To Kill a Mockingbird
Provide examples of characters in the text who symbolize a mockingbird.
How does the author accomplish this?
"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."
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee, is set in the rural
country Malcomb, Alabama it depicts the injustice and unfairness of life for African
Americans in the 1960s. The case in the novel is an African American man convicted of rape
who loses his case and ends up being slain. It is evident at the end of the novel that Dolphus
Raymond, Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Dolphus Raymond are the "mockingbirds" in the
story.
Thomas "Tom" Robinson is an African American man who has three children with his wife,
Helen. Tom is accused and placed on trial for the “raping of a white woman”, Mayella
Ewell. Atticus explained to Scout and Jem that you can “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if
you can hit em, but…it’s a sin To Kill a Mockingbird”, which means it is clear shouldn’t hurt
the innocents that haven’t done anything wrong. In this context he would be talking about
Tom as he was defending him in court for the accusation of raping Mayella Ewell. Tom
Robinson is symbolic of a mockingbird, as due to his race, he is wrongfully convicted of a
crime that he did not commit, which indicates the unfairness in society between the white
and black people. “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black mans, the
white man always wins which is ugly, but those are the facts of life”. As a result of these
accusations, and the jury being in favour of Mayella Ewell, Tom Robinson was imprisoned.
He was then shot 17 times and instantly died.
Boo Radley is a quiet and secretive character who is symbolised as a "mockingbird," a
gentle person poisoned by mankind's cruelty. Boo Radley's father, “who is a horrible man” ,
has had Boo locked up in his house his whole life. Scout and Jem develop empathy for Boo
as they learn more about him, and their perception of him evolves from monster to hero.
Boo valued Jem and Scout as friends, he showed this by “carving soap into dolls” to show
them that he wants to be friends, which also illustrated his innocence like the mockingbird.
The soap is significant because it can mean that it he wants it to cleans his bad reputation
and start fresh, as well as making toy figures that he can connect to the Finch children with
and display his innocence. Boo is a wonderful protector to Jem and Scout, and when Atticus
fails to notice Bob Ewell's threat to Atticus and his family, Boo Radley protects them from
him.
Provide examples of characters in the text who symbolize a mockingbird.
How does the author accomplish this?
"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."
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee, is set in the rural
country Malcomb, Alabama it depicts the injustice and unfairness of life for African
Americans in the 1960s. The case in the novel is an African American man convicted of rape
who loses his case and ends up being slain. It is evident at the end of the novel that Dolphus
Raymond, Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Dolphus Raymond are the "mockingbirds" in the
story.
Thomas "Tom" Robinson is an African American man who has three children with his wife,
Helen. Tom is accused and placed on trial for the “raping of a white woman”, Mayella
Ewell. Atticus explained to Scout and Jem that you can “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if
you can hit em, but…it’s a sin To Kill a Mockingbird”, which means it is clear shouldn’t hurt
the innocents that haven’t done anything wrong. In this context he would be talking about
Tom as he was defending him in court for the accusation of raping Mayella Ewell. Tom
Robinson is symbolic of a mockingbird, as due to his race, he is wrongfully convicted of a
crime that he did not commit, which indicates the unfairness in society between the white
and black people. “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black mans, the
white man always wins which is ugly, but those are the facts of life”. As a result of these
accusations, and the jury being in favour of Mayella Ewell, Tom Robinson was imprisoned.
He was then shot 17 times and instantly died.
Boo Radley is a quiet and secretive character who is symbolised as a "mockingbird," a
gentle person poisoned by mankind's cruelty. Boo Radley's father, “who is a horrible man” ,
has had Boo locked up in his house his whole life. Scout and Jem develop empathy for Boo
as they learn more about him, and their perception of him evolves from monster to hero.
Boo valued Jem and Scout as friends, he showed this by “carving soap into dolls” to show
them that he wants to be friends, which also illustrated his innocence like the mockingbird.
The soap is significant because it can mean that it he wants it to cleans his bad reputation
and start fresh, as well as making toy figures that he can connect to the Finch children with
and display his innocence. Boo is a wonderful protector to Jem and Scout, and when Atticus
fails to notice Bob Ewell's threat to Atticus and his family, Boo Radley protects them from
him.
