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To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Theme

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In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays the story through the eyes of a young girl named Scout. This novel takes place in the 1930’s during the Great Depression in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Scout and her brother Jem are growing up, enduring the hardships of the Tom Robinson trial and uncovering the mysteries of Boo Radley. Harper Lee incorporates the themes of love and innocence into the book, expressing it through the use of character interaction. First and foremost, two characters that greatly display the theme of love and innocence are Scout and Dill. Dill, or Charles Baker Harris, is a boy that lives with his Aunt Rachel next door every summer. He ends up falling in love with our main character, Scout, and she …show more content…

Boo Radley is a huge component in the storyline, his importance leading to the large resolution at the end of the novel. Boo being held up in his house for many years, causing lack of maturity and growing up, has him manage to maintain his childlike innocence. Especially when he finally meets Scout and asks, “”Will you take me home?” He almost whispered it, in the voice of a child afraid of the dark” (Lee 319). His child voice and being afraid definitely show a form of innocence in Boo. He never had many experiences outside of the house, so he acts as if he was still the child he was before he stayed in that house for so long. Boo Radley is also considered a Mockingbird, the symbol of innocence in the book. Jem conveys the theme of love for his sister Scout when he takes his birthday money to buy her a twirling baton (even though his caring gift didn’t last long). “Jem thought he had enough to buy a miniature steam engine for himself and a twirling baton for me” (Lee 116). While he does end up snapping it in half during his rage towards Mrs. Dubose, it is clear that Jem had loving intentions towards Scout. The author most definitely used this theme to show their sibling relationship, and add to the intense moment in Jem’s destruction of Mrs. Dubose’s flowers. During the trial in the book, Jem was incredibly certain of his father’s win. Atticus (his father) was

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Boo Radley as a kid was locked up in his house all his life because of his strict father. So Scout and Jem thought of him as monster because they believed the rumors and stories that they heard. However, the rumors are put to rest when Boo’s character emerges. He is really very kind to to Jem and Scout.

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For Jem and Scout, there innocence comes from not being exposed to the world yet because of their age, but Boo Radley has a different kind of innocence. He finds himself uncomfortable around the people and unsure of how to behave when brought to the Finch house. Boo can be sometimes childlike as well, hiding small treasures in the tree in his house for the children, or when he asks Scout to take him home. Scout links their arms in a way that makes it look like Boo decided to help her to his house, not the other way around. After being alone for so long, Boo appears hesitant about everything, and unsure how to

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He reads with Scout every night and teaches Jem to be respectful. But most of all, Atticus teaches his kids vital life lessons. He teaches them to respect others and be kind, how to react to people who openly criticise him when he takes the Tom Robinson case and most of all to be empathetic to others and not judge someone based on rumours or preconceived opinions. Boo Radley displays his affection for Scout and Jem though anonymous gifts he places in the knothole in of an Oaktree and towards the end of the story when he protects them from Bob Ewell. An example of love in the novel is in chapter 15, when a mob surrounds Atticus at the jailhouse, Jem’s refusal to leave his father’s side demonstrates his love and loyalty for Atticus and when the Finch family is going home, Atticus’s loving gesture towards Jem doesn’t go unnoticed by Scout.

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Usually when children cry they are loud and immature about it while adults usually cry more quietly, which Jem did. Also, this shows a sensitive side to Jem because the tree gifts Boo left in the knothole was a sort of comfort for him and a way for Boo to communicate with others from the outside world. This makes him upsets since this comfort is gone and because Boo now is out of ways to communicate with anyone outside of his home. Another change in character occurs during the fire in Miss Maudie Atkinson’s home. While Jem and Scout stand far out of the fire’s reach, Jem’s mind blew up!

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They assign characteristics to Boo without any purpose but entertainment and peculiarness; they want to see Boo not as their neighbor, but as an ugly, twisted, mutant, with a taste for eating rodents and cats. Watching the injustice that Tom suffers from being a black man in a white world helps the children understand why Boo may choose to be a recluse. " Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time... it's because he wants to stay inside."

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