To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis

Two hundred and twenty two years ago, a democracy was born and its citizen has been guaranteed “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Is this pledge fully adopted? The high almighty, arbitrary, rich, wealthy people surely have an advantage over the meager, poor lower class. The rich has money, and money can be a powerful source to silence evil deeds in which a pauper cannot do, but must suffer the consequences. In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, she portrays the weak, the vulnerable, and the innocent as mockingbirds. Setting the novel in Maycomb County, Alabama in the 1930s plays a crucial role in illustrating the mockingbirds of the society. The prejudiced South carried people like Arthur “Boo” Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell who have never had any intentions of harm, and only brought joy, but suffered greatly because of their position in a rigid, prejudiced society.

A mockingbird, as Harper Lee is referring to, is a songbird that mimics the cries of other birds, like the blue jays. Similarly, the mockingbirds of Maycomb County do not have a song of their own. Instead, they keep to themselves and allow the world to make the decisions that will cast their future. In Maycomb County, readers are introduced to the blue jays as the white elites of the society. They can share their ideas whenever they want because of their so-called superior complexion. However, readers are then introduced to the mockingbirds. Boo’s position as a social outcast, Tom Robinson’s inferior complexion, and Mayella’s position as a Ewell deprived them to have a “song” of their own. They do not mimic other songbirds, they do not carry harm, nor do they have the evil heart to be vengeful for those who did them wrong. Miss Maudie state...

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...Place for Boo would leave them his precious, valuable gifts. Lee illustrates Boo’s unconditional love for the children to show readers that Boo does not intend to cause harm. Boo’s heart is as pure and white as snow. When the snow was falling, and Scout was too focused on the burning house of Miss Maudie’s, Boo covers her up with a warm blanket. How can a man of such great care be so negatively judged by the society? Because hurting the innocent is wrong, Atticus explains, “it is a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). Boo is as harmless as a naïve child, he asks Scout, “will you take me home” (Lee 372). At this point, the vicious, squirrel-eating Boo is pictured as an innocent child who’s just apprehensive being in the dark. How much harm can a child bring? Boo symbolically fit the definition of a mockingbird because of his vulnerable, and yet benign personality.