Everybody could say the same thing, but each person could mean something totally different by it. It is the same way with a song or work of writing can mean many different things. Sometimes, the different meanings are intentional, but others, it is something discovered by an outsider. For example, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird uses the mockingbird to symbolize innocence. The ‘mockingbird’ of the story symbolizes several different types of innocence through different characters.
One of the ‘mockingbird’ innocence types is displayed by Tom Robinson. During the closing statements in the courtroom (232), Atticus states that “the defendant is not guilty, but someone in this courtroom is.” The quote shows that Tom’s ‘mockingbird’ innocence is the innocence of not being guilty. Tom did not commit the crime that he was charged with. This is illustrated by the account of Heck Tate (192), Atticus’s cross-examination of Mr. Ewell (202) and Tom’s handicap (212). Mr. Tate tells the court that Mayella was mostly beat up on the right side
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When Scout tries to see things from her point of view (33), she says that “we could not expect her to learn all Maycomb’s ways in one day, and we could not hold her responsible when she knew no better.” Miss Caroline did not yet understand the ways of Maycomb when she tried to give Walter Cunningham money for lunch. Her innocence is her lack of knowledge; She did not know that Walter could not afford to pay her back. Miss Caroline’s type of innocence can lead to all sorts of problems. She made an assumption, just like Mayella, that people were trying to mess with her when Scout tryed to help (21). She was frustrated and confused, so she punished Scout. Her ‘mockingbird’ innocence was the innocence through lack of information. This innocence through lack of information could be good, but, in the case of Miss Caroline, it just led to confusion when she gained the