Examples Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

When children are born, they have a certain quality. Everything in the world is new to them, and they see things through a different lens. Eventually, this quality will leave a person as they grow accustomed to the world, but some hold that characteristic longer than others. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, this purity, known as innocence, is one of the main themes throughout the text. In the novel; a mockingbird is a symbol of an innocent person. Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Scout are all examples of mockingbirds. They are used by Lee to show the terrible actions of people living in Maycomb. When Scout and Jem get air rifles one year for Christmas, Atticus lays out a few rules. He says, “‘I’d rather you shoot at tin cans in the

Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”’[119]. Scout is confused about what Atticus said, so she consults her neighbor Miss Maudie for clarification. Miss Maudie tells her, “‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”’[119]. Killing a mockingbird is a sin because they never do anything wrong, and they only try to make other people happier. Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman, is an example of a mockingbird in Lee’s novel. He always tried to help Mayella Ewell complete tasks, and never asked for any payment or compensation in return. He was just a good man trying to do good things. On one of these occasions, while Tom was trying to fix something,

For the entirety of the novel, Boo chose to be a recluse, staying in his house. Boo had always been looking out for Scout and Jem, whether it was when he sewed up Jem’s pants for him, or when he was giving them gifts through the knot in the treehole. When Bob Ewell attacked and tried to kill Jem and Scout, Boo was the person there to protect them. Boo Radley is a mockingbird because he only does things for the benefit of Scout and Jem. When talking about what happened to Ewell, Heck Tate says, “‘...taking the one man [Boo] 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”[370]. Tate understands that there is no reason to bring Boo into the spotlight, since he is so shy. Boo prefers to be alone, so even if it’s women bringing him food showing thanks, to him that is a burden. Tate even goes so far as to call it a sin. He is trying to stop Atticus from killing a mockingbird, because Atticus cannot recognize it on his own. Tate is doing this because he is trying to protect Boo from the rest of the world, and he is trying to let Boo live his life however he wants