In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, she shows how society in the 1930’s affects the lives of many people. One of these people is Tom Robinson, who is expressed to be a “mockingbird” of the story. A mockingbird is unlike several other birds and never harms anyone, therefore should not be killed because it would be like killing peace. Tom is used in the novel as a mockingbird to show how the town of Maycomb, Alabama is racist. Scout becomes curious to why her father says it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, so she asks. Atticus tells scout, “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy…but sing their hearts out for us”(Lee, 103). Atticus gives a clear explanation of why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Mockingbirds do not cause any harm to anything or anyone and this is why they are the symbol of innocence in the …show more content…
story. Harper Lee created characters that symbolize a mockingbird because they are a sign of peace, and Tom Robinson is one of them. Even in bad circumstances, like being tried for rape, Tom stayed serene. Tom was accused of a crime that he did not commit. During trial Tom had to present his case to the jury. Maintaining peace, Tom said to Atticus, “Mr. Finch, I tried. I tried to ‘thout bein’ ugly to her. I didn’t wanta be ugly, I didn’t wanta push her or nothin’ ”(Lee, 221). This is a prime example of how mockingbirds are innocent and gentle, Tom chose not to touch Mayella because he didn’t want to hurt her in anyway. This can be connected to the actions of a mockingbird, which is why Tom is a symbol of a mockingbird. The town of Maycomb, Alabama was predominately white and the whites were at the top of the social class, leaving the blacks at the bottom.
Racism spread like a disease through the town and children walked around easily calling blacks derogatory terms. One day after school Scout came home and explained to her father how her day went. She said that the children were calling Atticus a nigger lover. Scout addressed, “You aren’t actually a nigger lover are you?” (Lee, 124). Her father, shocked at first, replied informatively, “I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody" (Lee, 124). What Atticus meant, was that he tries to be kind to everybody no matter their skin color. Scout does not realize that calling blacks “niggers” is bad, and that you have to call them “negroes”. A reader of this novel could infer that Scout did not know that she cannot use that word because she hears kids at schools say it all the time. All of this indirectly relates to Tom and how he was a black man that was constantly being taunted by hateful terms because he was just there, like a mockingbird. He never fought back, instead he stayed
peaceful. Eventually, Tom lost all hope in his case and did not believe he could win. He gave up any will power in him to fight in the case and decided to try to escape from where he was being held. This ended bad because Tom lost his life for doing so. Atticus, who looked blue, walked in on the tea party and asks Cal to step outside and go to Tom’s wife’s house with him. She asks why and he states, “He’s dead.” Atticus declares. “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella opened her mouth and screamed” (Lee, 276). These were scouts thoughts, but any reader should know that everyone in the town of Maycomb knew it. Atticus was describing to Aunt Alexandra how Tom died and said, “They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill...Seventeen billet hole in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much” (Lee, 268). The police officers had over shot Tom and this was most likely because of his skin color. Tom was the symbolic mockingbird that was brutally killed for no reason. His was an innocent man that never did anything wrong, so for people to kill him, they were sinning. Tom Robinson, a mockingbird, expresses to his readers how he was a symbolic mockingbird through the actions of people in a racist town. He was an innocent man that was continuously humble and peaceful to everyone.
“I’d rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after the birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mocking bird.” Atticus Finch recites these lines to his two children, Jem and Scout after he gives them air-rifles for Christmas. Scout is curious, as this is the first time that she has ever heard her father refer to anything as a sin, Scout asks Miss Maude what Atticus meant by this. Miss Maude tells Scout that mocking birds don’t rip up people’s garden’s or annoy them in any way, all they do is play beautiful music for us to listen to.
The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, is an American classic, narrated by the young Scout Finch, the most engrossing character in the book. The novel is about the adventures of two siblings over the time of about three years. Jem and Jean Louise (Scout) Finch were two young siblings who one day met another young boy named Dill. Over time, Jem and Scout grow up under the careful watch of their father and friends, learning how to be adults. They play games, they sneak into a courthouse, and they learn a valuable life lesson. Scout was an intriguing character. As the narrator, you learn more about Scout’s feelings towards the events in the book and soon learn to love her. Let me introduce you to Scout Finch.
