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The Role Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author Harper Lee shows how it's a sin to kill a mockingbird throughout the story by proving to the reader that Tom Robison and Boo Radley were the “mockingbirds” of the story so the reader can see the role of innocence.

It's a sin to kill a mockingbird. “Shoot all the bluejays you want if you can hit em but, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird” (108) Atticus tells Scout this when she and Jem get air rifles for Christmas from Uncle Jack as gifts. Atticus wouldn't teach the kids how to shoot so Uncle Jack will have to teach them to use the air rifles. Since Atticus was never going to teach the kids how to use the air rifles he does teach Scout that it's a sin to kill a mockingbird. Scout says she has never heard Atticus say it's a sin to do something so she knows it must be important. Later that day as Scout is over at Miss Maudies she tells her what Atticus said to her earlier about how it's a sin to kill a mockingbird. Miss Maudie says that Atticus is right; she says all mockingbirds do is make music. Even though Scout didn't learn how to shoot from Atticus she learned it was a sin to kill a mockingbird. …show more content…

“Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (276) After Scout reads the Maycomb Tribune that Mr Underwood published after Tom was killed in prison she notices that the point Mr Underwood was trying to explain was that it was a sin to kill cripples. Scout thinks about what Mr Underwood published in the Maycomb Tribune and it finally hits her that she realizes that no matter how good of a lawyer Atticus was and no matter how much evidence there was to prove that Tom was innocent. Tom had no chance of winning the case because it was a white woman accusing a black man of

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435 Words | 2 Pages

In the book Atticus tell Jem and Scout “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee), soon they realised what his father meant by saying this when they

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782 Words | 4 Pages

Tom Robinson is wrongly accused of rape, and is then tried and found guilty in court. Afterward Tom ends up getting killed for trying to escape, but is instead likely lynched by the people of Maycomb. Scout narrates that, “He[Mr. Underwood] likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children...” (Chapter 25 Lee).

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227 Words | 1 Pages

“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” A mockingbird is a type of bird that imitates other birds’ songs; not unlike children, including the main character Scout in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout is a representation of these birds in the sense that they imitate what they hear others say even if they do not know what it means. Scout is a young girl who is living in an incredibly complex world.

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1348 Words | 6 Pages

Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, wrote the book in 1960’s while the events in the book take place in the early 1930’s. During the 1930’s, the Great Depression just hit the United States, the unemployment rate grew and many families lived in poverty. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee describes the childhood of Scout, also known as Jean Louise Finch, and her older brother Jem which is short for Jeremy Atticus Finch. The Finches were fairly wealthy compared to the rest of the residents of Maycomb County, Alabama, which is due to Scout and Jem’s father, Atticus Finch, being a lawyer. Throughout the beginning of the novel, Harper Lee uses symbols to foreshadow the loss of innocence leading up to Atticus’ big trial with Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell.

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933 Words | 4 Pages

This positions the reader to think that Tom is already seen as the villain by all the white people of Maycomb and his family is feeling the effects of this. Scout again loses her innocence when she realises that Tom Robinson was shot dead at the Enfield prison. “But I found myself shaking and couldn’t stop(pg261).” Imagery is evident here with Scout never interacting with someone who was shot and this corrupts her mind making her shake and lose her innocence. Toms’ death affects Scout substantially as he realises that the world is injustice to people of colour.

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1238 Words | 5 Pages

Atticus was not in favor of teaching Jem and Scout how to shoot their new air rifles due to him not being interested in guns. One day when the topic of “air rifles” was brought to Mrs. Maudie, who is the neighbor of Jem and Scout, she said to Scout, “Your fathers right,’ she said. Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

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2010 Words | 9 Pages

(p.39). When Atticus had given Scout this advice, she didn’t really understand because of her innocence and still believes that what she thinks is right. Atticus had known this but still told her so she can think about as she matures, since it was a very important lesson to

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879 Words | 4 Pages

According to Atticus, it is considered a sin to harm a mockingbird because “mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.” By drawing a parallel between mockingbirds and vulnerable members of society, Atticus teaches his children the importance of embracing kindness and refraining from causing harm to those who pose no threat. Towards the conclusion of the novel, Scout demonstrates her understanding of the mockingbird metaphor when she reflects on the necessity of keeping Boo Radley's actions secret by comparing exposing Boo's deeds to “shooting a mockingbird”, thereby highlighting her ability to apply the metaphor to individuals in her own life. Scout's observation serves as evidence of her personal growth throughout the narrative, as she embraces the principles of empathy and ethical behaviour that Atticus

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626 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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664 Words | 3 Pages

Later, he was arrested and sadly killed after trying to escape out of prison. Unfortunately, this changes very little about how the people of Maycomb view him, therefore causing to reinforce the stereotypes about African Americans even more. However, Mr.Underwood renders Tom’s death to the senseless killing of a mockingbird “likened…”(323). Just like a mockingbird, he was an sweet,innocent person but he ends up losing his innocence when he was surrounded by the racial prejudice around him.

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1174 Words | 5 Pages

That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). Through the sufferings of Tom Robinson, Jem, Scout, and Arthur “Boo” Radley, Harper Lee teaches the loss of innocence. The loss of innocence in the novel is evident during the events in the Tom Robinson trial. This was when Mayella and Bob Ewell accused Tom Robinson, a black man, of raping Mayella Ewell.

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730 Words | 3 Pages

RMockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird"( Lee, 93). The mockingbird in To Kill a Mockingbird represents many forms of innocence. Tom Robinson has been discriminated by the color of his skin and has not hurt anyone.

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2048 Words | 9 Pages

However, she was going to see more. Atticus said to Jem one day, “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Chapter 10) It was the first time Harper Lee put a “sin” of doing something.

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1020 Words | 5 Pages

Killing a mockingbird is a sin because they never do anything wrong, and they only try to make other people happier. Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman, is an example of a mockingbird in Lee’s novel. He always tried to help Mayella Ewell complete tasks, and never asked for any payment or compensation in return. He was just a good man trying to do good things. On one of these occasions, while Tom was trying to fix something,

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1730 Words | 7 Pages

Scout and Jem have just received air guns from Atticus for Christmas, and they are learning what they’re not allowed to shoot at. Atticus tells them, “‘Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’. That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something” (119). This is the first time Scout hears Atticus say it is a sin to do something, which means that Atticus is being serious. We know that he hates shooting, because he has kept his skill as a marksman a secret, so when he tells the children they can try to shoot bluejays but not mockingbirds, he gives the idea that mockingbirds are special.

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