Mockingbirds are innocent and free from corruption,but how would you think that some characters are Mockingbirds? To Kill a Mockingbird is about a lawyer, Atticus Finch, simply defending an African American, Tom Robinson from a rape charge. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are innocent and free from the disease of Maycomb County. That disease is racism and hate. Atticus is a man made from morals, Tom is a scared African-American, and Boo just wants to get away from the chaos outside his home. Yet so many want to hurt them, someone threatened Atticus, Tom is being charged with something he did not do, and Boo has dangerous rumors of him stabbing his father with scissors. With all this pain to these Mockingbirds, Isn’t it a sin to …show more content…
When he chose to help Mayella, he never asked for money, yet he is getting falsely charged of rape to a white woman, and is now dead. ‘“No suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first time. I was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn’t seem to help her none, and neither did the chilling, and I knew she didn’t have no nickels to spare”’(256). Tom never hesitates to help out of compassion and kindness. He is African-American, so this makes the charge worse because people of that time will usually believe that African-Americans would beat and rape an innocent helpless white woman. Everyone in the courthouse knew that Tom was innocent, but the greed and bigotry of the jury caused Tom to be guilty and shot seventeen times. Tom’s compassionate and benevolent behavior makes him a great example of a mockingbird; harmless and innocent. Tom’s death shows an escape from hate and chaos, whereas Boo prefers to stay inside his home. Boo is considered to be a Mockingbird because he decides to stay inside from the outside world of injustice and disorder, he also understands what occurs in the town and wishes to keep to himself from it. The folks in Maycomb make rumors that he is not a nice man and even made a game about him, yet he left his house after many years of being isolated, saved Scout and Jem from the Bob Ewell’s attack. ‘“Will
Tom Robinson is wrongfully convicted of rape and eventually killed in prison, whereas Boo Radley is killed emotionally because he is not accepted by society. Since it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a sin to kill innocent souls like Tom and Boo. When Scout tries to understand why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, Miss Maudie elucidates Atticus’s opinion more clearly by stating, “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” (103). Mockingbirds sing and make beautiful music; however they mimic the songs of other birds, so they are seen through others. Tom and Boo are like mockingbirds because they are subject to the perceptions of the people of Maycomb. The townspeople knew these characters based on what others said about them. Consequently, Tom and Boo do not have their own “song” and are portrayed by others’ views of them. The mockingbird emerges as a metaphor for the wrong in harming innocent and defenseless people.
They are all innocent characters who have been harmed even though they themselves are harmless. Atticus says to Jem and Scout, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”, telling them that that seeing things from one’s point of view is the only way that they can be truly understood. Harper Lee places these symbolic mockingbirds throughout her novel to help spread her warnings of the dangers of prejudice. That if one does not take the time to consider things from another person’s point of view, there is a risk that that person will be misunderstood and be
A character that displays many aspects of being a mockingbird is Boo Radley. Boo is a man who initially in the story does not come out of his house due to his fear of being persecuted. He is seen as the town mystery and some people do not even believe he exists. On page 44, two of the the main characters who are children named Jem and Scout are walking home from school when they start finding a gifts inside a tree knot hole outside of the Radley place. The children assume the gifts are from Boo and their assumptions are later proven correct. The act of Boo giving the children gifts makes him appear as he cares for the children. In like manner, Boo exhibits the kindness of a mockingbird is on page 95. While watching Miss Maudie’s house fire someone wraps a blanket around Scout, but she does not realise until she gets back home. She guesses Boo Radley was the one who did it and again her guess was proven correct. This act of kindness models his selflessness. Lastly, throughout the story Boo is described as
Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are both are both considered mockingbirds throughout the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Tom Robinson is considered a mockingbird because he is a crippled man and cannot and will not do any harm to people. Tom is a mockingbird for those reasons even though he was convicted of raping and hitting Mayella Ewell, all Tom wanted to do was help her because he felt bad for her but ended up paying the ultimate price. Boo is also considered a mockingbird because although he has been thought to be a crazy murderer he has done nothing to hurt anyone whatsoever. All Boo has done in their lives is save the children from death, which is helping like a mockingbird does.
To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee takes the title of her novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, and applies it to the actual story because the imagery of the mockingbird represents the “mockingbirds” in the novel of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. A mockingbird is harmless and does nothing but sing and bring joy to the world. At the beginning of the book, Boo is a big help to the children, giving them something to make of out of their games, as well as something to talk about. Later in the story, it becomes clear that Boo has most of the character out of all the citizens of Maycomb, showing a symbol of what is pure and harmless.
