Imagine a story in which a character starts out blinded to the reality of his/her surroundings, he/she goes through a life-changing event, then he/she ends up realizing the truth about the reality. Lee appoints this baseline structure in her Bildungsroman To Kill a Mockingbird to pave the story of Scout, a second grader, whose father is appointed to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who is wrongly prejudiced of committing a heinous crime. Scout has a playful beginning, when she aims to make her neighbor Boo show himself, but later, while and after witnessing the aforementioned man's trial, Scout learns the truth about the social motives of the world, both written and unwritten. While doing so, Scout matures, but at a major cost. To emphasize
He lost his innocence because of what other people said and thought about him Another example is when Jem finds out about the truth of racism in the trial of Tom Robinson, he is shocked to hear this and wonders why people would
Loss of Innocence in To Kill a Mocking Bird Introduction The theme ‘Loss of Innocence’ outlines the gradual awareness of the harsh reality of evil. Children often fulfil their lives through purity, viewing society with their innocent eyes. However, as they experience the complexities of life, they soon become conscious of the darkness behind humanity, causing the loss of their innocence. This novel remains relevant to a contemporary audience as it reflects on racial injustices and discriminatory aspects shown in the present day.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a well-known novel about Jean Louise Finch, a woman who is reminiscing about her childhood days in the Southern town of Maycomb and the several events that took place there. Lee uses the literary device of theme throughout most of the story in order to get her message across to the readers. A story ’s theme is it’s main idea or underlying meaning.
Innocence and Purity in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee One can do as many good deeds as they wish to make another feel good, but these deeds will all disappear if one harms others as well. Symbolism is a powerful method to emphasize a character and is used in Harper Lee’s To kill a Mockingbird using Mockingbirds as a symbol of innocence and purity. A Mocking bird symbolises one who has no will to harm but help, applies to a few characters such as Tom Robinson, Arthur Radley, and Jean Louise “Scout” Finch.
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.
The word innocence has several different meanings. One of the meanings is freedom from guilt or sin. The other one is freedom from legal guilt of a crime. The last one is lack of worldly knowledge or experience. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the dominant theme is the destruction of Innocence.
The Evil’s Tolls “Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other. ”--Eric Burdon. The book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is based on the town of Maycomb during the great depression.
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.
Innocence represents a child’s purity. Children are extremely vulnerable to influences, due to their lack of knowledge of the world. In today’s time, children are mostly sheltered from the corrupting influences. However, in the 1930s, children were constantly exposed to these common inappropriate prejudiced views towards different races and genders. Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ published in 1960, is a classic novel which expresses the widely racial influences of 1930s America towards the People of colour.
“We may think of children as being innocent, but the experience of innocence is a way of being, a chosen state of mind--and one that can be experienced at any stage of life.” (John B. Izzo). Harper Lee strongly supports this throughout the story about a small family containing, a father who goes by Atticus, and two children Scout and Jem. They're outlooks contrast differently than most of their town, who are problematic and racist. Both Miss Maudie and Boo Radley help the finch children by helping the kids when they're in need, and comforting them.
Imagine that you are a black man that was caught at the scene of a crime that you did not commit, but you are to blame solely based on the color of your skin. Tom Robinson is a black man who is accused of raping a white girl named Mayella Ewell. Tom being black and Mayella white, he is automatically convicted of that crime and sentenced to death. The authorities would take the word of Mayella over Tom any day. Scout and Jem are the children of Atticus Finch, the lawyer who is trying to defend Tom Robinson in the court.
Many things lead to a loss of innocence, but they all have something in common. It is the fact that something bad could or has happened. Prejudice is an example of this. Judging people, and even killing them, based on appearances is unimaginable to children. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch, defends an innocent black man named Tom Robinson.
With Ignorance Comes Prejudice “Innocence involves an unseeing acceptance of things at face value, an ignorance of the area below the surface” (Collier 84). The short story “Marigolds” follows Lizabeth, a young girl who loses her innocence when she tramples a neighbor’s garden of marigolds. Through Lizabeth’s actions, Collier expresses that ignorance is a common trait of children’s innocence. Only when innocence is abandoned can you open your eyes and understand the truths of society. Similarly, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee creates a story that follows the loss of innocence of two siblings, Jem and Scout Finch.
To kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee explores a person’s loss of innocence, racism in the south and the great depression. Published in 1960, the Pulitzer prize winning story is about Jem and Scout, two children born and raised during the Great depression, a time of economic downfall and racism. Throughout the story, they prove to be quite adventurous and resourceful, they sneak into, and out of, many situations. The school represents and symbolizes many things in the story: racism, the depression itself, and loss of innocence.
