...To kill a mockingbird is a sin because you shouldn’t harm something innocent that brings bliss. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there are several characters that are capable of being a mockingbird, although Tom Robinson is the most apparent. The mockingbird is a symbol of innocence and purity. A mockingbird sings uplifting songs for others to hear, this can be compared to Tom’s acts of kindness for Mayella. “I was studyin’ why, just passin’ by, when she says for me to come there and help her a minute.” (Lee 258.) Therefore, it is a sin to kill Tom because he is an innocent man who helps others. What is a mockingbird? “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 119) A mockingbird can be seen as pure and inflicts no harm. They are simply around to sing songs for the world to enjoy. Tom Robinson resembles this role because he is innocuous with good intentions. Being regarded as the guilty, he is later executed. Furthermore, this can be seen as a sin because Tom is utterly innocent. He is targeted for his appearance and misunderstood, which leads to being convicted guilty. “Scared of arrest, scared you’d have to face up to what you...
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...the personification in To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom is helpful, friendly, courteous and kind to young and old and that also parallels the way most mockingbirds are friendly, courteous and kind. Tom Robinson helps out everyone from working for Link Deas to helping out Mayella Ewell.. Harper Lee writes “I just want the whole lot of you to know one thing right now. That boy’s worked for me eight years and I ain’t had a speck aco’trouble outa him. Not a speck.” This quote is yelled out by Link Deas during the court trial because he cares for Tom and Link knows that Tom is innocent. The importance of this quote is that it shows that he is a good person and the only people who don’t believe it are the most of the white community in Maycomb...
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...and Tom Robinson are both symbolized by the mockingbird. Boo Radley is the neighborhood shut in. Nobody has seen him for years. The reader knows this due to Scout and Jem have never seen him in their life. He is also supposed to be crazy and murderous, according to the town gossip Miss Stephanie. A mockingbird is a bird that Jem and Scout can’t kill due to them only wanting to please people with their songs. The reader know this considering Atticus tells them it’s a sin to kill them and Miss Maudie says they only make music for us to hear and aren’t pests. Boo is symbolized by the mockingbird for a few different reasons. For one example, Boo hasn’t bugged anyone in the town ever before, and Atticus tells the kids to leave him alone....
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...Innocents In the book To Kill A Mockingbird,by Harper Lee she uses a lot of symbolism throughout her story. Symbolism is a literary device where the author uses an object to stand for an idea. One of Lee’s famous symbol is an mockingbird.A mockingbird is a symbol of innocent. In her novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses Tom Robinson, Mayella Ewell and Boo Radley as human “mockingbirds” to contribute to the overall theme of innocence. The first character Harper Lee uses is Tom Robinson.Tom Robinson is an poor black man with an wife and three children. He is 25 years old and is known as a respectable kind young man. His left hand was crippled and caught in a cotton gin when he was a young boy. In the begin, Lee uses Tom Robinson as a mockingbird because he was innocent man who was accused of raping a young woman named Mayella Ewell.And he was shot seventeen times.Atticus...
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...Every day, innocent people are convicted of crimes they did not commit. They face unjustified punishment and prejudice. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the mockingbird is repetitively used as a symbol of innocence. Scout and Jem Finch, the young protagonists of the novel are told that "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird” (119) because mockingbirds are peaceful creatures who cause no harm. Some characters in the story can be perceived as “mockingbirds” due to their acts of kindness and nonviolence. The three characters who symbolize the mockingbird are Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson because they are all innocent men who are discriminated against and punished for doing what is right. Tom Robinson was an innocent man who faced prejudice because he was African American. Tom displayed many respectable traits. He provided free help to his white neighbor, despite the fact he had only one arm. When asked why he did these selfless acts, Tom responded: " I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more'n the rest of 'em-" (264). Later, Tom was accused of raping and beating up young Mayella Ewell, the eldest child in the infamous Ewell family, and the same girl he had assisted. Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell,was a racist man, who knew that he could get away with wrongfully accusing Tom simply because Tom was black. When brought to court, evidence proved Tom not-guilty, yet he...
