Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

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To Kill a Mockingbird is seen as an important work of American Literature, and many different messages are conveyed in the story. One of the most important themes of the entire story is right in the title. “To kill a mockingbird” means to destroy innocence. Many different characters have their innocence ruined throughout the course of the book. One character that comes to mind is Tom Robinson. He is convicted of a crime that he didn’t commit, and he then ends up getting shot while in jail for a crime that he didn’t commit. However, he does not have the same innocence that characters such as the children and Boo Radley have. They have less knowledge of the world than he does. Boo is one of the most important “mockingbirds” in this story. He gives the children gifts and even protects them from Bob Ewell. They see him as someone who is …show more content…

Jem takes part in the game with Boo Radley’s house. This demonstrates his lack of knowledge about many things in the world. He displays a strong sense of innocence throughout the story, but, unlike Boo Radley, he was not a mockingbird throughout the entire story. He developed into one later on. All of the children can be seen as mockingbirds, but I think that Jem and Dill have a stronger importance to the outcome of the story than Scout does. In some scenes, Scout is the strongest and most mature of the children, even though Jem is the oldest. She takes Dill out of the courtroom when he is uncontrollably crying, and she comforts him. I also see Jem and Scout as having a symbolic importance to the story because they have the last name “Finch”. A “Finch” is a type of bird. It is a songbird, just like a mockingbird. There is a lot of symbolism all throughout the book. I think that an overall recurring theme that I saw in the book is that of innocence, and how easily it can be destroyed. Mockingbirds are songbirds, and they just fly around singing, causing no

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