It is said that a mockingbird is a tiny black bird that sings for others peace and represents innocence and goodness. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are many characters that portray “mockingbirds”. The story takes place in a town called Maycomb in Alabama during the time of the Great Depression in the 1930’s. The most important mockingbird in the story is Tom Robinson, a kind African American man, who is imprisoned and killed by a racist community for a crime that he did not commit. One of the youngest characters that symbolize a mockingbird is Jean Louise Finch a white six-year-old girl, who unconditionally stops an angry mob from attacking Tom. Arthur Radley, a shy and innocent man who is shown has a mockingbird,
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Innocent characters, Tom, Scout, and Boo all share similar characteristics that symbolize a mockingbird.
Tom Robinson is one of the many characters that represent the mockingbird. Tom is an African-American man, who is accused of raping a white 19-year-old girl, Mayella. Tom always tries to do his best for others and be as helpful as he possibly can. During the trial Tom mentions he felt sorry for Mayella because she tried harder than the rest of the family did, which led him to help her with jobs she felt were difficult. When Mr. Gilmer says “Were you paid for your services?” (Lee, 256) Tom replies with a simple answer “No suh”(256). The mockingbird sings for others peace and doesn’t receive anything in return, when Tom had helped Mayella, he never expected to get any money in return. Tom also respected everyone he met no matter how rudely they interacted with him. During the trial Bob Ewell shows racism and offensiveness in most of his answers, an example is when Mr. Gilmer asks if Mayella was screaming and he …show more content…
Jem and Scout take a visit to Calpurnia’s church, Scout sees that Calpurnia has a life other than the one they’re a part of. Scout mentions this when she says “That Calpurnia led a modest double life never dawned on me. The idea that she had a separate existence outside our household was a novel one, to say nothing of her having command of two languages.”(167) Up until this point, Scout only believed that Calpurnia’s life had revolved around them showing how innocent she is because of her being raised in a town where they don 't pay much attention to blacks. Throughout the novel, Scout is constantly asking questions which shows she is innocent. We recognize her innocence when she says “Cal, why do you talk nigger-talk to the--your folks when you know it 's not right?”(167). This shows that Scout is naive because she doesn 't understand why Calpurnia would want to talk this way. When the angry mob comes to the jail to harm Tom Robinson. Scout being a child doesn’t understand how dangerous the situation is. Scout recognizes Mr. Cunningham and asks openly, “Hey Mr. Cunningham. How 's your entailment gettin ' along?”(204). Scout doesn’t understand that she is talking to a man that has come to kill an innocent black man. When Mr. Cunningham doesn’t respond she says, “Entailments are bad…” (205). Scout’s questioning made Mr. Cunningham act like a decent human being instead of an angry
Innocent characters, Tom, Scout, and Boo all share similar characteristics that symbolize a mockingbird.
Tom Robinson is one of the many characters that represent the mockingbird. Tom is an African-American man, who is accused of raping a white 19-year-old girl, Mayella. Tom always tries to do his best for others and be as helpful as he possibly can. During the trial Tom mentions he felt sorry for Mayella because she tried harder than the rest of the family did, which led him to help her with jobs she felt were difficult. When Mr. Gilmer says “Were you paid for your services?” (Lee, 256) Tom replies with a simple answer “No suh”(256). The mockingbird sings for others peace and doesn’t receive anything in return, when Tom had helped Mayella, he never expected to get any money in return. Tom also respected everyone he met no matter how rudely they interacted with him. During the trial Bob Ewell shows racism and offensiveness in most of his answers, an example is when Mr. Gilmer asks if Mayella was screaming and he …show more content…
Jem and Scout take a visit to Calpurnia’s church, Scout sees that Calpurnia has a life other than the one they’re a part of. Scout mentions this when she says “That Calpurnia led a modest double life never dawned on me. The idea that she had a separate existence outside our household was a novel one, to say nothing of her having command of two languages.”(167) Up until this point, Scout only believed that Calpurnia’s life had revolved around them showing how innocent she is because of her being raised in a town where they don 't pay much attention to blacks. Throughout the novel, Scout is constantly asking questions which shows she is innocent. We recognize her innocence when she says “Cal, why do you talk nigger-talk to the--your folks when you know it 's not right?”(167). This shows that Scout is naive because she doesn 't understand why Calpurnia would want to talk this way. When the angry mob comes to the jail to harm Tom Robinson. Scout being a child doesn’t understand how dangerous the situation is. Scout recognizes Mr. Cunningham and asks openly, “Hey Mr. Cunningham. How 's your entailment gettin ' along?”(204). Scout doesn’t understand that she is talking to a man that has come to kill an innocent black man. When Mr. Cunningham doesn’t respond she says, “Entailments are bad…” (205). Scout’s questioning made Mr. Cunningham act like a decent human being instead of an angry