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The Significance of the Title of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The title of this novel is 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and throughout the
book the word mockingbird appears several times. The mockingbird is
the most significant symbol in the novel. The motif of the story is
the innocent creature of the mockingbird. What is a mockingbird? A
mockingbird is a type of finch. It is a small plain bird and has a
beautiful song. It got its name because its beautiful sing 'mocks'
other birds.
The mockingbird idea first comes about in chapter 10,when Atticus is
telling the children how to use their shotguns. He tells them:
"Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em. But remember
it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
It was very unusual for Atticus to say something like this, as he
never tells Scout or Jem that anything is a 'sin'. This makes Scout a
bit surprised and so Miss Maudie explains that it is because
mockingbirds are neither harmful nor destructive and only make nice
music for people to enjoy. Here is what she said:
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They
don't eat up peoples 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."
In chapter 10, Tim Johnson the rabid dog is slowly walking up the road
and all the people of Maycomb are waiting for him to appear, waiting
for what is about to happen. The mockingbird idea comes up when it
says:
'The trees were still, the mockingbirds were silent, the carpenters at
Miss Maudie's house had vanished.'
I think that the mockingbirds in this situation a...
... middle of paper ...
...I think that over the course of this novel Scout comes out to be quite
clever and forever learning new morals and ways of life. By the end of
the novel she has learnt one key lesson. That she must see thing's
from other people's views. She shows this in the book in the last
chapter when she is standing on Boo Radley's front porch. Here is the
quote on what she said:
"Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until
you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the
Radley porch was enough."
Here she puts herself in Boo Radley's shoes and imagines what it must
be like for him.
My final impression of Scout is that after all what she has been
through she has become wiser and more grown up. She has learnt
important values to life and has become more caring and understanding.
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. You know Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was misperceived at first. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names, but after he led Santa’s sleigh, they loved him. Misperceptions like this happen all throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. As you read the novel you see original judgments made about characters transform into new conceptions and new understandings. Some characters twist your views of them on purpose, others do it involuntarily. To Kill a Mockingbird shows this happening over and over again. All you have to do is look for it.
Then you can understand better why a person acts or believes what he does. Only at the end of the novel does Scout finally learn to respect this saying. Until then, she remains curious and confused as to why Boo never came out of his house. In the meantime, she goes through a series of maturing experiences. She learns how to see her from the teachers point of view; she tries to judge the Cunninghams and the Ewells from their side; she bears the insults of the town and particularly the apparent viciousness of Mrs. Duboes.
Scout was the narrator of the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" (by Harper Lee). At first she didn't know a lot about Maycomb (the town they live in), the people in the town and life. Through the book she had lots of new experiences and learned a lot. This knowledge caused significant changes in her characteristics and perspective. As the novel progressed, she has grown up. She has become a better person.
Before the statement, she liked to assume information and had little understanding of others. During her first day of school, Scout spoke to Miss Caroline and Scout stated,”Walter’s one of the Cunninghams” (26). She just assumed that Miss Caroline understood these things about Maycomb. However, after Atticus makes the statement about understanding from another’s point of view, Scout turns into a new woman. She even finds herself understanding Boo Radley when she recalled,”Atticus was right… just standing on the Radley porch was enough” (374). Scout has started to gain the quality of understanding people from their points of
“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.
As the book comes to a close, readers can see just how mature and empathetic Scout has become. After Scout and Jem, Scout’s brother, are saved by Arthur “Boo” Radley, the town shut-in, Scout walks Boo home and after he walks back into her house, she turns around and just stares out at the street from Boo’s point of view instead of from her own. Her father taught her that you should
When Scout goes to the courtroom to hear Atticus speak and fight for Tom’s freedom, she realizes that Atticus is trying his hardest to defend an innocent man. Finally, Scout grows through her interest in school by learning about Hitler and the horrible historical events that have happened in the world. Her maturity is expressed by what she has learned about the world around her and can apply those things to her everyday life. Moreover, Scout has matured greatly in the novel and she has learned many lessons about life, family, and womanhood.
In the book, To Kill a Mockeningbird by Harper lee, Charles Baker Harris, also known as Dill, is one of the most important character. He’s curious, wants attention, and he can be dishonest.
Also the most significant symbol in this novel is the mockingbird symbol which represents innocent people victims of a cruel society. There were two mockingbirds that were killed because one was black and the other was creepy. This was a case of injustice because two people’s lives were taken away from them because of one’s race and one being different from others. Even in a court of law some people do not get a fare trial. Only in the end when we all stand before God he will give us all a fare trial. Mockingbirds and Finches are type of song birds. Harper Lee gave the main characters’ the last name “Finch”, because the family was innocent and accepted all their neighbors.
A person's actions can greatly affect the lives of the people around them. In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus is an only parent and a role model for his kids Jem and Scout. Although his choice to oppose the communities way of life has a strong affect on his family, to Atticus doing what is right means the world to him and he's willing to let his family suffer a little for what he thinks is the greater good. Atticus's choice to live a life without prejudice and racism affects the way the community looks at and treats his family; Scout is the one who is mostly affected.
This section from the book To Kill a Mockingbird explains the title. Throughout the entire book Harper Lee talks about Boo and mentions that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird since they don't harm anyone. Boo Radley is just like the mockingbird. He is innocent and even saves them from Mr. Ewell. When Boo saves their lives by killing Mr. Ewell he shows that goodness does exist in him but it was corrupted by the evil of the outside world.
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...
She asks Miss Maudie. why Atticus has said it is wrong and she replies with the explanation. Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't mess with corncribs, they don't do. one thing but sign their hearts out for us.
Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” This conveys the loss of innocence in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and thus killing a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. A number of characters (Jem, Tom Robinson, Dill, Boo Radley, Mr. Raymond) can be identified as Mockingbirds who have been injured or destroyed through their contact with evil.
The story is called “to Kill a Mockingbird”. In the story there’s one reference to killing mockingbirds which also has a reason why not to kill them: Atticus says to his children to never kill a mockingbird because its a sin. He says its a sin because the mockingbird makes music for everyone. On the other hand he says its okay to kill blue jays because they hurt society by eating from peoples yards and living in corn cribs. Atticus knows how to shoot better than anyone else, but he doesn’t keep a shotgun. This shows he’s a noble man who doesn’t believe killing a solution to anything. Atticus is a lawyer, and he was chosen to represent Tom, because he’s the only one who might be