Does Boo Radley Symbolize The Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Decent Essays
The mockingbird was used as a very important symbol in this story. What exactly is a mockingbird? A mockingbird is a songbird that is mainly known for its mimicry of calls and songs. The mockingbird plays a significant role in the story as a symbol of innocence, and was even included in the title by Harper Lee. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley were characters used by Lee to symbolize the loss of innocence. Although the mockingbird played an important role in the story, the first time Lee mentioned the mockingbird was in chapter ten. In this chapter, Atticus tells the kids “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” and the message from this is that …show more content…
Boo was under house arrest because of the actions committed by Boo and his friends during his teenage years. Boo Radley was a character who was very quiet and misunderstood. However, he liked Jem and Scout and he would leave gifts in the tree for them. Even though Boo was a nice guy, his innocence was ruined when he was jailed in his house for years. He was also connected to the idea of innocence and mockingbird after the death of Bob Ewell. Sheriff Tate created the story about Ewell falling on his knife. He knew that if others knew that Boo killed Ewell then he would be brought to trial for the death and that would ruin his innocence. When Atticus explained this to Scout, Scout understood why they had to hide what Boo did and he replied by saying “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin‘ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” (Lee 276). The connection between mockingbird and innocence can be seen here because Scout compares publicizing Boo’s actions to shooting a mockingbird. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the idea of the mockingbird and loss of innocence was shown through the characters of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. For instance, Tom was an innocent character who was unfairly punished because of his race and killed for a crime that he did not commit. On the other hand, Boo Radley was a character whose innocence was ruined by his own family as they put him under house arrest and also by others who misunderstood

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