After Jem and Scout Finch received their air rifles, Atticus Finch advised them to distinguish between a blue jay and a mockingbird, because it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. “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. Thats why its a sin to kill a mockingbird,” (119). To Kill a Mockingbird is story written by Nelle Harper Lee that portrays a story of Atticus Finch defending an innocent black man accused of rape and Boo Radley, a mysterious neighbor who saves Scout and Jem from death, all through the eyes of Scout. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee compares Tom Robinson and Boo Radley to an innocent mockingbird in order to symbolize how these characters cause no harm but people still assume the worst of them.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the mockingbird is treated as sacred. It is considered a sin to kill a mockingbird in Maycomb County, Alabama. The mockingbird does not bothered anybody or harm anyone. Throughout the story we see different characters showcasing the characteristics of a mockingbird. All these characters do not bother anyone in society, but are still being brought down.
Scout explains, “Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people's azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. Any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work.” (Lee, 10). Because Boo chose to isolate himself, the town has many rumors about Boo. This causes many people to grow up hearing these rumors about this strange person, Boo ends up becoming this strange vision of a person because no one knows any better. The town made a mockingbird out of Boo, making up all these rumors about him because he isolated himself from the world and he doesn’t conform to societal norms and expectations, this makes it really easy for many people to make rumors about Boo. However, Boo isn’t actually a bad guy. Boo saves Jem‘s life, and scout realizes that he’s always watching over the kids. Scout figures out, “... but as I gazed at him in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into a timid smile, and our
Throughout the book ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, the theme that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird is brought up often. It’s even in the title of the book. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley represent a mockingbird in the book. It is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because they are harmless and mostly do good for other creatures. Atticus says to Jem, “I’d rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds.
To Kill a Mockingbird, in an indirect way, is a story about the death of a “mockingbird” and the aftermath of the event. There is no literal mockingbird as a character within the story; rather; the mockingbird symbolizes the innocent characters within the story. One important mockingbird within the story was Arthur “Boo” Radley, a mysterious man who had, prior to the ending, never been the subject of a confirmed sighting in Scout’s time. According to Scout, he was, in his earlier years, involved in minor gang related activity, and now he is pretty much under the equivalent of house arrest. Allegedly, he stabbed his dad with a scissors once; since then, he became the subject of many rumors. Specifically, characters within the book said that
The destruction of Mockingbird There aren’t many mockingbirds in the world today, are you one of them? The book To Kill a Mockingbird is filled with action and tension between blacks and white throughout the town. And with the Tom Robinson case it only makes thing worse. With this said it’s all narrated by a 9 year old girl that asked one question that sparked the whole book. Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson are people that are greatly considered to be mockingbirds or Innocent people throughout the novel.
Many of the Finch’s neighbors in Maycomb had stories, or more accurately, rumors, about Boo that characterized him as a rabid monster in human form. As the story progressed, these bits of information that Scout and Jem thought they understood about Boo became increasingly implausible. Jem’s first experience with this was when Boo had folded, sewn, and placed his pants on top of the fence in his backyard where they had been snagged a few days prior; Scout’s was when Boo stealthily placed a blanket on her cold shoulders the night when Mrs. Maudie's house burned down. The final revelation of his pure nature was when Scout, “...finally saw him” at the end of the novel and realized, “...he hadn’t done any of those things…he was real nice” (Lee chapter 31). Boo in fact, was as innocent as a
The mockingbird is referred to commonly in this novel. The town of Maycomb seem to believe that the mockingbird is peaceful, pure, and innocent. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up peoples gardens, nest in corn ribs. 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). This quote from miss Maudie describes the nature of the mockingbird, showing its kindness and innocence. The mocking bird can be portrayed as Tom Robinson, Atticus, and Boo Radley. Though these three figures are innocent without doubt, they still receive criticism of prejudice throughout the town, though they still hold courage. "It's when you know your liked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do." (Lee 112). Atticus gets ridiculed by the town of Maycomb just for defending a black man in court, the place where each man should have as much as a chance as the other. Atticus still follows through with what he believes in, what he thinks is right throughout the story, in his own definition he held his
Mockingbirds do nothing but sing for people so it is a sin when they are killed. Lee uses Tom and Boo to personify the theme of the mockingbird. Boo is an innocent man who is criticized by the people of Maycomb due to his abnormal behavior. He lives in isolation which makes him different from the rest of the town, and as a result of how he goes about his life, he is the target of vicious rumors. People said that Boo “went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows.
Atticus Finch once stated, "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” When people bring up mockingbirds, many remember all that they do is sing. Mockingbirds don't harm us in anyway. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, many characters actually symbolize the mockingbird. The mockingbird is an enormous factor in the book. To Kill a Mockingbird is a tale set in the Deep South, in Macomb Alabama during the 1930’s. The book represents a dysfunctional American society which results in extensive segregation and racial problems. As stated above, Atticus proclaimed that it was “a sin to kill a mockingbird”, as mockingbirds are gentle and always brought happiness to the world.