To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

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In the historical fiction novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the symbol of the mockingbird is shown throughout the novel. It’s seen as a sin to kill a mockingbird because mockingbirds represent and embody innocence. Therefore, “To kill a mockingbird” means to destroy or take away something or somebody’s innocence. This is what killing a mockingbird represents in the story. In the novel, Jem Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley can be viewed as “mockingbirds.” The first character in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird who can be viewed as a “mockingbird” is Jem Finch. At the beginning of the novel, Jem is a normal 10-year-old, playing games with his younger sister Scout and Dill about the supposed ‘phantom’ in the house across the street, Boo Radley. …show more content…

He sees the world around him and realizes why Atticus gave him this message; Atticus wants Jem to be innocent and grow up protected from the world around him. Another character in the book To Kill A Mockingbird that can be seen as a “mockingbird” is Boo Radley. Before the story, Boo Radley was a pretty normal kid and went to school and had friends. By the beginning of the story, he had been trapped in his house for years. Then, right at the start of the story, we learn that people have started spreading rumors about him. According to Scout, “inside the house lived a malevolent phantom.” (Lee, 9). These rumors were part of what “killed the mockingbird.” By the end of the story, Boo had turned a ghastly pale color from never seeing the sunlight and had shaky social skills to put it kindly. He had embodied the rumors and became

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