"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