To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Essay

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the trial in the novel is one of the most important incidents that takes place in the text. It is very important to our understanding of the text as a whole as it shows the racial discrimination in that time period of the 1920 – 1930’s and how society in the 20th century has improved and has become more accepting of different races throughout the world as a whole. The topics that will be discussed in this essay are the trial and how it represented a prejudiced society, what happened after the trial and the effects that the trial had on the children.

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

As children grow up, they open their eyes to the harsh truths in the world around them that they once did not understand or question. This is experienced by the main characters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is of a girl called Scout and her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when the children’s lawyer father, Atticus, takes the case of an obviously innocent African-American man and they convict him in their hearts before the trial even starts. Through this all, we can see the theme of loss of innocence in the children. Lee uses characterization to portray

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird innocence is spread throughout the novel. Innocence is connected to the mockingbird because they do nothing but sing. There are three examples of innocence within the novel; Boo Radley, Mayella Ewell, and Tom Robinson.

The Tuskegee Institute has recorded 3,446 black and 1,297 white people have been lynched between 1882 and 1962, most of these people were innocent and even the guilty among them did not deserve a death sentence, sadly no one tried to defend them. Unlike Atticus and Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird no one defended the innocent. The main idea of To Kill A Mockingbird is to protect the innocent this is shown throughout the book with many characters but primarily with Atticus Finch and Boo Radley.

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy, that’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a book of exploration of the moral nature of human beings—that is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. A young girl named Scout deals with the issues of racism while gaining knowledge, experience, strength, and courage, while her father, a lawyer, is persecuted for defending a falsely accused black man being charged with raping a white girl. Many characters are judged upon their race, behavior, and social class.

The title “To Kill A Mockingbird” is taken from a quote in the book, where Atticus says "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (lee Later, Miss Maudie Atkinson states that "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy." (p.177). This shows that mocking birds are innocent, and that is why Atticus strongly forbids his children to kill them. To Kill a Mockingbird novels theme is how prejudice affects the town of maycomb,alabama. Also, the mockingbird symbolizes innocence. All the birds do is sing for you and give you pleasure in what is natural and enjoyment to them (singing for you). Theydont harm,. They are fragile,loveable, weak, and helpless birds. In the

Imagine a world where evil and unjust actions are based on the color of skin; a world where some don’t even realize that they are prejudicing. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, these themes are present. People and how they commit evil, hypocritical, and unjust acts. We see these themes and great issues through the point of view of a child; the vigorous, youthful, elementary-aged Scout. Through this character Harper Lee shows the innocence of children, and what they go through in our inequitable world.

Through the use of Scout’s innocent nature and the words and actions carried out by the townspeople, Harper Lee’s critical tone regarding prejudice is revealed.

Tom Robinson in “To Kill A MockingBird” was falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewill. Atticus proves that Tom didn’t rape Mayella, but the jury wouldn’t acquire him because of his skin color. They believed the Ewill’s fake story over Tom’s true story (Lee 276-283). Atticus caught Mayella in several

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

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.

Throughout the book, innocence is shown often, but is also not seen a few times. You might be honest, but still guilty. You also may be stupid, but still guilty. For example, innocence is present in those we call “Mockingbirds.” Miss Maudie says, ‘“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy”’ (119). This shows that Mockingbirds are harmless, innocent creatures just as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are for example. But, sometimes it takes a while to realize someone’s innocence. Atticus acknowledges, ‘“Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them”’ (376). In this, Atticus is again referring to Boo Radley and his innocence. Nobody was really sure about the guy, he seemed a little sketchy, if that’s the right word. But then they started to realize how innocent and harmless he actually is. It seems cliche, but never judge a book by its cover. The inside is what genuinely

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a beautiful story depicting a family living in the South of the 1930’s, and their struggle against the prejudice which was common to that time. The book centers on Atticus Finch, the father of the family as well as a lawyer, and his fight against prejudice. We see the story unfold through the innocent eyes of his young daughter, Scout, who is free from prejudice and not yet jaded. By viewing events as Scout sees them, the author shows us how to overcome prejudices, and gain tolerance.

Tom Robinson is the biggest and worst kind of prejudice in the whole novel. Because of his race, he is immediately judged when he is accused of molesting Mayella Ewell. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, knows that Tom is innocent but is doing all he can to prove that Tom raped his daughter. Mr. Ewell is claiming that he heard Mayella screaming and witnessed Tom on top of Mayella which is a lie. During trial, Atticus makes very convincing statements that prove that Tom is innocent. However, since there are only white redneck farmers on the jury, Tom is at a disadvantage. The jury ignores all of the facts and convicts him because of his race. This is no surprise to anyone