is a surefire way of delivering justice and that it was to never fail. During the case of Tom Robinson however, Jem faces the harsh truth. He watches as the jury convicts Tom Robinson as guilty and feels each guilty as a “separate stab between [his shoulders]”. The stabbing motion can represent the

Boo Radley is the one example of innocence. For example, when Jem goes back to the radley house to get his pants , he does not tell scout what had happened until a while later saying, “ When i went back, they were folded across the fence .... like they were expectin’ me… They’d been sewed up. Not like a lady sewed ‘em , like somethin’ i’d try to do. All crooked.”(pg. 78) Him doing this displays to the children that he is not there to harm them but instead has a loving heart.

The characters in To Kill A Mockingbird and the people in our society don’t understand our world until they’ve experienced a loss of innocence. Growing up is a hard part of life. When people are younger, they’re naive and not aware of anything outside their home. When experiencing loss of innocence, people are more aware of right and wrong. People are beginning the rules and concepts of life. Experiencing a life lesson can lead to a loss of innocence. People are finally maturing and understanding situations from others perspectives.

Everyday, people of all ages lose their innocence and develop morally through their daily experiences. Children deal with mishaps on the playground, conflicts with friends and family, and trouble in school. Similarly, Adults deal with conflicts within their own families, problems at work, and the loss of a loved one. In each situation, the person is learning important lessons that impact the way a person thinks, acts, approaches situations, and treats others. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem loses his innocence and grows morally through his daily experiences in three stages of understanding in Maycomb, Alabama.

"...I live with regrets - the bittersweet loss of innocence - the red track of the moon upon the lake - the inability to return and do it again..." (John Geddes) This quote illustrates how the boys in the Lord of the Flies by William Goulding would feel leaving, they will live with regret for what happened on the island for the rest of their lives. For on the island is where they lose their innocence at such early ages. In the Lord of the Flies, one of the major themes is the loss of innocence. The boy’s loss of innocence is displayed throughout the novel as they shed their clothes, through the killing of the pigs, and kill Simon and Piggy.

make fun of or judge a guest of the house. In her innocence, she had

Do you have a younger sibling? Or cousin? You know, the one who asks all the questions about everything, the person who just doesn’t understand all that political talk, and almost always acts like world is an amazing place? Yes, that kid. We’ve all encountered them, and labeled their behavior as either cute or downright annoying, but have you ever thought of why? Why they love the world so much? Why they don’t “get” it? Are they just ignorant, or is it innocence? In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee chose Scout Finch, the youngest and a child, to narrate the story to prove how children’s innocence cause them to have a less biased view on the world compared to adults, who do not have the same innocence and therefore stick to their set ways.

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.

How does innocence and vulnerability in society reflect off of symbolic creatures? In To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, a black male accused of raping a white woman, is considered a mockingbird by how he is harmless yet held responsible for a raping crime only because he's an easy target. Mockingbirds are described as innocent creatures that only sing songs and don't cause harm to others. To destroy a mockingbird is to destroy innocence, such as if Robinson was killed innocence would be gone. In literature and history, symbolic mockingbirds demonstrate the vulnerability and innocence of humans in society. Mockingbirds are popular in literature, and is found in many different novels, such as Lord of the Flies. After Piggy runs around following Ralph, breathing hard he says, “My

To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a tiny southern town in Alabama in 1932. The tiny town of Maycomb was home to deep rooted racism. Two children named Scout and Jem live in this town with their father Atticus and when their father is sent to defend a black man their lives see a dramatic change. The children soon learn the harsh truth of their little town and lose a childhood full of innocence. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee foreshadows a loss of innocence through the symbolic significance of building a snowman, a harsh fire, and a mockingbird.