Atticus talks to Jem about shooting the air rifles they got for Christmas. “I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird. ”(119) If you look for the deeper meaning, you see that Atticus acknowledges the value of different birds and treats them accordingly.
In chapter ten of To Kill a Mockingbird Jem and Scout get shotguns from Atticus for Christmas. Upon this gift, Atticus wouldn't teach the kids to shoot but he did give one piece of wisdom to them, Atticus warns the kids, “...remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 103). This is the first direct connection the reader gets to the title, To Kill a Mockingbird. This connection foreshadows that a character symbolizing a mockingbird will be killed.
To Be A Mockingbird “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit em, but remember its a sin to kill a mockingbird”(Lee 119). This is showing that Atticus values Mockingbirds because of their innocence and it would be a sin because they cause no harm and only make good songs for people to enjoy. This connects to my thesis because Tom Robinson and Arthur Radley are both Mockingbirds. In the story To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson and Arthur Radley both symbolize the mockingbird because they both showed innocence.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird,
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, imagery and diction helped me develop the theme of innocence and how there is always purity in the darkest of things and how the darkest things are humans. One of the many themes Harper Lee wrote about is racism. On page 223 was the start of Tom Robinson’s trial which was one of the scenes from the book about racism. During the trial Bob Ewell yelled at the court when he said “I seen that black n***** yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella” (231) Also when Mayella refers to Tom in the N word.
“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 93). This bird symbolizes of an innocent man. Children of Mr. Finch desired to kill the bird in a harmless neighbor Arthur Radley, from who they did the imagination monster.
When Atticus is telling Jem and Scout no to kill mocking birds with their Christmas gifts, air rifles, he is teaching them not to harm the innocent. He wants them to understand that mockingbirds bring nothing but song and joy to humans, so they should not be shot at. They can kill other birds that cause damage, but not the innocent ones. Atticus is trying to impart this message to his kids about how they should treat other people. Lee uses symbolism to convey that people should be treated fairly, and the innocent should not be killed simply because someone is looking for somebody to blame.
According to kill a mockingbird, mockingbirds represents a sense of innocence. In the book, Miss Maudie explains to scout, why to kill a mockingbird is a sin. She 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.”
A mockingbird is something that represents beauty, innocence, vulnerability, and goodness. It is believed that mockingbirds sole purpose is to bring happiness to others. On page 276, Scout says, “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”Scout says this because this because it is considered a sin to kill a mockingbird.
There are many major themes presented in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, such as, racism, loss of innocence, and deceptive appearance. From these major themes, I think the loss of innocence is the most important theme shown within this book. There are many examples of characters losing innocence. For example, Boo Radley, he was always seen as a monstrous character, people never even looked at him as an actual human. Boo never really had the chance to prove his innocence, other people inferred and stated who he was.
- Atticus Finch This quote, spoken by Atticus, sets the tone for the entire novel. It is a metaphor for the innocence that is destroyed by prejudice and racism. Mockingbirds are innocent creatures that bring joy through their singing, and killing them is a senseless act of cruelty. In the same way, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are innocent victims of racism and prejudice.
What is something that a child only has once? It’s their innocence. The theme of innocence and its destruction, is very crucial in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The various mentions of a mockingbird in the story portray various types of innocence.
Mockingbirds are an important symbol because they represent goodness and innocence. In this book, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are two innocent men, similar to mockingbirds, who get taken advantage of due to their innocence. Atticus and Miss Maudie teach Scout and Jem that it’s a sin to harm anything innocent by using the example of mockingbirds. Mockingbirds are innocent because they only positively affect people through their singing.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme is that innocence is sacred that once gone cannot be brought back. In an attempt to keep the children from shooting at everything in sight, Miss Maudie explained that there are some creatures that live in false peace, oblivious to the dangers around them. After Uncle Jack gave Jem and Scout air rifles for Christmas, Miss Maudie warned, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.
Innocence is a word used to describe someone 's purity. Children are prime examples of innocence, as they don’t have judgments and don’t understand mature topics. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the reader can interpret innocence as the growing up of the children. Specifically, Jem Finch showed a loss of innocence as he grew up. He showed his loss of innocence by not playing games, his more mature use of words and body language, and his different view of the world around him.
