Metaphors In To Kill A Mockingbird

Who is the Mockingbird?

“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). A sophisticated and wise lawyer named Atticus tells this to his two children, Scout and Jem Finch, just after he gives them both rifles. This happens in the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Pulitzer Prize winning author Harper Lee, which has a couple of underlying themes. One of the major themes is conveyed through a metaphor about birds, which is the quote at the beginning of this paper. Atticus tells his children to not shoot any mockingbirds, but why? Well, the answer is simple, for mockingbirds do nothing but make music for others to enjoy, and along with that, they go out of their way to avoid

causing trouble, thus making themselves innocent. In her quote, Harper Lee is giving the notion that it is amoral to hurt or kill the mockingbirds of the real world, and this paper will show who the true mockingbird in the book is and why. Of all the characters in the novel, there is only one who is truly giving and innocent. That character is Boo Radley, and the following reasons will prove why this is true.
The first of the qualities of the mockingbird is giving without expecting anything in return.
Boo Radley gives many of his treasures away to make others happy, and just like the mockingbird, he gives without expecting anything in return.

One example where this is proven is when Jem and Scout find a tree knot, in which little random treasures appear recurringly. “The following week the knot-hole yielded a tarnished medal” (Lee 81). Another instance in which Boo’s giving nature was displayed is when he puts a blanket around Scout during a cold night. “‘(Atticus to Jem) Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.’ ‘Thank who?’ I (Scout) asked. ‘Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you” (Lee 96). These two examples present Boo’s characteristic to give without expecting anything anything in return; an aspect he has in common with the mockingbird. They also lead to the next aspect of the

mockingbird.
This second quality is defined as going out of oneself’s way to avoid making trouble.

Boo Radley’s entire existence is pretty much composed of performing this. Throughout the book he stays inside of his house and earns the reputation of being a recluse, but this status is what also earns him an array of different false rumors. Aside from the rumors, in reality he stays inside of his house, only coming out to give Scout and Jem his treasures. One reason why he might be this way is because his father is an ascetic. A quote precisely framing Boo’s relationship with the world outside of his house is toward the end of the book when Jem starts to finally see Mr. Radley in a new light; "Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time... it's because he wants to stay inside” (Lee 304). This quote leads right into the final characteristic of the

mockingbird.
This last aspect of the mockingbird is, in a sense, innocence. This is the other reason that Boo stays inside of his house and avoids making trouble; he’d rather stay in the confines of his own house than deal with the corruptness of men, as conveyed in the last quote. Along with that, this innocence is portrayed in the following two instances. The first is the childishness of sharing his treasures with Jem and Scout, which include his spelling bee medal and a ball of twine. “We were walking past our tree. In it’s knot-hole rested a ball of gray twine” (Lee 78). The second is when he asks Scout, many years younger than he is, to take him home after a violent fiasco following the aftermath of Atticus’s current court case. “Will you take me home” (Lee 372)? Both of these examples exemplify Boo’s childlike innocence, and propel this essay to a close.
In conclusion, Boo Radley has been proven to be the giving and innocent mockingbird of the book. He gives without expecting anything in return; as shown when he gives his personal treasures to little Jem and Scout. Also, he illustrates his want of staying out and away from trouble by being a recluse. Lastly, he does certain things that show his childlike innocence, including giving his belongings to Scout and Jem and asking little Scout if she would take him home. He shares these qualities with the mockingbird, thus, making him the mockingbird of the book. Now that the mockingbird has been established, does that make all the other characters bluejays?