Who Is The Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

There are about 45,000,000 Northern mockingbirds in the world. But in society, not many people notice them. Just by reading the title of the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, it is obvious that mockingbirds are important to the story. The main qualities of a mockingbird are innocence, to be kindhearted/provide enjoyment, and never disturb the environment around it. These qualities of a mockingbird shine through in Scout, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. These main characters in the novel endure multiple conflicts, but they remain true to themselves.

Evidently, as soon as we are born we are deemed innocent, because we have yet to do anything that we know in our hearts is truly wrong. Scout is innocent for most of the novel, but as she

In my opinion Tom is the one true mockingbird. He was clearly not guilty of the crime he was accused of, but he was charged for it anyway. An innocent man accused of a crime he did not commit, and everyone who was in that courtroom knew that, but it all will always come down to what race the person is. Tom's innocence of the crime he's accused of makes him similar to the mockingbird who does no harm to anyone. After Tom’s death Mr. Underwood wrote an editorial for Tom and Scout had the quote summarized by saying “Mr. Underwood didn't talk about miscarriages of justice, he was writing so children could understand. Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting, or escaping. He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children, and Maycomb thought he was trying to write an editorial poetical enough to be reprinted in The Montgomery Advertiser.” (323). Mr.Underwood figured it was a sin to kill cripples, or in other words to kill a mockingbird. Mr.Underwood stated it as killing someone who was physically disabled, but he meant it as killing someone who did nothing but bring joy. All Tom Robinson did was be kind to everyone he met. He always help Mayella when he asked him even though he only had one good hand and could’ve been exhausted from work. Even in the courtroom when he was

Boo Radley never did anything to harm or bother anyone in Maycomb. The only time we even remotely hear from Boo is when he is trying to communicate with Scout and Jem or protect them. He doesn’t seem to ever try and bother or communicate with anyone else. Specifically when Boo comes to save Jem and Scout from being killed by Bob Ewell, this is when we see Boo as more of a mockingbird than before. One thing that makes this an even more important moment is when Scout says “Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?"(370). Now Scout realizes exactly what the mockingbird stood for. She understands that taking Boo Radley into court would just ruin his life. Boo has stayed inside his house for so long that when he comes out people might not feel safe around him and might do something to put him back into his house forever. Making him go to trial would just make the situation even worse. After Scout takes Boo home after the attack this is the last time we ever hear from Boo. Boo is the last mockingbird because he does nothing to harm or bother