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To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee: Character Analysis

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Luis Garcia once stated that “In the end, hurting a good person will only hurt you more when you realize not many genuine people exist. You just took a major loss” This is demonstrated in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, where a brother and sister learn morals and equality in a town of prejudice and racism. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee demonstrates two characters that symbolize mockingbirds; Tom Robinson and Arthur “Boo” Radley.

Harper Lee uses mockingbirds to describe someone who only does good for others. Uncle Jack gifts Scout and Jema air rifles for Christmas. Atticus tells them not to shoot any mockingbirds. Scout, confused with Attucus' statement, asks Miss. Maudie what he means. She responded that “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for [them] to enjoy… they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for [them]. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). Mockingbirds are creatures who don't bother anyone, they are innocent creatures. In this novel, there are also characters that are also innocent and who have never done anything bad. A mockingbird …show more content…

This is because Tom helps Mayella Ewell almost every day with some of her chores. However, Tom later gets accused of the rape of Mayella and is put on trial. When Tom is on the stand Atticus asks him if he is paid for helping Mayella. Tom responded with no, “not after she offered [him] a nickel the first time. [He] was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn’t seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun, and [Tom] knowed she didn't have no nickels to spare” (256). Tom has the temerity to feel sorry for a white woman, so he is put on trial for something he didn't do. Like a mockingbird, Tom is only kind to Mayella by assisting her with her chores. His only goal is to help her out because he knows her family will not. Tom symbolizes a mockingbird because of his chivalrous acts toward

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“Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”(Lee 119 ) To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee about two young kids named Scout and Jem who live in the town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. Maycomb is a town infected with racism like much of the south in that time, but it is also a quiet town where nothing really happens. That is until Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused by the Ewell’s, a white family, of raping their daughter. As Tom’s trial occurs, a chain of events is set into place that teaches Scout and Jem about the harsh reality of innocent people who fall victim to circumstance. That is why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because mockingbirds symbolize innocent people who are hurt by evil, and it is a sin to hurt innocent people.

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During the trial it is revealed that Tom resisted Mayella even though the common stereotype was that all black men rape white women if they had a chance, which supports the idea that he’s a mockingbird. This gives off the idea that Tom doesn’t want to harm Mayella’s standing by having her

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762 Words | 4 Pages

After all the work he did for her he never accepted any pay because Tom said she could not afford to pay him. Also, Tom never went on to the Ewell property without invitation so he was not a law breaking person, like the citizens of Maycomb made him out to be. Tom Robinson is like a mockingbird because of what he did for Mayella and how he did it out of the goodness of his

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Innocent Mockingbirds Wanted Thesis: Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and Boo Radley all symbolize mockingbirds because of their traits, qualities, and actions. I. Topic Sentence: Tom Robinson symbolizes a mockingbird because he is not harmful, he is misunderstood, and he is killed over a judgmental reason. A. Claim: Behind his skin color, Tom loved to assist others without a reward. 1. Primary Evidence: He claimed that he would Mayella Ewell without being payed by saying, “No suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first time.

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The mockingbird is a symbol of innocence, and therefore killing a mockingbird is a sin. Atticus says, “…but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (90). Miss Maudie says afterwards, “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” (90).

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821 Words | 4 Pages

In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, a mockingbird is someone who does nothing wrong, and only does things for the good of others, and is sometimes thought of in the wrong light. Tom Robinson is a black man from Maycomb, Alabama, who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a woman from the same town. Robinson is a crippled man, who only has one arm after it being destroyed in a cotton gin, and he helps Mayella with small tasks free of charge whenever he is asked. Tom

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Even in an uncomfortable situation, Tom remains chivalrous and gentle. The mockingbird symbolizes Tom Robinson because of his kindness towards

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499 Words | 2 Pages

The life lesson that Atticus teaches us is brought up in several different cases throughout the book. For example, when Atticus says “Seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much Cal.”(315) This example proves that Tom, much like other harmless creatures, had done nothing but help others and in the end they suffered for it.

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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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He was trying to help out Mayella Ewell by gathering firewood and chopping dressers because he felt sorry for her, but was accused of rape because of his color. On page 87, Atticus said that “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” He was trying to help those who are innocent and in need, and even though he knew that he was going to lose the case, he wanted to try. Atticus hoped to better the lives of the mockingbird-like African-Americans in the South, so he attempted to help an innocent and helpless Tom to the best of his ability. Also, Tom’s crippled left arm is proof that he did not attack Mayella, however, he is accused because of his color.

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a young girl by the name of Jean Finch and her brother Jeremy Finch go through events that teach them multiple different life lessons like changing their perspectives to other peoples before judging them. This ties in the meaning of the mockingbird which represents innocence because it causes no harm to anyone; to judge or to harm it proves that one does not understand its perspective. In the novel, Harper Lee brings up many times where the representation of a mockingbird appears. There is one direct time when their father, Atticus, asks the kids not to shoot any mockingbirds and Ms. Maudie tells Scout “Your father’s right. Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.

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822 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee many characters are victims of the harsh conditions of Maycomb County. Often those who are seen to be metaphorical mockingbirds are punished the most. A mockingbird is one who only wants and attempts to do good. Characters such as Boo Radley, Jem Finch and Tom Robinson are exemplars of mockingbirds in Maycomb. In the novel it is explained by Atticus that killing a mockingbird is a sin because they do not do anything to harm to us like nesting in corncribs, or eating up the gardens, they only sing for us.

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941 Words | 4 Pages

He is a respectable man who is torn down because of the prejudice towards his race. Tom is an innocent mockingbird who does nothing but go out of the way to help others. In the book, Tom is accused of raping a white woman, when he was only helping her with some of her chores. During Tom’s trial he was asked many questions as to why he helped Mayella Ewell in the first place, he responded “Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em -” (197).

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323 Words | 2 Pages

Tom Robinson is a mockingbird in that he doesn't do one thing wrong. All he does is provide help to the people he interacts with. That is exactly how he got in trouble. Tom Robinson was helping Mayella with some chores. He was humming a melody and when he chopped up the dresser drawers.

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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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