“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy… they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.” (Lee, 119) With an abundance of events in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird it is clear to see who our beloved characters really are. Specifically, who can be considered mockingbirds. By analyzing Atticus Finch's clear conscience, Tom Robinson's frank kindness, and Arthur "Boo" Radley's hidden affection, it is clear the three can be considered "mockingbirds" by the definition given in To Kill a Mocking Bird: innocence. A general theme throughout the novel is prejudice. One person, in particular, was judged on who he was to defend in a case. Atticus Finch symbolizes the mocking bird in which all he does is in an attempt
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Never had they done anything bad; no eating up gardens, or making nests in inconvenient places. But even still, they were disliked. Reminds you of something else, doesn’t it? Someone who doesn’t harm, but gets backlash for being there anyway? Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about Negros and the racism directed at them. More specifically, Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was an innocent man accused and killed for the allegation of rape. “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”(Lee, 119)To kill a mockingbird is to kill innocence. Tom Robinson symbolizes a mockingbird in which all he did was try to help out a lonely girl he felt sorry for. On the stand, Tom Robinson stated “I was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her...”(Lee, 256) Day after day, when he passed the Ewell house-hold, Tom would help Mayella in her chores despite his own disadvantages. “He looked oddly off balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shrivel hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him.”(Lee, 248) After the unfair trial, and Tom Robinson was wrongfully persecuted, it was time for his end. Expectantly, it was written in a news column. “Mr. Underwood didn’t talk about miscarriages of justice, he was
Never had they done anything bad; no eating up gardens, or making nests in inconvenient places. But even still, they were disliked. Reminds you of something else, doesn’t it? Someone who doesn’t harm, but gets backlash for being there anyway? Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about Negros and the racism directed at them. More specifically, Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was an innocent man accused and killed for the allegation of rape. “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”(Lee, 119)To kill a mockingbird is to kill innocence. Tom Robinson symbolizes a mockingbird in which all he did was try to help out a lonely girl he felt sorry for. On the stand, Tom Robinson stated “I was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her...”(Lee, 256) Day after day, when he passed the Ewell house-hold, Tom would help Mayella in her chores despite his own disadvantages. “He looked oddly off balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shrivel hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him.”(Lee, 248) After the unfair trial, and Tom Robinson was wrongfully persecuted, it was time for his end. Expectantly, it was written in a news column. “Mr. Underwood didn’t talk about miscarriages of justice, he was