Tom was shot by 17 bullets for no reason, they killed him so they could prove to the others that they would chose a white man word over a black man's anyday. Likewise, mockingbirds are killed for no reason too, just for personal enjoyment. After Tom’s death, Mr. underwood writes an editorial that describes Tom’s death as the “senseless slaughter of a songbird”. This means that the innocent and warm hearted Tom was judged by the color of his skin and was misjudged by people in Maycomb, just like how the mockingbird was killed by people. Tom realizing that he’s going to be stuck in prison forever tried to make a run for it “we had such a good chance. I guess Tom was tired of white men’s chances and prefered to take his own”. (Pg.236). Tom tried to escape just like a mockingbird that escapes from it’s cage to only be shot by men. The people in Maycomb never understood that what they did to Tom was wrong and never knew that Tom was trying to escape from his death, this can relate to the mockingbirds that get killed by people without them noticing that they mean no harm and that they’re only here to bring us happiness with their music. Tom Robinson lives like a mockingbird, he’s an innocent, kind, loving person who is destroyed by evil
Dispersed throughout To Kill A Mockingbird are numerous illustrations of racism. Statements such as "Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for" (Lee 108) are common throughout the entire novel. The use of racist statements such as these seemed to bother many people who were then driven to ban Lee's book from their schools. If we look back to the times when the book was written, we can understand the use of the word "nigger." During the early twentieth century, the word "nigger" was used as commonly as many people today use the word "black." The general public either didn't realize or didn't care about how demeaning the word "nigger" was. Eventually, some African-Americans became so used to hearing it that they no longer paid any attention to it. Atticus Finch, Scout's father, however, had a different way of thinking. Although Atticus was Caucasian, he realized that the word "nigger" was wrong to say. He did not use that word and he instructed his children not to use that word either. This courtesy did not catch on. People continued to refer to African-Americans as "niggers" and called anyone who was kind to "niggers" a "nigger-lover." Scout realized this and, as she matured, she came to understand how wrong the use of the word "nigger" actually was.
To begin with, Tom Robinson is an innocent being that resembles a mockingbird because he is falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell. He is a black man that believes in equality. '''Yes suh. I felt sorry for her, she seemed to try more'n the rest of 'em-''' (Lee, 209) This honest statement Tom Robinson makes is a big mistake because back in the 1900s, there was a lot of discrimination which meant black people should never feel sorry for white people. It is a sin to kill Tom Robinson because he is a harmless citizen that means no harm to anyone in Maycomb. The death of Tom Robinson was typical to many white citizens in Maycomb because if black people were ever convicte...
In the novel, the mockingbird represents several different characters in various ways. For example, Boo Radley is portrayed as losing his innocence in society. He has proven that he is nothing but kind and generous by helping Jem and Scout in various occasions, but him being distant from society has allowed them, especially Jem and Scout, to make up stories about his doings causing him to look like a psychopath and obtaining a negative reputation amongst society. Jem also loses his innocence as well; this occurs when Tom Robinson is found guilty. Jem is well aware of the racial segregation that exists, but he believed that all the prejudice towards blacks did not exist in the courtroom. Jem is almost one-hundred percent sure that Tom will be found innocent because of the evidence his father Atticus has shown to the jury, but when he is declared guilty Jem has a realization that a white man will always win against a black one. In this point is where Jem loses his innocence and goes from a child mindset to an adult mindset where he now understands that prejudice exists everywhere. Another character that is portrayed as a mockingbird and is surely the most important out of the whole novel is Tom Robinson. Tom is an extremely vulnerable character since he is a cripple and black. His experience was different from Boos and Jems experience. The title of the book “To kill a
Towards the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus decides to represent a colored man by the man of Tom Robinson, who is being accused of raping Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewell’s daughter. Atticus believes that Tom is innocent, but he does not think that Tom will be found not guilty because of they way the townsfolk treat colored people. They treat them like dirt; like they are worth nothing. Atticus went ahead and represented Tom despite the fact that he knew the townsfolk would call himself and his children names and treat them disrespectfully. Even Scout’s relative Francis said rude things about them. “‘I guess it ain't your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I'm here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family-...’ ‘Just what I said. Grandma says it's bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he's turned out a nigger-lover we'll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb agin. He's ruinin' the family, that's what he's doin'.’” Atticus set a good example for Scout and Jem. He had a difficult decision to make, but he chose what he thought was
The story, "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is set in the South of Maycomb, Alabama. It portrays a deteriorate society which is segregated by the racial and social actions of the people in Maycomb. In the novel Atticus claims that “it is a sin to kill a mockingbird”, because they do not do any harm to us humans, they are harmless, gentle and they only sing their hearts out to us. There are three people that the author, Harper Lee depicts as a mockingbird; Boo Radley, killed by society's bias views towards those who don’t think he is sane. Tom Robinson, killed by inequality, no respect and racial prejudice shown by the people; and
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's only novel, is a fictional story of racial oppression, set in Maycomb, A.L. in 1925 to 1935, loosely based on the events of the Scottsboro trials. Unlike the story however, the racial discrimination and oppression in the novel very accurately portrays what it was like in the 1920's and 1930's in the south. Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a poor low class white girl of 19, never stood a chance of getting a fair trial. This can be supported by giving examples of racially discriminatory and oppressive events that actually took place in the south during the time period in which the novel is based. In addition to actual historical events, events and examples from the book that clearly illustrate the overpoweringly high levels of prejudice that were intertwined in the everyday thinking of the majority of the characters in the book supports the fact that Tom Robinson never stood a chance of getting a fair trial.
