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.

Lee implies that people learn lessons through life experiences that school can ever teach. Throughout this novel, Atticus taught his kids many lessons that was hard for them to hear at times, but it later on helped them in the story. Or it helped them grow up and mature. On page 40 of To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus was explaining to Scout that Miss.Caroline was new and didn’t know anyone, and she especially didn’t know the Cunningham’s story, Atticus states, “Atticus said… but if Walter and I had put ourselves in her shoes we’d have seen it was an honest mistake on her part” (40). This quote by Atticus is meant to explain to Scout that Miss. Caroline just made an honest human mistake. He tried to get Scout to realize that if he put herself in Miss.Caroline’s shoes then she might better understand the confusion. Obviously you can’t really be in her shoes, but he said it figuratively to show her why it was important to give her another chance, or at least try to be nice and listen. Atticus taught this to Scout at home later on that night. At her school after that she tried to just get by in her class. Lee also shows mainly throughout that the school system doesn’t help when it comes to teaching children life lessons. As shown in the earlier quote Atticus, had told Scout to jump in Walter’s shoes, and walk around in it. This other quote shows how Scout actually takes into consideration of Atticus’ words, and chooses to not bother Jem because she tried to imagine what it had

The ambition of oneself to pursue justice and righteousness may result in prosecution. In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, and movie "A Time to Kill" by Joel Schumacher, each demonstrate one’s open-mindedness and forward thinking leads to penalization through protagonists Atticus Finch and Jake Brigance. Both egalitarians take the position as an attorney for an African American and are prosecuted in the process.

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,

When Atticus reluctantly gave the children air-rifles, he told them, “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (93). It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because no one should hurt anything so virtuous. Miss Maudie agreed with Atticus’s warning and added, “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” (93).

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.

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.

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

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.

Atticus tells the two children that they can shoot all of the tin cans and bluejays that they’d like, but to remember that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. This piques Scout’s curiosity, causing her to seek out and ask Ms. Maudie, a resident of Maycomb and one of the Finch family’s neighbors, about it. Her explanation is as such: It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird because they don’t do anything except make music for people to enjoy. They cause no trouble and thus should be left alone. This is significant and reworded in multiple ways throughout the novel, and there are several characters that can be considered

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.

Mayella Ewell is an abused young woman in Maycomb, Alabama who accused an African American man Tom Robinson of rape during the Great Depression in the early 1930’s. Mayella took advantage of the Jim Crow laws so she could end the mental and physical abuse her father caused. Since Mayella is white and female, she has power. Although she lives behind a dumpster this still provides a significant amount of power for her. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird” Harper Lee shows Mayella’s power for class during the trial.

The reasoning for this was that mocking birds never harm anyone or anything, therefore there is no reason to kill them. Take this into deeper context, and what Atticus meant is there is no point in harming others who have never done wrong to you. Someone who could be considered as a mockingbird in the story is Tom Robinson. He is the black man who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell- a white teenager. Atticus takes on the role Tom Robinson’s lawyer, and the case becomes very personal for Scout and Jem. Scout and Jem both learn a lot from the