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Use Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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Harper Lee implements various literary elements to display how innocence is the ignorance of cruelty. When Atticus protects Tom Robinson from a lynching, Lee utilizes Scout’s dialog and characterization to show the irony of a little girl’s innocence. To begin with, the author uses Scout’s dialog to show her ignorance of the conflict. Scout greets the only familiar face by saying, “Hey Mr. Cunningham. How’s your entailment getting along?” (204). Despite the tension, Scout uses a friendly greeting, showing her unawareness of the cruelty that is about to occur. Lee then uses characterization to display Scout’s attempt at a civilized conversation with Mr. Cunningham. Scout recalls a conversation with her father when she states, “Atticus had said …show more content…

The situation is also ironic when Scout interrupts the tension with her innocence and saves Tom and her father. This is clear when she realizes a lynching is about to occur and says, “This was too good to miss” (202). Even though the crowd had malicious intentions, Scout burst through them to get to her father, contradicting what the reader predicted might happen. Overall, Harper Lee uses various literary elements throughout this scene to show Scout’s innocence from the cruel intentions of racism. Lee's usage of point of view and characterization conveys Mayella’s true nature to be innocent. As chapter eighteen begins, Lee displays Mayella’s perspective on Atticus. She expresses her fear by saying, “Don’t want him doin’ me like he done Papa, tryin’ to make him out left handed” (240). In this dialog, Mayella shows her point of view about Atticus; she believes he is trying to trick her because of the manner she is accustomed to in her home life. The author expands on Mayella’s characterization to be naive to the typical ways of the people of …show more content…

Scout describes Mayella as ignorant, caused by her oblivion to the proper way to act in court. In addition, Mayella’s corruption of her father results in her point of view of the townspeople to seem rude and evil. During her testimony, she shouts through tears, “Long’s he keeps callin’ me ma’am an sayin’ Miss Mayella. I don’t hafta take his sass, I ain’t called upon to take it” (243). She interprets Atticus’ manners as imprudent, which makes her feel threatened by him despite his politeness. The manipulation Mayella experiences from her father leads her to be ignorant of the mannerism of everyday

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Scout’s reaction is hotheaded, blind, and continues the contentious feeling between the two classmates; whereas Atticus’s reaction shows empathy towards Scout and a desire to help Scout understand the context of his case. This juxtaposition shows how violence got Scout nowhere with Cecil; however Atticus's approach of ahimsa got his point of view and the facts about the case, through to Scout and helped her solve the conflict between her and Cecil. Later, Scout asks Atticus why he’s defending Tom Robinson and he explains his reasons and warns Scout that she will continue to hear “ugly talk” about him. Through Atticus, Lee uses the line, “Try fighting with your head for a change…”(pg 76) to communicate the metaphor of using intelligence to solve a problem and not violence; which is a change from Scout’s

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The African-American community of Maycomb respects Atticus for doing his best with what he is given and for treating everyone with respect. Scout may not realize at first why she must stand up while her father is leaving, but since she is sitting with the community of African-Americans, she quickly realizes that it is a sign of respect, and it makes the audience feel proud. On the contrary, Mayella Ewell makes a remark that can lead the audience into thinking a variety of things, one of which is terrifying. While Tom Robinson is giving his testimony and explaining what happened while he was in the Ewell house, he states, “She says what her papa do to her don’t count,” (260). Someone could read this and think that her father is raping her, which is very alarming.

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Even tho Mayella doesn´t live in the best conditions she is still appointed to a higher social standing than Tom. This shows how bad racism was in the 1900s. In the story, a man named Atticus Finch is turned to as Tom´s attorney, who believes Tom is innocent. During the trial, there are many pieces

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