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What Does Atticus Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

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To Kill a Mockingbird Final Project In Lee's’ “To Kill a Mockingbird”, symbolism is a literary device where the author uses an object to stand for an idea. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the mockingbird symbolises innocence. In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Harper Lee uses Atticus, Tom Robinson, and Arthur (Boo) Radley as human mockingbirds to contribute to the overall theme of innocence. First Lee uses Atticus as a mockingbird. Atticus is a non-racist lawyer who is the father of the narrator; other wise known as Scout; and Jem. Atticus is a mockingbird because he is a lawyer who is treated like crap because he defended a black man in court. Scout narrates, “According to Miss Stephanie Crawford, however, Atticus was leaving the post office when Mr. Ewell approached him, cursed him, spat on him and threatened to kill him.”(217) Yet Atticus’s response was to wipe the spit off his face and walk away. Mr. Ewell threatened him for defending Tom Robinson; a innocent black man who is charged with rape. Atticus is a helpful man who was defending a man who just so happen to be black; then he’s treated like crap for it. That's why Atticus is a mockingbird. …show more content…

Tom Robinson is a black man with a wife and three kids. He also lost the use of his left arm when he was a boy. He got his arm caught in a cotton gin. He was charged with rape and was “proven” guilty. Tom went to jail where he waited to go to a higher court it was also where he was killed. Atticus explains, “They shot him… 17 bullet holes in him.”(235) Tom is a mockingbird because he was killed for something he didn't do. Tom couldn't defend himself, it only takes 1 bullet to kill someone. After the first shot they shot him 16 more times after he was already dead. He wasn't killed because he was on trial for rape, he was killed for being

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When Atticus is talking to Jem about why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, he’s only trying to explain why people do the things they do. In an article it claimed, “Atticus symbolizes logical thinking; he is able to act on the right thing while still trying to keep the peace in the small town he loves. His upstanding morality is characterized by a lack of pride, in stark contrast to Bob Ewell (we see this when his own children don't even know he's a perfect shot, for example). As he instructs Scout and Jem on the proper ways to behave, he symbolizes a teacher for all of the novel's readers as well” (Cook). Atticus always cared about Jem and Scout out of pure innocence which makes him symbolize a mockingbird.

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Harper Lee’s purpose in describing Atticus the way he does in To Kill A Mockingbird is directly used to convey the theme in the story. As Atticus is described as being one who does not judge or think differently about people based on their race, gender, or religious beliefs it is used by the author to establish the theme of innocence. This comes as Atticus is just so kind to everyone around him, no matter their background, it even has Miss Maudie even talking about him as being just so consistent and holding no grudges and due to the author making Atticus be seen this way it shows off the theme of innocence as when Atticus will defend a black man in court and Scout gets picked on at school she does not understand why due to her innocence. She

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Tom shows perseverance and a willingness to help others which is why comparing him to a mockingbird would be accurate. He calmly states that he is a worker in the courtroom. He could have been yelling this fact out loud while being full of anger and rage, since he was falsely accused, instead he is well-controlled, well-mannered and is able to state his facts clearly. The way he presents his facts in his testimony helps make him comparable to a mockingbird. There is also no physical way Tom could have committed the crime, his arm is of no use to him.

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Atticus motivates people to get past their prejudices and to point out that all people make mistakes, it is human nature, so white people shouldn’t be favored over black people because race doesn’t determine anyone’s actions which shows Atticus's morality he understands, unlike the society, that there is more to people than their race. Scout is bullied at school because her father is defending a black person she is confused why When Scout asked why Atticus was defending Tom Robinson, he replied, “If I didn't, I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, and I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” because he wouldn’t be doing his duty (Lee

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After Tom was sent to jail, he tried to escape because he didn’t want to be there and he got shot 17 times. To prove Atticus comes home with a frown on his face knowing that Tom is now dead, he tells Scout and Aunt Alexandra the news, “ ‘Oh yes, the guards called to him to stop. They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. They got him just as he went over the fence. They said if he’d had two good arms he’d have made it, he was moving that fast.

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Distraught, Atticus said “‘Seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much’” (235). The reason Tom was shot so many times was the same reason he was convicted of the crime. During the 1930’s racial prejudice was a popular concept, and it ended up being the reason for an innocent man’s death.

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee utilizes Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, and a mockingbird to represent multiple facets of justice, morality, and ethics. Lee’s ability to symbolize these qualities so well is likely due to her surroundings and experiences throughout her childhood. First, Atticus Finch is the epitome of justice and wisdom. His profound education and ethical background feed his will to achieve fairness.

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Alliteration- the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. “...Miss Rachel’s cook’s son" ( To Kill a Mockingbird 100). I think that Lee put this in, to show that Scout did not want to go to school at all. Personification- Giving human characteristics to nonhuman objects.

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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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Although Atticus got judged and got called a "nigger lover", he continued to believe in what he thought was right, which was standing up for an innocent member of Maycomb. Atticus symbolizes a mockingbird because even though all he had done was stand up for what he believed in, he was hated and judged by his own community. Atticus believes that "it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird".

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In Modern day society racism isn’t as common as it was in the 1900’s. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the Mockingbird is a symbol for an a character who brings nothing but peace to the world. Atticus Finch is an harmless and innocent mockingbird, whose image is ruined by trying to step aside the racial barrier in and defend Tom Robinson. Atticus is a mockingbird in this book because of his exceptional behavior he provides to the community around him.

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In the text “to kill a Mockingbird” Áticas is the symbol of justice because he always does the right thing according to his morals and never lets anything otherwise be acceptable. E:Page 110 chapter 9: When Sout is starting to get into et with her cuz and he tells her “It ain 't your flat if uncle Atticus is a nigger lover” R:Sout did not understand what nigger lover meant but,she knew the tone in her cuz ands voice,though she later found its meaning she could tell it was offensive. Atticus knew sout would face things like this more often than other children because of the trill but,did so anyway.

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In Harper Lee’s historical fiction novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, two children live in a chaotic world of racial injustice and poverty. In this book, two siblings named Jem and Scout Finch grow and mature in a mysterious area of people battling and supporting racism. Throughout this book, Harper Lee uses symbolism to provide the view of racism. While doing this, she also uses selective choices of diction to shape the story. Harper Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird with a purpose, to bring awareness to racial injustice through hidden symbols and diction.

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Atticus has taken a court case defending Tom Robinson. The accusation that was thrown at Tom was that he raped a white woman. At this part, Atticus Finch can be seen as a mockingbird because there are people who believe Atticus is doing the right thing and support him. This is similar to a mockingbird because both Atticus and mockingbirds are supported and cherished by some people. Atticus is supported because of he follows moral values than society’s values.

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This is proof Tom Robinson is a symbol of a Mockingbird. he was killed for no reason so he was innocent and killed without a reason. Just like there is no reason to kill a Mockingbird, there is no reason to kill an innocent person. When Tom Robinson went to court for his rape case, he had lost the case before the jury even had time to come up with the verdict. I can prove this by saying"Scout realizes that although it may appear that Tom is given a fair trial, “in the secret court of men’s hearts Atticus had no case.

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