Theme Of Protection In To Kill A Mockingbird

To kill a Mockingbird

Theme 1 Essay

“Innocence invites protection, yet we might be smarter to protect ourselves against it...”

― Megan Johns. In this novel we are taken back to the 1930s, in a small town in Alabama, and a time where everyone was not treated as equals. Blacks, mentally disturbed or anyone for that matter that did not classify as “normal” was discriminated against. Often, the titles of books have a meaning and represent a key element in the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is no exception. The main character, Atticus introduced the idea of not killing a mockingbird because it did no harm, and this idea of not “killing” the innocent mockingbird is taken up in its comparison to those innocent characters in the novel. Tom Robinson

Similarly, the mockingbird never harms anyone and instead makes beautiful music for the people around them to enjoy. Like a mockingbird, Boo does nothing to harm anyone in any way and never gets in anyone’s way. Although rumors spread around the town saying that he is “malevolent”, the children find out through the course of the novel that Boo, in reality, is gentle and caring and not a trouble to anyone, just like a mockingbird. He finds joy from seeing the happiness on their faces when he leaves presents for them and even saves their lives from Bob Ewell. Scout and Jem figure out that, just like it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is a sin to torment Boo. Scout even refers to Boo as a mockingbird when she says that shooting him would be like killing a mocking bird. Tom Robinson, although he may be very different from Boo has one thing in common with him: he is also a mockingbird whose only “fault” is being black. Tom Robinson is a totally innocent character not harming anyone, in fact he does Mayella Ewell a favor and comes and lends her a hand with no selfish intent. However, even though he has given no trouble to anyone and is innocent, he still becomes a victim at the cruel hands of the Ewells. Just like a mockingbird Tom was killed for nothing. Instead he was judged by others because of the way he looked and, in turn, he was killed because of his appearance. He was

In Boo’s case it’s his mental disorder and in Tom’s, his race. This was a time in which all people were not believed to be equal and some were believed to be worth less than others. Those people included the blacks and the mentally disabled. People from these categories face major hurdles not only in situations like Tom’s and Boo’s but also in their day to day life. They were categorized in a class below the poor and ignorant because people felt that they were not good enough to be treated like fairly. Even thought they were completely innocent, because of the social system they belonged to, they were punished for something they had no control over. Moreover, no sympathy was given to people like them and instead they were blamed for things that they were completely innocent of just because they couldn’t defend themselves or when they did, they wouldn’t be believed. For example, we know that Boo is blamed for everything that goes wrong in the town even though he had nothing to with those