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To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Quotes

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"I'd rather you shoot 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."(Atticus 90) Atticus mentions the mockingbirds in his quote to symbolize respect for innocent. The story is told through the character of Scout, a young girl living in Maycomb, Alabama during The Great Depression. Throughout the novel, Scout and her brother, Jem, try to convince Boo Radley, the town phantom, to show his face so they can find out who he really is. Additionally, Scout watches her father, Atticus Finch, defend Tom Robinson, a black man who has been falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell who is an abused, white woman. In the end, Tom is found guilty and …show more content…

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the title itself is significant to the book. The author Harper Lee uses the symbol of the bird to reveal innocence. The symbol of the mockingbird, a bird that is beneficial because it gives pleasure, is reinforced through the characters of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Harper Lee uses Tom to develop her thematic statement that some people only want to help but get hurt by those who misunderstand them. “‘Mr. Finch, I got down offa that chair an’ turned around an’ she sorta jumped on me.’...he would not have dared strike a white woman under any circumstances and expected to live long.” (Lee 194-195) From the previous quote the audience learns that Tom was sexualy attacked by Mayella. Mayella thinks it’s okay for her to pursue a black man. She doesn't understand why she can’t

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Quotes Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

543 Words | 3 Pages

Mockingbirds: Emblems of innocence in To Kill A Mockingbird There are many mockingbirds in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The image of mockingbirds represent many people in the story and how many people take advantage of them for their own benefits. Scout, a young girl who lives in Maycomb is the story’s protagonist. She lives with her brother and father and occasionally meets Calpurnia their cook. For instance, Tom Robinson and Calpurnia are treated differently because of their skin color, however they are very close to the Finch family.

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How Did Tom Robinson Get His Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

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She did not have any friends and was a loner. When Atticus asked Tom why he spoke to Mayella, Tom responded “I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more the rest of 'em." (Lee 264). When another person saw Mayella talking to Tom, Mayella became scared and decided to lie that Tom raped her. The jury came into the court knowing they were going to be on the side of Mayella because Tom was black.

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To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Quotes

1299 Words | 6 Pages

“Another reason, the simplest, the ugliest, was that this hitherto peaceful congregation of neighbors and old friends had suddenly to endure the unique experience of distrusting each other; understandably, they believed that the murder was among themselves…” (pg. 88) Holcomb have been described as a town out in the countryside in which everyone knew each other. Before the murders of the Clutter family, there was a sense of security and comfort among the people of Holcomb. The significance of this quote shows the people’s loss of innocence and the sheltered lifestyle they once had. After the tragedy, they are forced to realize the true nature of humans.

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Examples Of Compassion In To Kill A Mockingbird

465 Words | 2 Pages

She accused Tom Robinson of rape to cover up for her dad who beat her up. Because Mayella is white, most of the whites agree with what she is saying and that she is telling the truth, on the other hand, the blacks do not agree with Mayella and they agree with Tom. “It is difficult to be compassionate in the midst of suffering.” (Six Habits) Scout wants to feel compassion for Mayella, but she is endangering a man's life by accusing him of a terrible crime he did not commit.

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To Kill A Mockingbird Dbq

623 Words | 3 Pages

Mayella lives with her father and her smaller siblings. In the book Mayella Ewell has accused Tom Robinson,a black poor man with a left crippled arm of raping her. During this time blacks were in a lower class than all whites. Atticus Finch has two children,Scout and Jem. Atticus Finch,Tom Robinson’s lawyer finds evidence that Tom is innocent.

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Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

698 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the Mockingbird is the main symbol in the story representing how the loss of innocence influences Scout Finch and the society she sees. With the story, To Kill a Mockingbird is to destroy innocence. This shows how evil and the realization of the truth can truly show society the cruel nature of what they do. Without this realization society will become blind of their actions and negligent.

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Boo Radley Prejudice

665 Words | 3 Pages

“...there was no ‘race problem’ for me because I had simply never thought about it”(Conine, “How a Southerner Licked Intolerance”). Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird creates a similar situation by demonstrating that prejudice is a dangerous force that can change an individual’s sense of right and wrong without him or her even knowing. To Kill a Mockingbird features two siblings named Scout and Jem Finch, who are growing up in the racially-biased town of Maycomb. A black man named Tom Robinson is on trial for raping Mayella Ewell, and it seems that he is innocent. Nonetheless, a guilty verdict is delivered due to the entire jury being white men.

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Examples Of Stereotypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

508 Words | 3 Pages

Tom is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, believes that he is innocent and he is only being accused because of his color. Stereotypes of blacks such as the assumption that they lie and are bad people cause others to not give someone a chance to be proven innocent, not unlike Tom. In the book, the characters refer to a black person as a “nigger” which is a very offencive and negative term which shows how people in the early 1930’s viewed people of dark

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To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Quotes

812 Words | 4 Pages

Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930’s America. The main characters, Scout and Jem live in a world filled with racial bias and prejudice. While a major court trial is going on, Scout and Jem are trying to make sense of all that is happening, but they are pure children in a world filled with hateful people. Overall, Harper Lee includes a strong theme of innocence throughout her novel. This theme idea relates to the symbol of the book, the mockingbird, in the fact that, “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” so killing a mockingbird is destroying this overall idea of innocence.

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Tom Robinson Is A Sin To Kill A Mockingbird

953 Words | 4 Pages

“They don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (page). The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a fictional piece which captures the fictional lives of a small county set in Alabama during the 1930s. The novel takes place in Maycomb County, and is through the eyes of the narrator, Jean Louise or also known as Scout.

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To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Quotes

637 Words | 3 Pages

Symbols, what are they? A symbol is, “something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance.” For example, a lion represents courage, but have ever thought of a mockingbird as a symbol? In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the “mockingbird” symbolizes somethings; it symbolizes innocence. This is important, because this helps the reader understand the passages more.

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Examples Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

1020 Words | 5 Pages

Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”’[119]. Scout is confused about what Atticus said, so she consults her neighbor Miss Maudie for clarification. Miss Maudie tells her, “‘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. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”’[119].

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Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

720 Words | 3 Pages

The title of To Kill a Mockingbird represents how Harper Lee feels about the Southern Society during the 1930s. She uses the term mockingbird to represent the innocent traits, and the loss of innocence that the characters face. In this novel Scout, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson all have the traits and qualities of a mockingbird. We learn early in the novel that a mockingbird symbolizes innocence when Atticus says that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Many of the events and actions that occurred, caused Scout to represent a mockingbird.

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Essay On Tom Robinson Trial To Kill A Mockingbird

885 Words | 4 Pages

Then some people thought that Tom was innocent but the judge decided to make Tom go to prison. In the book it said that Mayella hugged and kissed Tom on the cheek. From this I can infer that Mayella is desperate and can get away with this because Tom Robinson is a black person. This reminds me of a couple southern movies I’ve watched where black people are always the first to suspect because of their color. Tom Robinson on trial for his life said Bob Ewell yelled “whore I’ll kill you” when he saw Mayella kiss Tom from the window.

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Theme Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

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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