Harm In To Kill A Mockingbird

“'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,” (Lee 119). With these words, Harper Lee explains that these innocent mockingbirds do us absolutely no harm and only bring us joy. Because of these attributes, killing a mockingbird would make it a victim of underserved violence. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem Finch grow up in the racist town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s with their father, Atticus. While the kids have fun tormenting their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley, Atticus takes on a case where he has to defend Tom Robinson, a black

man accused of raping a white girl.

Lots of the town disagrees with Atticus defending Tom, and Tom is eventually convicted and killed. Throughout the whole book, both Scout and Atticus symbolize mockingbirds because they show innocence, bring joy and do no harm, and are both victims of underserved violence.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, the character that best symbolizes the mockingbird other than Boo Radley and Tom Robinson is Atticus. For example, when Atticus is talking about about Jem getting beat up he tells Heck Tate that he has no idea who would do this to Jem. Obviously Bob Ewell was responsible for this. Like a mockingbird, Atticus shows innocence by not blaming the person clearly responsible for harming his son and also showing how he has an optimistic view of the world. In addition, the way Atticus raises his children to be respectful, and not to judge people are

helping out their future. Scout is learning great qualities early on, so that in the long run, Atticus’ parenting will set her up with a happier, peaceful, and joyful life. Like a mockingbird, Atticus is bringing joy to Scout’s future and setting her up for success. Finally, while Scout is getting attacked by Mr. Ewell, the text says, “Something crushed the chicken wire around me. Metal ripped on metal and I fell to the ground and rolled as far as I could, floundering to escape my wire prison,” (Lee 351). Scout was almost squeezed to death, while Jem’s arm was broken and he was knocked unconscious. Atticus’ children are the most important thing to him and they were attacked by Bob Ewell, because he was seeking revenge on Atticus from the Tom Robinson case. Atticus was simply defending Tom doing absolutely nothing wrong, yet, they were punished for it. So, like many mockingbirds, his family was a target of underserved violence. Atticus best symbolizes a mockingbird because he displays innocence, brings joy, and is a victim of underserved violence.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is another character that symbolically represents a mockingbird.

First of all, when Atticus is sitting in front of the town's jail with a group of men with rifles, Scout walks right up to them and starts a normal conversation. Scout portrays a mockingbird-like innocence as a child that doesn't fully understand what cruel things are going on in the real world; so when she saw the men with Atticus she didn't think of it as a bad situation, instead she recognized some of the men and started a normal conversation with them. In addition, when Scout and Jem first find one of Boo’s gifts in the knothole, they continue coming back everyday to see what is left for them. The whole time they are receiving gifts they think it is for their enjoyment, however; little do they know, like a mockingbird, they are actually bringing joy to Boo Radley. Every day the kids come to the knothole they are slowly building a connection with Boo, entertaining him and even almost building a friendship with him. Lastly, when Scout was at school she got yelled at by Cecil Jacobs because her dad was defending Tom Robinson. Atticus defending Tom is no reason for Scout to get yelled at, especially when Scout has no control over her dad’s court cases. Like a mockingbird, Scout is a victim of underserved verbal violence because she is getting yelled at for no good reason. Scout portrays many of the same qualities as a mockingbird, and therefore is one of the best characters in

the book to symbolize a mockingbird.
Scout and Atticus Finch are two characters that seem very different but share many of the same qualities. Throughout the course of the novel, Atticus learns so much about the community through his court case, while Scout is growing up, learning something new everyday. Although Scout is just a young girl, and Atticus is an adult, their innocence, joyfulness, unharming nature, along with their easy victimization is how you can link them together and show how they both represent a mockingbird.