Judgement and Innocence: Unpacking To Kill a Mockingbird

1414 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: To kill a mockingbird literary technique metaphors

As a kid you were probably told not to judge a book by its cover. In To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee takes this concept to a new level.This intricate novel tells the story of the Finch family; Atticus, Jem, and Scout. These characters live in Maycomb County, Alabama during the Great Depression. Scout and Jem think they know who Boo Radley is, the mysterious lurker of the neighborhood, but soon start to learn that there is more than what meets the eye. While taking care of his children Atticus takes a case for a black man, Tom Robinson, which brings hard times and teaches life lessons to the Finches. One of those lessons was about the mockingbird, otherwise symbolized as an innocence being wrongfully harmed. This harm can be seriously done with judgement. These pains are brought to life through the characters Scout, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson.

Within the novel Scout symbolizes the mockingbird through her many encounters with this theme. Without really understanding a person you could wrongfully judge or harm them. On her first day of school Scout was wrongfully judged because she
Scout learns lessons about mockingbirds, especially through her father, Atticus, when she got a BB gun for Christmas. Boo Radley is shown as a mockingbird with the way Maycomb people treat him. Tom Robinson also represents the mockingbird, as seen when he was accused guilty for a crime he did not commit. Harper Lee writes a must known message about the horrors of killing a mockingbird. This lesson is still relevant in today’s world and needs to get out to more people of all ages so we can combat this issue. We need to stand up when harm is going on around us. When innocent mockingbirds are being hurt we must stop the damage, before it is too late. Reading this book makes yourself consider if you have ever tried to stop someone from “killing a

Show More
Related

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Racism Quotes Analysis

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” takes place in the 1930s during the depression. It is narrated by a young girl named Scout. Some of the main characters are Jem, Scout's brother, and Atticus, Scout and Jem's father. Throughout the novel the theme of racism is displayed through the book. Jem ,Scout, and their friend Dill are fascinated about a character named Boo Radley or Arthur Radley.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Figurative Language In To Kill A Mockingbird

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    Boo Radley is more subtle in showing how he represents the mockingbird, as he is more of a quiet, shy character. Boo was confined to his home but is still aware of the people around him. The children view him more as a superstition than a person in the beginning of the novel but Scout realizes just how good of a person Boo really is when he saves her and Jem from Mr. Ewell. Tom Robinson represented the killing of the mockingbird. He was looked down upon by most of the community but he was an innocent man who had no intention of harming anyone, yet he was still convicted of the crime and sentenced to

    Read More

  • How Does Atticus Show Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior, to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, and the struggle between blacks and whites. Atticus Finch, a lawyer and single parent in a small southern town in the 1930's, is appointed by the local judge to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. Friends and neighbors object when Atticus puts up a strong and spirited defense on behalf of the accused black man. Atticus renounces violence but stands up for what he believes in. He decides to defend Tom Robinson because if he did not, he would not only lose the respect of his children and the townspeople, but himself as well.

    Read More

  • Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    Childhood is a continuous time of learning, and of seeing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone no matter what they might look like on the outside. To Kill A Mockingbird tells a story about two young kids named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch growing up in their small, racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the years go by they learn how their town and a lot of the people in it aren’t as perfect as they may have seemed before. When Jem and Scout’s father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town’s imperfections begin to show. A sour, little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout all because of the help Atticus gave to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their appearance on the outside, or belittle someone because they are different.

    Read More

  • The Mockingbirds in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

    1988 Words  | 4 Pages

    Walt Whitman’s 1859 poem “Out of the Cradle Rocking Endlessly” depicts the mockingbird as a symbol of innocence that chants or sings of fond memories from the past. By contrast, Harper Lee’s famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960, written almost a century after Whitman’s poem, portrays the mockingbird as innocent but as a fragile creature with horrific memories – memories of discrimination, isolation, and violence. Harper Lee wrote her novel, which is rooted in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the Deep South, during a time of segregation and discrimination, social issues which can be seen not only in the novel but were witnessed by Harper Lee in her own life. While Lee does insert bits and pieces of her own life into the novel, this fictional story is told by the character Jean Louise Finch, better known as “Scout.” She tells a horrific yet heroic story about a time in the 1930’s from a childhood perspective. The title of Lee’s book is not at first as apparent as it would seem. In fact, the only literal reference to the mockingbird appears only once in the novel. The reader, then, must probe deeply into the characters and events of the book to uncover the significance of the mockingbird. After seeing the treatment and the unyielding courage of Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Atticus Finch, the reader can easily identify these three as mockingbirds.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird: A Story of Empathy

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the first lessons taught in Mockingbird is the power of understanding other people’s perspectives. Initially, Scout has trouble empathizing with other people, especially her first Grade Teacher, Miss Caroline, whom Scout becomes frustrated at for not understanding Maycomb’s complex social structure. After hearing his daughter complain, Atticus tells Scout that she'll “get along a lot better with all kinds of folks [if she] considers things from [their] point of view” (39). After ‘standing in the shoes of another person’, it is much harder to be prejudiced towards that person. Indeed, this may be because a key tenet of prejudice is disregarding the views of whoever is being judged. Nevertheless, it proves difficult for Scout to grasp this relatively simple concept, who begins to hear rumors of Boo Radley, an enigma who has not been seen outside his home for over 30 years. Thus begins Jem and Scout’s quest to make Boo Radley come outs...

