Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

The major theme in To Kill a Mockingbird is the loss of innocence. Not only do Scout and Jem lose their innocence, but other characters do as well. Scout and Jem grow up throughout the book, as they are exposed to the realities of racism, hatred and child abuse. They witness racism in the Tom Robinson case when Mayella Ewell claims he took advantage of her, when it was really Bob Ewell that did it. The court voted Tom Robinson guilty because he was African American, and most of the town would have been furious if a white man was convicted over a black man. Jem especially is upset with the ruling and “His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting,” (Lee, 242).

According to Tom, he “…was goin’ home as usual that evenin’ an’ when I passed the Ewell place Miss Mayella were on the porch, like she said she were…she says for me to help her a minute. I went inside and looked around for kindlin’ to work on, but I didn’t see none, and she says, ‘Naw, I got somethin’ for you to do inside the house. The old door’s off its hinges an’ fall’s comin’ on pretty fast’ …she motioned for me to come inside, and I went to the front room an’ looked at the door. I said Miss Mayella, this door look all right. Then she shet the door in my face… Next thing I knows she-she’d grabbed me round the legs, grabbed me round th’ legs, Mr. Finch. …She reached up an’ kissed me’ side of th’ face. She says she never kissed a grown man before an’ she might as well kiss a n*****,” (Lee, 219/220). Bob Ewell saw them and screamed “…you god d*** wh***, I’ll kill ya,” (Lee, 221). Bob Ewell was the one who hurt Mayella, not Tom Robinson. Tom was the victim not the perpetrator, and yet he still was