Mockingbirds represent Tom Robinson because people look down upon him because he is black. Mr.Ewell accused Tom Robinson of beating and raping Mayella Ewell, his oldest child. In the end, no one had any evidence, so it solely depended on each man’s word. Atticus Finch, Robinson’s lawyer and Scout and Jem’s father, found that the person who beat Mayella’s right eye would have to use their left hand. The jury found Robinson guilty even though he couldn’t have committed the crime because “his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side”(Lee 211). Later at the prison, guards shot him multiple times after ‘attempting to escape’. In addition to maintaining a full-time job and supporting his family, he had found time to help others in the community, white or black, for free. Despite helping The Ewells with chores, they didn’t return the kindness when Robinson needed it the most, ultimately killing him.
It is a sin to kill a mockingbird, mockingbirds are innocent birds that do not do one harm thing, but makes music for ones to enjoy. Tom Robinson is one of the novel’s “mockingbirds”, he is innocent but he was falsely convicted of rape and got killed. In a court, black man had never won over a white person. Tom Robinson, a black man was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, Mr. Ewell’s daughter. Atticus defends Tom Robinson because he had been appointed to defend for him, but it is also because of his morals. “Mr. Finch, I tried. I tried to 'thout bein' ugly to her. I didn't wanta be ugly, I didn't wanta push her or nothing” (Lee 260). During...
It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do not do anything wrong. They only sing for people to enjoy their songs.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee includes many examples of themes and allusions. The themes in the book help the reader get more out of the novel that they are reading. When the reader closely examines the book, the theme reveals itself to the reader and they can use the knowledge from the theme to connect ideas in the real world. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird follows the adventures of three children who lived in the late 1920s. The novel, however, also includes examples of racial injustices and also depicts ideas that not all Americans were treated equally during the setting of the novel. Examples of racial discrimination include Tom Robinson, an African American, being accused of rape, as well as the violence when he was almost attacked by a mob while in prison. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee argues that equality is only what society shapes it to be and it can come with limitations and expresses it through the setting of the book.
Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy… That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” (117) said Miss Maudie after Atticus gave Jem and Scout their air rifles for Christmas. Harper Lee uses characters as metaphorical mockingbirds to effectively demonstrate the injustice of harming the innocent. Tom Robinson, Atticus, and Boo Radley all represent mockingbirds throughout the story. Tom Robinson becomes the first character to prove this theme.
The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” Starts with one of the main character, Scout starts out to be a very immature girl, not knowing the prejudice times that she is living in. As the story goes on Scout gains knowledge of these times by kids and people around her accusing her dad, Atticus of being a black lover back then, it was an insult. Scouts dad was being brave to help a black man that was being faulted accused of raping a white girl. There’s a part in the book that talks about shooting many blues jays but not shoot a mocking bird because it a sin. This is referring to Tom in the story. He signifies as a mockingbird because all mockingbirds does is sing for our enjoyment and stay away from harms, so if you kill them it is a sin. The reason why Tom is the mockingbird in the story is because he stay out of harm’s way and is accused of a crime and in the end is eventually guilty and dies. From having a dad who supports a color man he teaches his kids some good lessons, starting with tolerate.