Why Does Harper Lee Use The Symbol Of The Mockingbird

How does Harper Lee use the symbol of the mockingbird?

According to the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, “it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” So, mockingbirds are harmless, innocent creatures, and killing them is wrong, because they don't hurt anyone. The mockingbird represents innocence and purity. After all it only sings for us to hear its music, they don’t bother us or harm us. So, to kill a mockingbird is a sin because you destroy innocence. Throughout the book, a number of characters like Tom Robinson, Dill, Boo Radley, and Mr. Raymond can be identified as mockingbirds. Atticus does not harm anyone, just like a mockingbird. He was generous, helped those in need. People criticized him because he stood up for a black man. Atticus was just being good and had no reason to be disliked by the people. “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.” This emphasis that Atticus doesn’t judge he tries to look at things in different perspectives to make his final decision, this shows us Atticus is a very calm person that thinks twice when doing something. Atticus is a symbol of a mockingbird because all he had done was good and never had done anything bad. One of the characters who were symbolized by the mockingbird was Arthur (Boo) Radley. Boo was a man who was seen by society to be scary and dangerous. People made all sorts of stories about him which weren’t true, but all he done was leave Jem and Scout presents and saved their lives risking his. At the end of the book we noticed by Scout that to hurt Arthur is “sort of like shootin' a mockingbird”. This simile helps us to understand what Boo was really like. Scout said that because if Boo was sent to the court it would have be unfair when all he had done was kill Ewell, who was a very cold hearted man only to save the lives of two innocent children. If he was sent to court and punished for something he didn’t deserve for, it would be destroying his good heart. Boo shows us good exists within people despite the pain he went through in the past, he signified good. Tom Robison is another example of a mockingbird.
Robinson was a black man who was not accepted by the society. He was seen as a bad person just because he was black, especially after Mayella Ewell accused him of raping her though he was innocent. Tom was actually a really helpful caring person. "And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to 'feel sorry' for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people." Tom showed courage when he innocently agreed to enter Ewell’s house to help Mayella it was a dangerous thing for any black man in the 1930s to enter a white man's home without permission. Tom risked his life to help Mayella when he saw her incapable of doing one of her chores. No one had forced him to do such thing but he done it from the kindness of his heart knowing what would happen to him if he got caught. We learn that Tom is a very thoughtful, humble man who was just trying to give a hand but instead the judge took Mr. Ewell’s word over his and was convicted of raping Mayella. Tom signified purity, was an innocent, good-hearted, only do good
person. Mayella Ewell symbolizes a mockingbird in a way too. She was a helpless white girl who was discriminated by the society. Mayella had to deal with her sibling and was abused by her father several times. She had no friends and had been treated cruelly all her life. “Suddenly Mayella became articulate. “I got something' to say," she said. Atticus raised his head. "Do you want to tell us what happened?" But she did not hear the compassion in his invitation.” This explains Mayella’s personality, she wasn’t able recognize Atticus's politeness or compassion. That shows just how different her world is from others neither wasn’t something she's had any experienced before. Mayella was used to the screams, rudeness and impoliteness spoken by her father and couldn’t spot out how polite Atticus was; her world was basically filled up with darkness. Harper Lee has used Mayella Ewell to represent innocence. Dolphus Raymond, like the mockingbird, does no harm to anyone. He was a gentle, wise, and understanding person. But the majority of the people in Maycomb hated Mr. Raymond because he preferred hanging out with black people. Raymond pretended to be an alcoholic so that drinking will explain his way of living. 'Some folks don’t—like the way I live.....'I try to give ‘em a reason’. From this quote we learn that Raymond was willing to live with this lie in order to give his neighbors reason for his odd behaviors like his lack of racism. He thought it would be better for people to handle strange things when they have a reason. He was willing to ruin his reputation so that he could live with his family peacefully. We can see Raymond was a devoted caring man who was harmless like a mockingbird. In conclusion, “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Harper Lee effectively used the symbol of a mockingbird through characters like Boo, Tom, Atticus, Mayella, Dill and Raymond. Each character signified a mocking bird in different ways. In my opinion you will feel guilt-ridden if you attempt to kill one of those characters representing the mocking bird. I really liked the way Lee represented the mockingbird. I think you can learn life lessons by reading this book.