In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there are many situations where a mockingbird is used to represent innocence. When Atticus says, “Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (pg.119), he talks about how mockingbirds only sing for us to enjoy. Harper Lee uses the mockingbird’s death to show innocence being destroyed. In this novel, Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell can be identified as mockingbirds. Boo Radley can be considered a mockingbird because
He is a kind man that has been misjudged by the people in Maycomb. When he saved the kids, Heck Tate told Atticus, “...taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight- to me that’s a sin.”
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His only intention was to help Mayella Ewell. Atticus said, “In our courts when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins.” (pg. 295). Even when everyone saw Tom Robinson was not guilty, they knew he was not going to win the case because he was a colored man. Tom was a man who respected everyone but, his skin color made him guilty of things he had not done. Mayella Ewell can also be identified as a mockingbird. Even though she accused Tom of doing something he had not done, she was forced to do that. When she says, “Your fancy airs don 't come to nothin '—your ma 'amin ' and Miss Mayellerin ' don 't come to nothin ', Mr. Finch-" (pg.167), you can tell she lives in a place where she 's treated badly. She was used to being disrespected and when Atticus was kind to her she thought he was making fun of her. Mayella was scared of her father and this caused her to do things even when she did not want to. This shows exactly how poor and sad Mayella’s life is. Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell can be considered mockingbirds in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Boo and Tom were nice men with good intentions and Mayella was a product of her own environment. In summary, they were innocent of everything they were accused of