Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

What is something that a child only has once? It’s their innocence. The theme of innocence and its destruction, is very crucial in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The various mentions of a mockingbird in the story portray various types of innocence. In Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme of a mockingbird represents the innocence of Scout, the death of Tom Robinson, and the time Mr. Tate didn’t arrest Boo Radley. In Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme of a mockingbird represents the innocence of Scout. Her role as the narrator is to tell things from her perspective, and her observations are naive, due to the fact that she is just a child. She doesn’t sugarcoat anything, and it creates a unique tale based off of her pure outlook on the world. That pure outlook is shattered when she can’t comprehend why Tom Robinson was convicted. It was clear to her that her father won the case, but she can’t understand the illogical hate that the jury has against him. Her outlook on the world is drastically changed when she realizes that not even adults can’t even make the right decisions. Due to the jury’s wrongful decisions it led to the death of an innocent man, and Scout

Even a child knew that Tom Robinson was innocent, and it was over for him as soon as Mayella Ewell opened her mouth. His death was senseless since all he did was help others. He helped Mayella, because he saw her struggling. Unfortunately, Mayella viewed his kindness as something else, and she seeked affection for him. When her feelings were rejected, she tried to hide the social taboo by blaming Tom Robinson. He is the embodiment of the mockingbird in the story, because all he’s done is be righteous, yet he is put to death due to his skin color. Mr. Underwood recognizes Tom’s unfair death, and “He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children…”