Subplots In To Kill A Mockingbird

701 Words3 Pages

There is no better feeling in the world than being able to feel free and proud. Living in the 21st century has its benefits; more people are open-minded and less people are subjects of discrimination. However, our world isn’t perfect, in fact, there are so numerous similarities in the USA from now and the 1960’s. There were groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and other extremists that are still around today. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses subplots and symbols to inform her readers about the prejudice and hatred that still lingers today. To begin with, Lee uses subplot to give the readers an understanding of discrimination. Instead of your typical whites hating black-skinned people, it is the opposite. Calpurnia takes Jem …show more content…

Due to the book being around the subject of race, it is easy to recognize that the mockingbird is some type of reference to the subject. Readers learn this by hearing a conversation with Miss Maudie and Atticus saying, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee, 119). It explains that Robinson and Radley are perfect examples of good coexisting with evil. It shows that mockingbirds are pure and innocent but are destroyed by evil, similarly like our society. Boo does not hurt anyone, only to help Jem and Scout. It proves how innocent, they are and how judged they can be. Our society still allows for this to happen today. For example, awful riots were happening in Charlottesville over police brutality and other hate crimes. This isn’t just happening in one place either, it is seen all around the globe in racist forms and slow changes over time. Along with the innocence lost, further in the book, Scout tells her father that hurting Boo would be like, “sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird” (Lee, 370). It compliments the subject of lost innocence and symbolizes the impact Boo Radley has on the setting. People will conduct prejudicial perspectives and it might not ever change, but it doesn’t mean our society can’t ignore it. Humans of today