Examples Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

846 Words2 Pages

A mockingbird is a unique type of bird that should never be harmed because all it does is make beautiful music. This special bird is the very symbol of innocence. Throughout Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many important individuals that represent a mockingbird. From the beginning to the end of the narrative we have characters that are the embodiment of the mockingbird because all they do is help others and they themselves get harmed in some way. However, there are some characters that epitomize the qualities of the bird more than others. These three particular people are Tom Robinson, Boo (Arthur) Radley and Jeremy Atticus Finch.
Tom Robinson is generally one of the first characters in the story that people think of as a prominent mockingbird. As a hardworking and honest man, he tried to do a kindly act …show more content…

His intention was to help Mayella and he did, by doing some of the chores that she could not do herself. Tom recognized Mayella as a person who needed someone to help her. He realized that she had nobody around the house to aid her and he felt sorry for her. He never asks for anything in return and he refuses payment. We hear this when Mr. Gilmer asks,"You're a mighty good fellow, it seems—did all this for not one penny?" and he responds "Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more than the rest of ‘em.” Tom helps Mayella out of the goodness of his heart, which Bob Ewell took advantage of. He was arrested for a crime he didn’t do, not for his personality, but for his skin color. When Mayella makes tries to kiss him, he immediately realizes that he is in danger, but he refuses to even harm her. In his court statement he says, “I didn’t wanta harm her, Mr. Finch, an’ I say lemme pass, but just when I say it Mr. Ewell yonder hollered through th’ window.” “Mr. Finch, I tried. I tried to ‘thout

Open Document