In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson and Arthur “Boo” Radley are two characters who represent the mockingbird. In the midst of finding who Boo truly is, Atticus Finch explains to his children, Jem and Scout, that it is a sin to kill the bird because they don’t do anything but make music. As the story progresses, and the two “mockingbirds” are being accused and attacked both verbally and physically, the identity of the mockingbirds surfaces.
As a crippled African-American man who is accused of rape simply because of his color, Tom Robinson symbolizes a mockingbird in Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Just as an innocent and defenseless mockingbird that only wants to make music is shot for sport, Tom is
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He is thought to be a “malevolent phantom” and is surrounded by rumors. One of these rumors occurs when Jem explained to Dill about Boo Radley. Jem tells Dill that “there was a long, jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.”(14) These rumors circulate around Arthur, presenting him as an evil person instead of his true, kind and caring nature. However, the real Boo is expressed when he gives Scout and Jem presents in the knot-hole of a tree. Scout says, “I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.”(37) Over the next few pages, Arthur gives two pennies, grey twine, girl and boy dolls carved out of soap, a medal, and a watch, showing his immense affection for the children and his kindred spirit. At the end of the novel Mr. Tate, the sheriff, says, “to my way of thinkin’, Mr. Finch, taking the man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ dragging draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight--to me, that’s a sin.” Scout, connecting this to Atticus’ earlier statement, exclaims, “well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”(317,318) Scout realizes that Atticus refers to Arthur as a “mockingbird” because of his kind deeds and innocent