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...amazing novel To Kill a Mockingbird. In this great book she uses symbolism. Symbolism is when something has one meaning but it also has a different meaning. The Mockingbird in to Kill a Mockingbird stands for someone's innocence. This means someone who is a mockingbird is innocent. Harper Lee uses Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and Boo Radley as mockingbirds in her novel. First Lee uses Tom Robinson as a mockingbird. Tom Robinson is an African American male who was accused of raping a white female by the name of Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson ran away and wanted to escape the inevitable. Tom Robinson knew that he was going to be found guilty in court because the government is not bias. “ they shot him seventeen times in the chest. They didn’t...
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...In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there are several instances where the symbol of the mockingbird appears.The mockingbird symbolizes innocence, which makes it a sin to kill mockingbirds. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy… that’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (p. 119) is a quote by Miss Maudie that best describes the meaning of the mockingbird symbol. The symbol embodies innocent people, who have been injured or destroyed through contact with evil. Harper Lee does a great job in portraying the mockingbird symbol by shedding some light on the innocents in the book, and focusing on the most prominent mockingbirds, Tom Robinson, Arthur (Boo) Radley, and Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson is a crippled Mockingbird, who has been wrongfully...
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...The story To Kill A Mockingbird has many different messages and lessons. For example, throughout the story Scout and Jem learn many things about their town, it’s citizens, and the talk that goes around. Through the process of them learning, they experience situations that end up teaching them lessons. Whether the lesson or message is easy to find in the story or more difficult, there is something that some people don’t bother to pay attention to.Why To Kill A Mockingbird is the title of this story. There isn’t just one way to identify the title, it can be interpreted in different ways. Many characters in the story are compared to helpless mockingbirds that have been injured or destroyed with evil, the reference of mockingbird shows the...
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...A mockingbird is a harmless bird that makes the world more pleasant. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the mockingbird symbolizes Boo Radley, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson, who were peaceful people who never did any harm. To kill or harm them would be a sin. Scout's father, Atticus, tells Scout and Jem, “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Atticus is portraying that they are innocent and to harm them would be a sin. The mockingbird symbolizes these three characters because it does not have its own song, the mockingbird only sings other birds' songs and is seen through the other bird’s voices. The people of Maycomb only knew Boo, Atticus and Tom by what others said about them. These characters do not really have their own voice or song, they are only known for what others say about them. Atticus is a lawyer in Maycomb, a typical southern town where racial discrimination is the normal behavior. When he decides to defend Tom Robinson a black man, the people in the town were threatening him for doing so. Though Atticus never showed any sign that he doubted what he was doing. Atticus saw the evil in his world and was only trying to protect his children from it. He simply denied the natural behavior to colored people and fought against it. Atticus took the hatred, pushed it aside, kept his head high and stayed true to himself. He never hurt a soul and was just as innocent as a mockingbird. Boo Radley went through...
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...Innocence in To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, published in 1960, is a novel about a little girl who experiences a trial. This novel takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. In the book, a mockingbird is a symbol of innocence. Children have innocence and when the ¨kill¨ their own innocence, they grow up. Scout is a little white girl who doesn't quite understand the world yet. In the book, She keeps her innocence but is later attacked. Tom Robinson is an African American man who was convicted of rape. A crime he did not commit, which he was sentenced to death for and killed for running away. Boo Radley is a man who was said to be a monster but in reality saved scout and her brother Jem. In the book,...
