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Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Mockingbirds are birds that sing for us to enjoy and are considered a sin to kill. Miss Maudie explains to us it is a sin because mockingbirds do not do anything bad but make music for us to enjoy. The mockingbird in To Kill A Mockingbird symbolizes the innocence of a character such as Tom Robinson, Jem Finch, and Boo Radley. Harper Lee uses the repetition of the mockingbird and the corruption of innocence to show innocence being destroyed by the injustice of society.
Harper Lee uses Tom Robinson and his trial to show his innocence being destroyed by racial prejudice. Tom Robinson is an innocent black male blamed for raping the daughter of Mr. Ewell. Atticus proves that Tom is innocent but, the jury rejects his claim because of his skin color. …show more content…

Harper Lee uses Boo Radley and his past to show his innocence being destroyed by his childhood. Boo is a caring man that does not seek harm but society sees him as a psychopath for supposedly trying to kill the Radley family. For example, the text states , "As Mr.Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent 's leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants and, resumed his activities" (13) and later on the text says "Mrs.Radley ran screaming into the street that Arthur was killing them all, but when the sheriff arrived he found Boo still sitting in the living room, cutting up the Tribune" (13). These quotes show Boo Radley with a different identity, causing others to be scared of going near him, and therefore isolating him from the rest of society. Mr.Radley was a "Foot-Washing Baptist", he believed anything pleasurable was a sin, he took away everything from Boo and put him under house arrest for making little mistakes. Boo wants to interact with society (like leaving gifts for Jem and Scout) but Nathan Radley wants to contain him inside the house and breaks all connections he has to the outside world (Like cementing the tree of gifts). In the end, we learn that Boo is rather caring by protecting Jem and Scout from Mr.Ewell, showing us that he is not the person society

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Boo Radley is a mysterious person who often staked out by Jem, Scout and Dill. Apparently, Boo save Jem. It turned out that Boo Radley was not as unexpected. Then Atticus tells Jem about Boo who is a symbol like a mockingbird.

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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.” Little do they know that Boo Radley will play a huge part in their survival at the end of the book when the crazy Bob Ewell Attacks them and Boo Radley protected them, something that Jem and scout would’ve never imagined, But something that the reader could foreshadow. Due to Boo’s acts of kindness like when he returned Jem’s pants sowed after he got them caught on the barb wire fence while he was snooping and around and also the gifts he left in the knot of the tree that helped him build a deeper sentimental relationship with Jem and Scout even if the kids did not know it. Boo had built such a relationship with them that he had done something extremely courageous and protects Jem and scout from Bob

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Just standing on the Radley porch was enough. ”(279). Scout uses her imagination to try and view all the past events that have occurred through Boo’s eyes. When she does this she realizes that Boo isn’t a bad person at all, he is actually kind of like a guardian angel. Boo Radley’s character proves a great point that we should never judge or assume things about another person that we know nothing

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In the 1940s, many that were innocent people would end up being hurt because of their difference from others. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, an African American who gets accused of a crime he didn’t commit, gets hurt because of his difference from others. The central idea of the book is that people should not hurt those who are innocent, there are several examples throughout the book that help represent this main idea such as symbolism, similes, and characters. To Kill a Mockingbird shows many examples of symbolism that supports the main idea of the book. An example of this, is the character Tom Robinson.

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Boo Radley is a very quiet man who got into trouble with the law at a young age and has stayed inside his house since. Around town, he is seen as a bad man who is very weird for staying inside his house, and rumors about him are everywhere. Scout and Jem hear about this and are very interested about this, so they go and mess around at his house. Even with all these people thinking he is a weird, crazy person, Boo Radley is still a great person. When there was a fire, the kids were outside when it was cold, and Boo Radley was nice enough to wrap a blanket around Scout.

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee many characters are victims of the harsh conditions of Maycomb County. Often those who are seen to be metaphorical mockingbirds are punished the most. A mockingbird is one who only wants and attempts to do good. Characters such as Boo Radley, Jem Finch and Tom Robinson are exemplars of mockingbirds in Maycomb. In the novel it is explained by Atticus that killing a mockingbird is a sin because they do not do anything to harm to us like nesting in corncribs, or eating up the gardens, they only sing for us.

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Loss of Innocence Atticus had to educate his children about racism because of the trial he was working on for Tom Robinson, “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 except sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). The novels To Kill a Mockingbird and All American Boys, as well as the movies Just Mercy and A Time to Kill all show the injustice that black people face in America. Each trial caused some or many of the people involved to lose a sense of innocence that they had.

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In To Kill A Mockingbird Boo Radley is a man who always stays shut up inside of his house which causes many rumors about him to be spread around the town. For instance, at the end of chapter 14 it’s stated “Dill?”/ “Mm?”/ “Why do you reckon Boo Radley’s never run off?”/ Dill sighed a long sigh and turned away from me./ “Maybe he doesn 't have anywhere to run off to…” This shows how Boo Radley is emotionally struggling because people always are assuming things about him that can cause him to feel uncomfortable around others. At the end of the book Boo Radley acts afraid of everything like when it says “Will You take me home?’ He almost whispered it, in the voice of a child afraid of the dark.”

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In the story, the innocents are destroyed by evil, the “mockingbird” comes to represent the idea of innocence. Thus, to kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. Such as when Atticus says “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (103). Another example could be when Boo stabs Bob Ewell to save Jem and Scout, which sheriff Tate decides to say that Mr.Ewell fell on the knife, so Boo won’t have to go to court.

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Innocence is a word used to describe someone 's purity. Children are prime examples of innocence, as they don’t have judgments and don’t understand mature topics. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the reader can interpret innocence as the growing up of the children. Specifically, Jem Finch showed a loss of innocence as he grew up. He showed his loss of innocence by not playing games, his more mature use of words and body language, and his different view of the world around him.

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Have you ever wondered which event in your life made you see everything differently? Everybody faces various experiences with the realities of the world that eventually results in the loss of their innocence. The loss of innocence can be the outcome of an incident witnessed, a final conclusion about an issue, or an understanding of a situation. The loss of innocence is the same thing as maturity. Now, of course, you can’t go to sleep one night and wake up mature.

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Near the end of the book, the mockingbird shows up again but this time to represent a certain person. “Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing sitting, or escaping. He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children…” -pg 241. The mockingbird indicates Tom Robinson’s innocence. It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird like it was a sin to kill Tom.

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In the story Boo Radley plays the role of Scout and Jem’s guardian angel. He watches over them and helps them when they get into trouble. In the first chapters, the kids make fun of Boo, they taunt him. All they know about him is what they have heard, that he is a crazy man. Throughout the story though, Boo proves them wrong.

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the term mockingbird symbolizes innocence in a person. In the novel it focuses on the fact that innocence, represented by the mockingbird, can be wrongfully harmed. There are two characters: Tom Robinson and Arthur “Boo” Radley that are supposed to represent the mockingbird. In the novel, Tom Robinson is the best example of a mockingbird because he is prosecuted for a crime he did not commit. Also, he was judged unfairly based on the color of his skin in his trial.

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Mockingbirds are an important symbol because they represent goodness and innocence. In this book, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are two innocent men, similar to mockingbirds, who get taken advantage of due to their innocence. Atticus and Miss Maudie teach Scout and Jem that it’s a sin to harm anything innocent by using the example of mockingbirds. Mockingbirds are innocent because they only positively affect people through their singing.

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