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Quotes

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird is a heroic tale of leadership and courage during racial times. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus, To, Jem and Scout are unfortunately exposed to a really racist and prejudiced society and town. Which ends up causing them to lose a case and really confuse Jem and Scout when they are young. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, it uses characterization to help show a theme of loss of innocence when people are exposed to surprising and unfair situations.

    Read More

  • Symbolism and Allegory in To Kill a Mockingbird

    3737 Words  | 8 Pages

    Harper Lee uses symbolism extensively throughout To Kill a Mockingbird,, and much of it refers to the problems of racism in the South during the early twentieth century. Harper Lee's effective use of racial symbolism and allegory can be seen by studying various examples from the book, namely the actions of the children, of the racist whites, and of Atticus Finch.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    and a great deal of it refers to the problems of racism in the South

    Read More

  • Symbolism In To Kill A Mockingbird

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Francis tells Scout, “Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he’s turned out to be a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He’s ruinin‘ the family, that’s what he’s doin’.” (110) Atticus knows that his children will endure harsh treatment, but he always tells his them, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Atticus, without a doubt, symbolizes honorable morals and logical thinking. While the Mockingbird evidently depicts innocence and justice, there are several characters used to represent the Mockingbird.

    Read More

  • Racism in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is a simplistic view of life in the Deep South of America in the 1930s. An innocent but humorous stance in the story is through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch. Scout is a young adolescent who is growing up with the controversy that surrounds her fathers lawsuit. Her father, Atticus Finch is a lawyer who is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, with the charge of raping a white girl. The lives of the characters are changed by racism and this is the force that develops during the course of the narrative.

    Read More

  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    The mockingbird symbolizes the innocence of people who are accused wrongfully. It is a harmless bird that makes the world more pleasant, but it sings the songs of other birds, so it is subject to the image of others. Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are mockingbirds, innocent souls that are judged based on the discrimination and intolerance of the townspeople. The citizens of Maycomb judge Tom Robinson based on the color of his skin and refuse to listen to the truth of his innocence. Boo Radley never does harm to anyone, yet the town criticizes him for his wrong doings. These men are destroyed by the perceptions of the people around them. Tom and Boo embody all that the mockingbird represents and consequently demonstrate how the opinions of others can alter the lives of the innocent.

    Read More

  • The Mockingbirds of To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (p.90) Miss. Maudie, one of the main protagonists in To Kill a Mockingbird, warns the young girl Scout that mockingbirds should not to be killed or hunted down because they represent those who are kind and innocent. So, on a broader spectrum, the term “to kill a mockingbird” symbolizes cruel and improper behavior towards people with good hearts and intentions. In the town of Maycomb, unethical behaviors, such as prejudice and gossip, are most commonly used against the “mockingbirds”. Three of those “mockingbirds” that are featured in this novel are Arthur “Boo” Radley, Tom Robinson, and Atticus Finch. Due to the depiction of the mockingbird symbol in the novel, the reader understands the consequences that immoral attitudes have towards those who are innocent and kindhearted.

    Read More

  • How Is Atticus Finch Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jean Louise “Scout” Finch is the main narrator and protagonist of the novel, ‘ To Kill A Mockingbird”. Scout lives in Maycomb; a small district located in Southern Alabama with her father; Atticus Finch, her brother; Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch and their black cook; Calpurnia. At the start of the novel, Scout is an innocent, benign five-year-old child who has no experience with the evils of the world. As the novel progresses, Scout has her first contact with evil in the form of racial prejudice, and the basic development of her character is governed by the question of whether she will emerge from that contact with her conscience and optimism intact or whether she will be bruised, hurt or destroyed like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Characters

    Read More

  • Examples Of Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    To Kill a Mockingbird exhibits many different cases in which characters become victims of unfair treatment. Written by Harper Lee, the book tells us many things that the characters went through. Since one bad decision leads to another, evil events all around them have either injured or destroyed them. The theme of injustice dwells throughout the lives of many “mockingbirds” in this book as demonstrated by the way Tom Robinson was wrongly charged, a poor reputation rested upon Boo Radley, and the way Jem’s arm became broken. Tom Robinson, accused of assaulting a young woman, spent his remaining life in prison. Boo Radley, a shut in, receives harsh gossip from his community. Jem and Scout, Atticus’ children, were viciously

    Read More

More about Judgement and Innocence: Unpacking To Kill a Mockingbird

Open Document