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

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The Theme of Innocence in To Kill a Mockingbird
When a person hears the word innocent what do they think of? Children? A kind old neighbor? In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird the mockingbird is the main symbol of innocence throughout the book. As the reader ventures into the lives of Scout, her brother Jem, their father Atticus, and many of their neighbors and other family members we can see many characters embodying the image of the mockingbird. We also see throughout the novel their innocence being snatched away from them because of the cruelties and injustices in their society. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird teaches her readers that it is essential to help and protect the innocent. Evidence from the text states that, “‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. …show more content…

Tate was right.’ Atticus disengaged himself and looked at me. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Well, it’d sort of be like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?’ (318)” Scout says this to Atticus after Mr. Ewell tried to attack Scout and Jem. They are all beginning to understand that Mr. Arthur “Boo” Radley saved the children from the attack. Mr. Tate was saying that he could tell the town that Arthur saved the children, but then his quiet life would be ruined. Arthur Radley is a very shy man who enjoys his solitude and privacy; if the town was to hear of his, no doubt, heroic and kind actions he would be pulled out into the “limelight,” and his privacy would be severely invaded. Mr. Arthur Radley is another mockingbird in this story. He is kind and has watched out and cared for the Finch children throughout the years. He has never bothered anyone and has been nothing less than a kind soul. He also values his privacy so if they were to interrupt his life with “Maycomb Town Fame” it would be like “shooting a mockingbird. Scout realizes this and highlights a theme of innocence and how the innocent deserve to be

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Tate knows that Arthur (Boo) Radley, was the real murderer, but he is trying to protect him. Arthur does not like attention and prefers to be alone. Knowing that, Heck wants to protect him from the attention he will get when people find out how he saved Jem and Scout and killed Bob Ewell. Atticus agrees to go with Heck Tate's story because he knows it's the

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The characters in the book directly tell us that a mockingbird represents innocence when Miss Maudie says, “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.” (Lee 119). Mockingbirds have done nothing wrong, nothing to bother people, they “don’t do one thing but make music”, so when one is killed, it’s the same as killing an innocent.

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This quote shows us that Tate trusts in Atticus’ shooting more than he trusts his own. Later on in the story, during Atticus’ speech, during the trial, we’re show how he’s like the bullet taking down racism as one whole. Atticus says, “...the truth is this: some Negros lie, some Negros are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women-black or white…” (273). This quote shows that not all men can be trusted, but that doesn’t mean “all” men can’t be trusted. These two quotes relate to the loss of innocence, because they show us how Atticus, a bullet of justice, is unable to keep Jem from and Scout from losing their innocent views of their town, and being thrown into

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Mockingbirds: Emblems of innocence in To Kill A Mockingbird There are many mockingbirds in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The image of mockingbirds represent many people in the story and how many people take advantage of them for their own benefits. Scout, a young girl who lives in Maycomb is the story’s protagonist. She lives with her brother and father and occasionally meets Calpurnia their cook. For instance, Tom Robinson and Calpurnia are treated differently because of their skin color, however they are very close to the Finch family.

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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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Innocence in To Kill a Mockingbird “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” (Lee 119). Mockingbirds are innocent birds who just make music, but evil can destroy their innocence. Atticus warns his children of this evil in this quote but knows that this loss of innocence, in the end, will make them wiser. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the characters Scout, Boo, and Jem all experience a loss of innocence that leads to a greater understanding of human nature and the realities of the world they live in today. This loss of innocence throughout the story ultimately leads them all to more wisdom.

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