To Kill A Mockingbird Title Analysis

What is the significance of the title "To Kill a Mockingbird?" This has been one of the most frequently asked questions since Lee Harper published this book over fifty years ago. The actual character of the mockingbird is vaguely switched throughout the book from Jem, to Tom Robinson, then Dill, Boo Radley and so forth. With a bit of word play the title, as stated by Herbert, becomes "To Mock a Killingbird" which roughly implies the act of Boo Radley shutting himself apart from the world as a result of being accused of things via rumors of a trial he underwent as a teenager. According to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary a mockingbird is defined as "a grayish bird with black and white markings that is known for its remarkable ability to exactly imitate the notes of other birds." In the book Lee first describes Boo 's character as being a seemingly dark figure who is "sickly white, with thin, feathery hair, and gray, colorless eyes, almost as if he were blind" (14). This of course further implies that Boo Radley is indeed the actual mockingbird. One of the books most famous quotes “one time he [Atticus] said you never

Atticus states that killing a mockingbird is a sin, they "don 't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy" (Lee 94). As stated above mockingbirds don 't sing their own songs, they merely imitate those of other birds. That is why Atticus 's two quotes are so important. As stated by Best, "To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age novel in which the Finch children begin to understand themselves, but first must understand the community around them and others within it to gain self-awareness." Just like how mockingbirds abandon, so to speak, their own voices to sing others songs as a means of conforming to others worldview to sing in unison with everyone else. Or rather, try to understand things through someone else’s perspective- The point Atticus tries to make on multiple occasions throughout the book to his