Motifs In To Kill A Mockingbird

Physicist Albert Einstein once stated, "Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty." Einstein means people everywhere should not judge each other, no matter what their flaws are or how they are different from the standards of society. He means that all individuals should be kind and sympathetic to others. Additionally, he implies that if people do not broaden beyond the standards of society, the world will never become a better place. Similarly, Harper Lee addresses this idea in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird through various characters that are being judged and suffering because they do not fit in their society's standards. Specifically, she uses the bird motif in order to develop the need for compassion to bring attention in a brutal world.

For example, Boo Radley is portrayed as a monster that eats squirrels and has yellow and rotten teeth throughout the novel, however, he is actually similar to that of a mockingbird, which is a small and defenseless song bird. He is vulnerable against all of the gossip and stories and just wants Scout and Jem to be happy and safe. That is why Boo leaves them little gifts, such as gum, two Indian Head Pennies, and two soap figures among others, in a Live Oak tree with a knot hole in it and saves them from Bob Ewell on Halloween (14, 37-38, 67-68, 300-302, 310). Here, Lee demonstrates that people are not always what they appear to be. This connects to Einstein's statement by emphasizing that Boo Radley is being criticized for being peculiar. This is important because it displays the cruelty of some people in