To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis

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 intriguing novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is written by the prestigious author Harper Lee. Lee has utilised the lifestyle and attitudes towards ‘African-Americans" in the 1930's to create a novel which presents the reader with Lee's attitudes and values. The dominant reading of the novel is focused on the issues of racial prejudice, but there are also a number of other alternative and oppositional readings. Examples of this are the Marxist and feminist readings which can be applied to the text.

As the famous American author, Nerburn, says,“It is much easier to become a father than to be one”(http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/fathers-quotes). Nerburn writes about how hard it is to be an eligible father .He proposes the question, “Do people think their father is the person who is able to provide them a lot of guidance or help? In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout live with their father, Atticus, who is a lawyer, and regard him as an excellent example. However, Scout and Jem don’t value Atticus as a father with full diligence because he is elder than most of other students’ father and he is not able to do any sports. Due to the accident with the mad dog, atticus’s educations and the case of Tom Robinson, Jem and Scout come to understand, respect, and finally admire their father.

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

Furthermore, Miss Maudie tells Scout, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but… sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee 93) Over the course of the story, to kill a mockingbird is associated with pointlessly killing the innocent. Some characters that can be represented by the mockingbird are Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Boo Radley, for example, hasn’t done anything to harm others since the day he stabbed his father with a pair of scissors. He did not mutilate animals or eat them raw, nor did he poison pecans, unlike what the rumors stated to make him appear villainous. Instead, Boo attempted to befriend Jem and Scout, leaving them gifts to show his kindness. Moreover, Tom Robinson is perceived as a mockingbird because he lost his life in attempts to help Mayella Ewell because he felt sorry for her, as he said in court. The jury then interpreted his pity as Tom thinking he is superior to her, which was “prohibited by racism” at the time since he was a black man with condolence towards a white woman.Equally important is the symbolism behind the mad dog. Furthermore, during the beginning of the trial, Scout sees, “...something only a lawyer's child could be expected to see, could be expected to watch for, and it was like watching Atticus walk into the street, raise a rifle to his shoulder and pull the trigger, but watching all the time knowing that the gun was empty.” Here,

Atticus said to Jem one day “ I’d rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, 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.” Scout then wondered what Attius meant by this, she’s never heard Atticus say to do something was a sin. She then asked Miss Maudie. She told Scout “ “Your father’s right,” she said. “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 but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. “ What the motif of a mockingbird symbolizes is the good black people in the town, they don’t do nothin’ to nobody. They are simply

Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill a Mockingbird details the life of young Scout Finch and brother Jem Finch, who is growing up in a time of racial uniqueness. Jem and Scout Finch are what most would call a typical family growing up in the small Alabama town of Maycomb. They encounter many different obstacles during their childhood missions with many characters making the novel an interesting read. Throughout the book, Lee is showing Jem and Scout grow up and become mature young adults. This novel, written by Harper Lee, demonstrates the themes of growing up, Innocence and most importantly, racism.

When Scout is describing her father, Atticus, and how he told Jem before that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Since this is the first time that scout has ever heard Atticus say that something was sinful, Scout questions Miss Maudie why. Miss Maudie replies “ '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' ” (Lee 103). With this response Scout understands that a mockingbird symbolizes good-hearted and innocent people who are seen negatively by false accusations. By "killing" a mockingbird it means that you are killing someone's true and kind-hearted intentions and replacing it with bad ones. Before being aware that Boo was the one leaving the knot hole she viewed him as a frightful man. With that an epiphany that Scout encounters here is that Boo really meant no harm to her and her brother Jem but he wanted to show benevolence and friendliness towards them.

In the book, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, there are many characters that can be seen as being truthful and wholesome, but only a few characters could be seen as a coherent comparison to a “mockingbird”. Throughout this book, numerous characters talk about the innocence and goodness of mockingbirds. When the main characters Scout and Jem received guns for Christmas, their dad told them not to kill mockingbirds because they do nothing wrong. “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (93, Lee)

It is seen as an opinion that the protagonists of the story share that to do harm to something that means you none such as a mockingbird is wrong. Atticus, Scout’s dad, tells the kids of the sin after arming them with an air rifle capable of killing birds. “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 (90). This quote from Miss Maudie supports Atticus’s thought that to kill something so good is wrong. This powerful concept of mockingbirds is also

“Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee pg. 90). The bird, mentioned nearly twice, seems to show little importance to the story. Nonetheless, it resembles the perception of some characters. The one time Scout had ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do anything was when referring to the mockingbird. He advised his children when hunting to never shoot a mockingbird. Miss Maudie followed with further detail by explaining that “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 pg.90).

After Atticus gave Scout and Jem air rifles for Christmas, he told them that if they were going to shoot birds, they must not shoot mockingbirds. Scout asked Miss Maudie what she thought about Atticus’s order, and she agreed. Mockingbirds are innocent and only do good for humans. They sing and do not deserve to die senselessly. Throughout the novel “To Kill a Mockingird,” the mockingbird serves as a symbol of innocence.

All mockingbirds do is sing for us and do not cause us any harm. Atticus is trying to tell his children that it is not right to harm anyone, but especially someone who is innocent. This lesson was important for Jem and Scout, because they see many mockingbirds in Maycomb that have been harmed for no reason.

“But remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). Scout and Jem are reminded of this by both Atticus and Ms. Maudie after they are allowed the use of guns, on Christmas. First and foremost, this theme is the title of Harper Lee’s book and she uses it as symbolism for the presence of good and evil. The idea of “mockingbirds” is to represent the good, innocent people who are destroyed by evil. Boo Radley, for instance, is like a mockingbird—just as mockingbirds do not harm people but only “sing their hearts out for us,” (Lee 119), Boo does not harm anyone, instead, he leaves Jem and Scout presents, and covers Scout with a blanket during the fire in Ms. Maudie's house.

The story, in the eyes of two innocent children Scout and her brother Jem, of the discrimination and hypocrisy throughout the town. Maycomb County, Alabama, faces an African American’s injustice while the children learn valuable lessons from their father, Atticus and their housemaid Calpurnia, during the Great Depression. All the while, we are learning from it. To Kill a Mockingbird teaches us the lessons of morale, justice and equality.