Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

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In the last century, there have certainly been many "greats" - novels, books and stories

that impress, amaze and make one think. Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird", however, is

unique among all these poignant pieces of literature in that the novel solely develops Lee's idea,

brought out by Atticus in the novel, to "...shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but

remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (90). This phrase is expounded by the character Miss

Maudie when she says "...mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They

don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts

out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird. :(90) In the bird kingdom, the bluejay is

considered as the "bully", as they are very loud, agressive and territorial; this reminds one of Bob

Ewell. The phrase of "killing a mockingbird" represents the iniquity to vitiate something good and

relatively unmarred, as mockingbirds do nothing but sing beautiful songs; they are innocent and

harmless. This motif can also be interpreted as a symbol of imitation, or "mocking" - the

mockingbird is known for its ersatz of other birds' songs. This mockingbird motif, the foremost

theme, is exemplified by the actions and words of three characters in "To Kill A Mockingbird" -

Arthur (Boo) Radley, Tom Robinson and Jean-Louise (Scout) Finch.

It is obvious and simple to understand why one of the "mockingbirds" in Lee's novel is

Tom Robinson, as he is not only a cripple, “His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his

right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled hand, and from as far away as the

balcony I could see that it was no use to him.” (186), but innocent, kind and softhearted as well.

This is recognized when he helps out Mayella Ewell, in exchange for nothing. "...'did all this for not

one penny?' 'Yes, suh.' " (197) He is the victim of not only racial prejudice, but the system of

segregation the town of Maycomb lived in. Even when he was sentenced, the jurors had no

quarrel with him - they just felt that to take the word of a black man over two whites' would

jeapordize that system of segregation that they lived by. Tom as a symbol is further continued by

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