To Kill A Mockingbird Central Idea

The central idea of the story is that people let fear influence what they think and how they act, and this is incorporated in the book by the mystery around Boo Radley, the trial of Tom Robinson, and the mockingbird symbolism.

The beginning of the book focuses on Scout, Jem, and Dill, trying to bring Boo Radley out. Throughout this period of time, they come up with many bizarre stories about him. Jem described Boo Radley to Dill saying “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall… he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained…what teeth he had were yellow and rotten...” (pg16). They also are terrified of getting near the Radley house, as they are scared of what Boo Radley might do to them. The only

reason why they try to make him come out is because they are curious of how he looks like. But the book gives many examples on how they think what is going on. They come up with a game in which each of them acts like a Radley.
Almost everything in the book leads up to Tom Robinson’s trial.

He was a black man that was wrongly accused of raping Mayella Ewell, and she is an example of what fear can lead you to do. Throughout the book Atticus, Scout, and Jem are targeted because Atticus was assigned to defend Tom Robinson, and he decided he would do his best to win the trial, even though everyone else told him that he didn’t have to it. Later, when Mayella is giving her testimony, we discover that she tried to kiss Tom Robinson, and her father walked upon them, and ended up beating up Mayella. She decided to go along with the story that her father came up because she was scared that she was going to be treated wrongly because she had associated with a black man. Atticus said in his speech to the jury “… confident that you gentlemen would go along with the assumption-the evil assumption- that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings...” (pg 273). Fear was what made her testify a wrong story, which led up to Tom Robinson being declared guilty, and eventually to his

death.
The title of the book is To Kill a Mockingbird, and in the story, the mockingbird is not referenced much.

The only time it is referenced is in chapter 10, when Atticus told Jem “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” After that, Scout asks Miss Maudie what he meant by that and she responded with “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing 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.” This is symbolism, having to compare people with mockingbirds. In this case, both Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are mockingbirds in this story. Both of them are not harming anyone and they should not be bothered or harmed. Yet in the book, both are in a way “shot”. Boo Radley is “shot” when stories and rumors are spread around harming his image and how people think about him, even though the stories are not true. Tom Robinson gets “shot” when he gets accused by the Ewells, even though all he did was help Mayella and give her company. Everyone in the story that in some way “shoots” both of them are committing a sin because they let their fear harm them, the

mockingbirds.
Fear can influence a person and cloud their thought and actions. These actions then have unwanted consequences, in which this book gives a lot.