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To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Quotes

Decent Essays

The Destruction of Innocence A quote by Tiffany Madison says, “No one loses their innocence. It is either taken away or given away willingly.” This quote relates strongly to the book To Kill a Mockingbird. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses mockingbirds to convey the innocence of people in the town of Maycomb. The story is told from the eyes of the child narrator Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout. As the story moves towards the end, Scout sees that she, Jem, and Tom Robinson, innocent people of Maycomb, are destroyed by ignorance, racism, and pride. The author’s use of Jem shows how innocence can be crushed by the ignorance of the judges of Maycomb. During the trial of Tom Robinson, Jem was very confident that his father, Atticus Finch, would win the trial. But when the judges came back to reveal who had won, Jem was shocked. “Judge Taylor was polling the Jury: Guilty… Guilty… Guilty… Guilty…, I (Scout) peeked at Jem: His hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them.”(Lee 178) This relates back to the thesis because …show more content…

Tom Robinson lived a normal life for a young black man. He walked to work every day and helped others when they needed it, but one day on his way to work, Mayella Ewell asked him for help and took advantage of him. But she blamed it on him and he was sent to court to be found guilty or not guilty. “But you weren’t in a fix- you just testified that you were resisting Miss Mayella Ewell. Were you so scared that she’d hurt you, you ran, a big buck like you? No suh, I’s scared I’d be in court, just like I am now.” (Lee 167) This relates to the thesis because they thought that just because he is a colored man that he was supposed to stronger than Mayella. But due to his respect, he was looked down upon and lost his innocence trying to show that he did nothing

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