What Is The Theme Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is the title of the novel written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. The mockingbird stands out to be one of the most outstanding symbols in the book: from the cover page picture to the title, the symbol is highly useful to pass a message that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Mockingbird, as locals believe, is an innocent creature which is not known to cause harm to other creatures, so Scout and Jem, the main characters in the novel, teach us a lesson that one should not kill such an innocent creature.
The story is set at a time when the narrator, Scout Finch, was growing up under extraordinary situations. The story starts with the narration of Jem's broken hand that is the event that happened towards the end of the story. Their father Atticus, who is an attorney, defends a black client in court on allegations of raping a white lady which exposes the family to racial mockery by the neighbours setting them on a defensive mode. The events led to an altercation that ends with the death of Bob Ewell, a village drunkard and father to the accuser
The first character portrayed as the mockingbird is Scout: in the start of the story, the character is a young girl full of innocence and goodness. She views the society as full of good people, and she herself is a good person. The encounters with the injustice and evils of the society, however, drastically change her view of life transforming her childish perspective into a more mature adult perspective. She, however, does not fully lose her goodness even after the village turns against her family because her father stands for the black person in a whites-dominated neighbourhood. Racial prejudice, in this case, threatens to 'kill the mockingbird', but the strong moral standing of her father saves her innocence from the harsh life realities. (Lee