Why is the mockingbird rarely mentioned in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee when it is literally in the title? The mockingbird first appears in chapter 10, and throughout the book, Lee presented it only seven times in total(“Times Mockingbirds Are Mentioned”). However, it is an important representation of the message Lee wanted to convey: the mockingbird symbolizes victims of racism, injustices, and the immorality of society(Strom).
Tom Robinson is the most noticeable mockingbird, a victim of racism(“To Kill a Mockingbird: Symbols”). He is persecuted for doing nothing but living his life. Harper Lee spent half of the book showing the trial where Bob Ewell accuses Tom of raping his daughter Mayella, a white woman. Despite all the evidence and the speech given by Atticus Finch, the jury and most of Maycomb’s residents consider him guilty. As Scout says:" Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case". The jury and people in the court already have their decision: Tom is black, thus he is guilty. When he dies, the people of Maycomb see his death as “typical” for a black man; they show no sympathy or empathy to him. For these
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Scout sees him as a “malevolent phantom” through several rumors and stories about his younger years and how people describe him. Nevertheless, throughout the book, the children slowly realize Boo is a normal human, with a desire to stay inside the house and have a quiet life. In addition, his gifts and his willingness to kill Bob Ewell and save the children show how much he loves them. However, as Mr. Heck Tate states:" Taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight–to me, that’s a sin”. They will aggravate Boo’s life if they honor him for his heroic