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...To Kill A Mockingbird In the book “ To kill A Mockingbird” Author Harper Lee uses plenty of symbolism. Symbolism is a literary device where author uses an object to stand for an idea. The most famous symbol used in the book is “Mockingbird” the symbol of innocents. In her novel, “To KIll A Mockingbird” Harper Lee uses Tom Robinson , Boo Radley and Atticus Finch as human “Mockingbirds” to contribute the overall theme of innocents. First, Lee uses Tom Robinson as a mockingbird. Tom Robinson is a poor black man with a wife and 3 kids. Tom Robinson was accused of raping a young white woman by the name of Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson was also shot 17 times and killed. Atticus said, “ Seventeen bullet holes in holes, they didn’t have to shoot him that much”(315) Tom Robinson was found guilty of all charges for the “raping” of Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson’s story was that she asked him to come help get something out of the yard. Then she wanted him to fix a non broken door. After that she needed him to get a item on the shelf and she wrapped her arms around his waist and told him to kiss her. Atticus stated that Tom Robinson’s arm was badly messed up when he was younger by getting his hand caught in a cotton gin. He shows that statement because...
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...Innocence Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is an exceptional story of cowardice and courage, of prejudice and acceptance. Most obviously, it is a story of maturity and innocence. In the novel, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are all metaphorically portrayed as mockingbirds because of their observable innocence with others in their community and their evident kindness. While each character has noticeably different storylines and symbolic references to the mockingbird, all three have their inculpability in common. Atticus Finch is depicted as a mockingbird, not only because of his incorruption, but also because of his fatherly instincts and his unmistakable courage. In chapter twenty-nine and thirty we see Atticus’s righteousness in full light. As they sauntered home from the school pageant, Jem and Scout were attacked. Atticus, knowing that Bob Ewell has threatened him and what he loves, does not outright blame Bob for his children’s wounds and injuries. Mockingbirds are extremely territorial and protective of their young. In chapter ten we see Atticus’s shooting skills as he protects his children from a rabid dog. Another trait shown by mockingbirds is their courage when defending their...
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...“It is not what an author says, but what she whispers which is most important. In other words, one must read in between the lines to discover the subtler meaning of novels. This is true for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Understanding of the many themes in To Kill a Mockingbird is attained only by reading in between the lines. A major one of these themes is dignity as Harper Lee presents a clear picture of which characters are dignified. She does not clearly state which characters are dignified, but she utilizes actions to differentiate between the dignified and the undignified. Amongst the poor folk, the Cunninghams have dignity and the Ewells lack it. The Cunninghams pay back everything they borrow. One Cunningham turned the racist mob away from Atticus and Tom Robinson; another almost voted for Tom’s innocence at his trial. This virtuous behavior proves the Cunninghams to be dignified. While the Cunninghams’ good deeds demonstrate their dignity, the Ewells’ actions prove them undignified. They live unhealthily off the town’s welfare and the father, Bob Ewell, selfishly causes the death of an innocent man and tries to kill two innocent children. Of the rich people in Maycomb, Atticus holds dignity while Miss Stephanie lacks it. Miss Stephanie lies, exaggerates, and gossips about the town’s affairs. Harper Lee whispers Miss Stephanie’s dignity deficiency through her undignified actions, but never labels Miss Stephanie as undignified. Although the author does...
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...Unjust Prejudice It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they do is good for others. This is a very important metaphor used because it explains the prejudice that happens to some characters even though, all they are doing is trying to help others. Prejudice is shown to them through many people in the novel. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, she uses Boo Radley, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson to reveal the prejudice that even happens against innocent men through the mockingbird metaphor. Many people spread rumors of Boo and all the awful things he did. Scout explains, “Jem and I decided that Boo had got her at last, but when Atticus returned from the Radley house he said she died of natural causes, to our disappointment”...
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...important asset for the author to present their story in a way they see fit. By allowing the author to express their emotions, the title remains a significant feature. When examining the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader can see that the mockingbird is a metaphorical symbolization of the theme of innocence, or the loss of. Published in 1960 by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird has become a literary classic. This essay will explore the significance of the title “To Kill a Mockingbird” and will endeavor to explain to the reader why Harper Lee’s novel is called To Kill a Mockingbird while also touching on some of the themes that are connected to the title, such as the loss of innocence and injustice. Revolving...
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