“I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(page 119) In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the mockingbird is one of the most symbolic objects in the novel. It represents the innocence of someone not affected by the evilness of society. In the novel, there are three people, or mockingbirds, that are innocent affected by society. The three mockingbirds are Tom Robinson, Mayella Ewell, and Boo Radley.
One example of the symbol of the mockingbird is Tom Robinson. For example, when Tom said “Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em-”(page 264). This shows
…show more content…
For example when Mayella said “ Nineteen-and-a-half.”(page 240) The age that most people stop using half years is around six years old. This shows that while mayella may be nineteen her mind functions like that of a child. This is due mostly to the fact of her upbringing and her fear of her father.
Another example of why Mayella is a mockingbird is when the narrator said “ … as she took offense to routine courtesy. What on earth was her life like?” This further strengthens the fact that Mayella is a product of her environment. When Atticus uses Miss Mayella and Ma’am she gets upset because she thinks she’s being made fun of. This shows that Mayella has never been treated with any kind of respect or courtesy from her father.
The last mockingbird is Boo Radley. For example, when scout is coming home and sees something shiny, ”some tinfoil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun. I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.” (page 44) This shows that Tom is a mockingbird because he leaves the gifts for the kids. This also represents the mockingbird because the mockingbird leaves the gift of