Who are the Mockingbirds in Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird'?

To kill a mockingbird can mean many things. It’s the title of a book that has been bought 40 million times. But, it also has a definition. To kill a mockingbird means to destroy innocence. The theme of my literary analysis is mockingbirds. Mockingbirds in TKAM are innocent things tainted by the skewed society of Maycomb. Some of these mockingbirds are Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and the children. To Kill a Mockingbird is a book set in a small Alabama town in the 1930’s. The main character and narrator is Jean Louise Finch, but is almost always called by her nickname, Scout. Scout, her brother, and her summer friend Dill get into all kinds of mischief while living in the racist society of a 1930’s Alabama town. Scout’s dad, Atticus, is a prominent lawyer in Maycomb and is appointed to a controversial case, and is defending a black man. Scout and her brother, Jem go through many troubles and learn many lessons from the days leading up to, and during the trial. The trail makes their family some friends and a lot of enemies. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story of courage and despair. Throughout TKAM, mockingbirds are used as an example of something innocent being tainted by the skewed society of TKAM. Some great examples of these are Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and the children.

Boo Radley is a representation of the mockingbird because of his innocence and acts of kindness. While Miss Maudie's house was burning down, Boo Radley secretly wrapped a blanket around Scout. " 'Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you' " (Lee 60). Scout realizes that Boo Radley is a kind man who wants to protect and take care of her. The residents of Maycomb County know very little about him, but still spread rumors and view

Boo Radley was an adult that was thought to believe that he stabbed his dad in the leg with scissors when he was a teenager. Scout, Jem, and Dill always feared him. The feared him so much, that they always cautioned whenever they crossed over to their house. They even made a dare that involved braveness and Boo Radley. ¨Well how'd you feel if you'd been shut up for a hundred years with nothin' but cats to eat?¨ But Boo isn’t is bad as he seems. First of all, it was uncertain, whether he actually stabbed his dad or not. Number 2, he’s been there for Scout. For example, he put the blanket around Scout, during the house fire of one of Scout’s neighbors. And how he saved Scout and Jem from

The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is an American classic and has been a staple in high schools for many years. The main storyline that this novel follows is of Scout, a young girl, living in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. It follows the case of Tom Robinson, an African American man, and how he was accused and convicted of rape. In prison, Tom was shot and killed because he was said to have tried to escape. While Mayella is the one who is saying that Tom raped her, the real person who should be to blame is her abusive father. As is quite apparent, Bob Ewell is the person who is most responsible for the death of Tom Robinson.

Tom Robinson is an example of a mockingbird in To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson was a black man in 1930, therefor it was unfair from the start. Tom Robinson was nothing but a kind man, he never harmed anyone. Tom saw Mayella struggling around the house. Her father was a drunk that left her to fend for her and the children. She did her best but once in awhile when Tom was passing by the EWell house Mayella would invite him inside the fence to see if her would help her with little tasks. One day she invited him inside to fix a door. When he got inside to fix the door her found there was nothing wrong with the door. That is when Mayella kissed Tom, however Tom is wrongfully charged with rape.

In the nineteenth century, mockingbirds were kept in cages so they could sing their beautiful music. Because of this, mockingbirds were nearly almost wiped out of parts of the East Coast. All Mockingbirds do is bring beauty to the world. Mockingbirds symbolize innocence and do not deserve to be wounded by the cruelness of the world. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Dill, Mayella Ewell, Mr. Dolphus Raymond, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are all mockingbirds. They are innocent people that have been harmed or injured in the past and have learned the misery of the world.

Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is recounted by Scout, who at the time was six years old. This book follows her journey in growing up and eventually losing her innocence through realising the evil in the world, mostly portrayed by the racism and prejudice surrounding her. A mockingbird is a metaphor for the destruction of innocence. There are three mockingbirds in the text: Boo Radley, Scout Finch and Tom Robinson. Boo has done nothing wrong except sit in his house and 'mind his own business', and has done nothing to hurt anyone else. All that has happened is he has been accused once again of crimes he did not commit. Scout is a mockingbird because she is thrust in the middle of all of the adults and their prejudices. Tom has done

In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout narrates the novel by telling the story of how Jem broke his arm. Atticus Finch is the father of two kids, Jem and Scout, who always get into trouble and are the most mischievous and nosy kids around. Atticus is a lawyer who is in a case defending a black man named Tom Robinson, who is harmless and innocent, while the kids are always tormenting and bothering the innocent Boo Radley. Because they are innocent and harmless, but treated with suspicion, both Boo and Tom exemplify the symbol of the mockingbird in this novel. Tom Robinson is represented by a mockingbird in this story by always being innocent and never harming, but always being tormented.

Tom Robinson goes out of his way to help Mayella with chores around her house since no one else wanted to help her. Tom Robinson is like a mockingbird because he just wants to help Mayella and wants to take nothing in return but knowing that he was there to help someone when they needed

In the story To Kill a Mockingbird a man who is wrongly put under suspicion by a group of kids shows he isn’t bad at all, but a kind man. This is because Boo doesn't like to be in the spotlight. Staying inside all day having no one to see you raises suspicion. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Miss Maudie gives the reader a famous quote: “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except making 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” (p #) Boo Radley can be seen as a Mockingbird to the reader because he stays away from everyone, he's only seen is helping and being kind, and takes care of the Finch children like a bird would.

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

The first mockingbird in the novel is Arthur (Boo) Radley. He has done nothing but help and protect Jem and Scout yet he is still seen as a monster by them. The community of Maycomb County has little knowledge of Boo and because

Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee shows how everyone in the town looks at Boo Radley as a monster when they don’t know him and only heard stories about him. When Scout comes home from school she says that she “ran by the Radley Place as fast as I could’ (Lee 44). After hearing the rumors and stories about Boo Radley, Scout assumed that Boo was a bad and scary man when she has never met him before. In To Kill A Mockingbird Lee also shows the society that Jem and Scout are in with racism and segregation towards outsiders including Boo Radley.

Tom Robinson is a young, disabled Negro who is charged with the rape of Mayella Ewell. He currently has a wife and three children at home and works in the field of one of Maycomb’s residents. He is a respectable, humble, kind person whom was trying to help Mayella because no one else would. His strong sense of manners and good heart are the reasons he helped Mayella with her chores. Atticus knows that Tom is innocent which is why he is defending Tom in court. After Mayella Ewell makes the charge of rape, Tom's verdict comes not from facts, but from the stereotypes that concerned every resident of Maycomb. They did not take the time to know Tom, but feared and hated him unethically. Tom is a representation of a mockingbird in the story because

Tom Robinson is the most easily identifiable mockingbird in this story. Although he is a peaceful, respectful man who helps Mayella Ewell without asking for anything in return, he is falsely accused and dies tragically as a result. Mr. Underwood, Maycomb’s newspaper editor, likens Tom’s death to the “senseless slaughter of innocent songbirds by hunters and children” in the editorial he writes immediately after the Negro’s death. As shooting a mockingbird results in the loss of a sweet song-maker, the death of Tom brings no good fruit—it only satisfies the destructive racial prejudice of the South. Tom is also targeted for the same reasons that mockingbirds are targeted