To Kill a Mockingbird is an adventurous novel written by Harper Lee. This Pulitzer prize winner takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, during the midst of the Great Depression. Maycomb is a small fictional town that’s full of different types of people, including the Finch Family. Scout and Jem Finch are raised by their nanny Calpurnia and their father Atticus. Atticus is a lawyer, who happens to be defending an accused rapist, Tom Robinson. In Many ways, Harper Lee connects the title of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, to the text.
The title of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is referenced throughout the text, but the meaning of a “mockingbird” in the novel, comes from Atticus’ description of a person (or animal) that does no harm. Atticus implies that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because they are only here to make music for us. The same way Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are meant to be left alone, because they are doing nothing wrong. Tom Robinson is a person of color, that is simply the only reason he is being punished for a crime he didn’t commit. Boo Radley is tormented everyday by people who don’t actually know him, but assume he is …show more content…
He’s harmless and Harper Lee makes sure that was made clear in To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson was accused of raping and physically assaulting Mayella Ewell, a low-class, white woman. In no way was Tom capable of committing the act he was accused of, being handicapped. He was given a life sentence simply because he was black, not because he was guilty. Harper Lee explains that through the words of Atticus Finch. "There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads --they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life." (pg 220) Because of Atticus’ description of a mockingbird, putting Tom in jail is a sin because he is a
The title of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is referenced throughout the text, but the meaning of a “mockingbird” in the novel, comes from Atticus’ description of a person (or animal) that does no harm. Atticus implies that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because they are only here to make music for us. The same way Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are meant to be left alone, because they are doing nothing wrong. Tom Robinson is a person of color, that is simply the only reason he is being punished for a crime he didn’t commit. Boo Radley is tormented everyday by people who don’t actually know him, but assume he is …show more content…
He’s harmless and Harper Lee makes sure that was made clear in To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson was accused of raping and physically assaulting Mayella Ewell, a low-class, white woman. In no way was Tom capable of committing the act he was accused of, being handicapped. He was given a life sentence simply because he was black, not because he was guilty. Harper Lee explains that through the words of Atticus Finch. "There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads --they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life." (pg 220) Because of Atticus’ description of a mockingbird, putting Tom in jail is a sin because he is a