To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

The idea is, it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, for they do no harm; all they do is sing beautiful songs. This law is a potent and recurring one in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, and in it, it means much, much more than what is apparent on the surface. To Kill A Mockingbird is a very popular novel on racism in America. Taken in 1930s Alabama, the book follows a 6-8 year old Scout and her 10-13 year old brother Jem, whose non-racist father, Atticus, is appointed to defend a black man in a court case, in a time where racism is an abundant disease. In her novel, Harper Lee uses the aforementioned mockingbird analogy many times to call to a common theme: someone being attacked, despite their innocence. With the most prominent “Mockingbirds”

He is Atticus’s defendant, on trial for his life for raping a fair-skinned Mayella Ewell, something he did not do. During the trial, the plaintiff’s attorney, Mr. Gilmer, starts to question Tom aggressively, throwing a condescending “Boy” onto the back of each sentence. He eventually backs Tom into a corner. Tom admits that he “felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em—”(Lee 224). He regrets this soon after, as he realizes what he just said. A black man just stated he felt sorry for a white woman. A genuine, innocent, feeling of concern from Tom is quickly shut down, demonized, mistaken for foolish ignorance. Tom was later found guilty, and sent to jail. As Atticus holds on to hope that he can still win this through an appeal, he receives horrible news, and tells Calpurnia, “‘They shot him,’ said Atticus. He was running. It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing

‘Thank you for my children, Arthur,’ he said”(Lee 317). For the previously mentioned reasons, Boo Radley perfectly encapsulates a mockingbird; despite being nothing but kind and innocent, he is attacked and misconstrued by ignorance, his reputation being shot down because of it. The final prominent mockingbird is Jem Finch. Arguably one of the most central characters to the story, he undoubtedly represents what it means to be a mockingbird. Throughout the book, he almost mirrors Atticus; his reasoning being very akin to his father’s. For example, he mirrors Atticus’s reasoning to not kill a mockingbird when Scout encounters a roly-poly, but Jem doesn’t allow her to kill it. “because they don't bother you” (Lee 273), Jem says. Jem, like Atticus, represents an innocent and justice-driven mindset. He barely does anything particularly wrong or problematic ever, and despite this, gets caught in the crossfire when walking home from a Halloween party. Furious, Bob Ewell makes an attempt to kill Atticus’s children to get back at him for humiliating him during the trial. Jem is saved by Boo Radley, but is badly beaten. The town Doctor comes to the Finch house to check on him: “After ten forevers, Dr. Reynolds