Theme Of Voice In To Kill A Mockingbird

People always wondered what a mockingbird represents. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the narrator Jean Louise Finch lives in Maycomb, Alabama, with her brother Jeremy Finch, her dad Atticus Finch, and her mother-figure Calpurnia. She learns many lessons in her life including “You never truly understand a person until you put yourself in their shoes ” and “It is a sin to kill mockingbirds.” This ties in that a mockingbird symbolizes innocence, which proves that one should not judge someone else until they truly get to know them because one must truly know another before deeming them as evil or innocent.

A composer uses their text to explore themes that are pertinent to the human condition to highlight their purpose and message. This concept of exploring themes becomes ignited in To Kill A Mockingbird (1960). In her text, Lee maintains the essence of society during the civil rights movement and the Great Depression. She embarks on a journey to present the consequences of a society built on bigotry, prejudice and racism through the theme of the coexistence of good and evil. Lee’s purpose is to raise awareness and make society recognize its mistreatment of others through critiquing the Southern States of America through the microcosm of Maycomb.

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.

Harper Lee’s most iconic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a story of prejudice and racism. The novel takes place in the depression stricken town of Maycomb County and follows a girl named Scout as she learns and experiences the good and evil taking place in her community. As suggested by the title, the mockingbird plays an important role in the book as it represents innocence and the slaying of one represent the loss of innocence. The symbolic mockingbirds in To Kill a Mockingbird are Boo Radley, Jem and Tom Robinson.

“ I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” [p.119] In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, this issue is mentioned various times. There are three mockingbirds, Mayella Ewell, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson.

Harper Lee use of symbolism is extent and throughout the major events in To Kill a Mockingbird to show the details behind the events. A seven-year old girl, Scout, tells the story and symbols may not be as obvious to her as it would the reader. Lee uses the camellias, courage, and the mockingbird as important symbols in the book. Lee uses symbolism throughout the book making it overt and obvious.

To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written by author Harper Lee, sets itself in the time period of the early 1930s. As the novel articulates how intense racism was in South America in the 1930s, another hidden theme is introduced at the very beginning of the novel. Although the idea of understanding another person by putting yourself in another person’s shoe is not as significant compared to the idea of racism in the early 1930s, this theme plays a vital role throughout the novel and delivers an important message to the readers through the use of dialogues between characters.

The novella 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee, is a very well known book which uses symbolism to further push the issue of racism. The way the ideas of racism and further issues are shown through smaller parts of the book such as the Mad Dog Atticus is forced to shoot and other things are represented by the Mockingbird itself, this essay will explain how some of these important symbols may be interpreted. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the mad dog to represent Prejudice and the Mockingbird to represent racism.

In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scout grow up learning how people in Maycomb treat one another. In a large portion of the novel, characters of the rich and the poor are involved in Tom Robinson’s case. Some characters are mockingbirds (someone or something that only does good), but nobody was able to see how they could be. Maycomb is infected with racism and prejudice affecting how people view one another including the mockingbirds and the innocent: Mr. Dolphus Raymond, Mayella Ewell, and Walter Cunningham.

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.

The highly regarded book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee uses effective metaphors, symbolism and emotive language to represent the writers purpose which is to explore the race relations between African Americans and White Americans in the south of the US (Maycomb, Alabama) in the 1930s from the perspective of a young child. This influential piece of American literature will always have a place as one of the greatest representations of American culture and life in the 1930s.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, symbolism is used to show the innocence of the children and the innocence of some people. There are a few main children in this story. The main characters are, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, Jeremy Atticus, "Jem" Finch, Charles Baker "Dill" Harris, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Boo symbolizes innocence even though he isn't a child anymore. The mockingbird also symbolizes innocence.

The mockingbird is used as a symbol throughout Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In the book, it states several times that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. This is because mockingbirds do us no harm and sing beautiful music for us to enjoy. It would be a sin to kill something so innocent and pure. Therefore, the mockingbird is symbolic of both the loss of innocence and the unjust persecution of the innocent. There are symbolic mockingbirds that are represented by many people throughout the novel, such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Jem and Scout Finch.

Harper Lee uses this technique to achieve the goal of setting up the problem. “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, 119). The mockingbird symbolizes the innocence of the town. It is a sin to kill them because all they do is bring joy and benefits to the community. They also don’t do anything wrong. For example, Boo Radley represents a mockingbird because he is innocent and nobody should do anything to hurt him. Boo Radley stayed in the house, therefore he didn’t do anything to anyone, and when he did come out, it was to help Jem and Scout since he loved them like they were his children. He liked to stay isolated and his wish should be granted since he is innocent. “Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting, or escaping. He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters of children” (Lee, 323). In the book, Tom Robinson is the most obvious person that represents the mockingbird and why it is a sin to kill them. Tom Robinson symbolizes the mockingbird because he clearly didn’t rape Mayella Ewell, yet still got wrongfully accused for it, then shot to death. He helped out the town, did handywork, and wasn’t rude to anyone, proving his innocence. It is a sin that Maycomb not only found him guilty, but also shot him to death since he did nothing wrong.Harper Lee uses the technique of symbolism when talking about the mockingbirds of the community. This sets up the problem because it shows all the sins that would be committed when someone kills a mockingbird, or kills/does something mean to the innocent, helpful people of

This proves the theme of loss of innocence as Jem was actively trying to lose his innocence and grow up. Jem was always a figure that Scout looked up to, just as much as Atticus.