Mockingbird

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To Kill a Mockingbird is about two children, Scout and Jem, growing up in a town called Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930's. Neighbors and a man next door with the name of Boo Radley make up most of the drama and suspense throughout the story. Scout and Jem put up with a bunch of trash talk when their father, Atticus, defends a black person. As the novel goes on, the children loose their innocence. They learn the injustice of the world when Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape, was convicted guilty. Harper Lee uses the symbol of the mockingbird to show that justice back in the old days isn't always the way it should be, but the exact opposite by using her characters as "mockingbirds." She wants to tell us that prejudice is more powerful than an equal legal system.

Atticus Finch, the father of Scout and Jem, is well known lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama. He introduces the symbol of the mockingbird by stating, "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can't hit `em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Atticus wouldn't teach Scout and Jem how to shoot after he gave them air rifles. Scout didn't understand his philosophy so she asked Miss Maudie about it. She just replied, "Your father's right. Mockingbirds don't do one 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's uses the symbol of a mockingbird to represent the innocence of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley and the way justice has been twisted to a point where individuals are no longer able to receive equal treatment.

Tom Robinson, the black man Atticus is defending, represents the mockingbird. H...

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...ions show us that he is truly a good person but rumors made him appear like an evil person. The "mockingbird" characteristic is present in Boo; he doesn't hurt anything but instead, he helps people out. Boo fears the outside world because he is injured from the evil of mankind. He learns that people judge people and he is judged by the rumors going around. He knows that if he were to go outside and try to become sociable, he would be shunned so he just decides to stay in his home, safe and protected from the outside world.

The dictionary defines justice as the quality of being just, impartial, or fair. In the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, justice holds another definition, one of holding unjust and racism. By using Harper Lee's characters as "mockingbirds" she proves that this justice isn't fair. However, since the 1930's, justice has become more fair.

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