In literature, it is common for a mockingbird to symbolize innocence. It is a well known fact that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. The reason for this is because they do nothing of harm to anyone, and they provide an euphoric feeling in their songs. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, this characteristic is embodied through certain characters in the book during a time of prejudice and poverty. Due to this notion, it is clear that there are many symbols of Mockingbirds throughout Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, including Boo Radley, Jem Finch, and Tom Robinson. One of the many key figures that is considered a mockingbird symbolically is Boo Radley. His reclusive actions may invite slang, but he is a generally innocent man. This can be noted …show more content…
Gilmer smiled grimly at the jury. “You’re a mighty good fellow, it seems—did all this for not one penny?” “Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em—” Based on the information gathered from this portion of the cross-examination, we can deduce that Tom Robinson is a generally kind person as can be observed when he talks about how he helped Mayella Ewell with a chiffarobe that needed to be attended to. Even Mr. Gilmer points out in the quote that he is a good fellow, even though for the rest of the trial, he will be on Robinson’s nose with all sorts of ridiculous questions. Since he is also giving these details in the middle of a trial, we can see the vulnerability in him as he is a black man in a white man’s trial about to suffer from a crime he never did. Another example of Tom being honest in a bigoted situation is when during the trial, Tom Robinson and Mr Gilmer state: “No suh, scared I’d hafta face up to what I didn’t do.” “Are you being impudent to me, boy?” “No suh, I didn’t go to be.” During the trial of Tom Robinson, Mr Gilmer starts making his cross-examination confrontational, and Tom replies in the most honest way