Of Tom Robinson And Boo Radley In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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Mockingbirds are the innocent, silenced by the unjust ways of the world. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch and her family live in a small town in Alabama, Maycomb County, during the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, she meets many innocent people, mockingbirds, who in reality have done nothing wrong. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are mocking birds that fall victim to injustice. Boo was thought to be a “malevolent phantom” due to rumors about his past. Tom was a victim of the harsh, racist ways of the 1930’s when being accused of a crime he did not commit. The metaphor of the mockingbird symbolizes innocence silenced by lies and injustice, seen through the characters of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. The metaphor of the mockingbird …show more content…

You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know when he put the blanket around you,’” (Lee 96). Boo was thought to be a monster, yet he came out of his house and wrapped a blanket around Scout to make sure she did not get cold. Here, Boo Radley represents a mockingbird as he cared for Scout, yet was still rumored by the town. Both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson embody the metaphor of the mockingbird at various points in the novel. In Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," the concept of the mockingbird symbolizes innocence harmed by injustice. Characters like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson represent this theme, showing how prejudice and injustice can lead to tragic outcomes. Just as Atticus Finch teaches, it's wrong to harm those who haven't done any harm, much like it's wrong to harm an innocent mockingbird. Tom, a good man, suffers unjustly due to societal biases, similarly to shooting a harmless mockingbird. Equally, Boo Radley, kind but misunderstood, embodies the innocence of the mockingbird, unfairly accused due to false rumors. Lee's metaphor advises us to recognize the importance of fairness and empathy, by highlighting the harmful effects of unfair treatment on innocent