To Kill A Mockingbird Lessons

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a plot that takes place during the Great Depression, in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, the narrator and main character, her brother Jem and their friend Dill, are fascinated by the spooky rumors that surround a mysterious man named Boo Radley, who lives in their town but is always inside his home. In addition, Scout’s father Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer, takes on a case involving a black man named Tom Robinson who has been accused of raping a white girl in town. This trial teaches Scout many lessons about equality, the good and the evil, and the value of life. This book has become a literary treasure because of its many intricate and deep messages scattered within

Atticus says this to Jem when Jem is learning from his Uncle Jack how to shoot his air-rifle. Scout hears her father say this, and later turns to Miss Maudie for the meaning of Atticus’ words. Miss Maudie replies by saying, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t tear up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us” (119). Miss Maudie’s reasoning means that killing a mockingbird is a sin because a person would be destroying something that was clearly innocent, but killing a bluejay was alright because they were the terrible ones who deserved it. If this idea is taken even further, the birds can relate to the people in the story. It can be seen that many of the characters can relate to a mockingbird - gentle and helpful, whereas some characters might resemble a bluejay - bad, yet seen as the legitemite victim. All of this adds up to mean that a person shouldn’t be cruel, unfair, or metaphorically “shoot at” somebody who did nothing wrong. To harm someone who is innocent is a

Many obvious characters come to mind. Boo Radley for one, was found clear from all of the nasty rumors after he proved himself a hero when saving Jem and Scout from death by Bob Ewell, meanwhile Bob Ewell was most certainly not an honest man for his crime that he hid by using Tom Robinson as a human shield. Regarding the details, Mayella too could possibly be seen as an blameless character, for her father was a drunk and abused her, causing her to feel alone and commit the real crime Tom was convicted for. Even Jem could be considered a mockingbird - not an innocent person of crime, but rather innocent simply because he was a child; naive. After the trial had ended, he finally saw what he couldn’t see before, that the people of Maycomb actually turned out to be cruel and mean people, that they would be so hateful towards Tom Robinson, a man with simply a different skin